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It has emerged that late afro beat legend, Fela Anikulapo Kuti once rejected a deal worth $100, 000 which was offered him by an American music promoter, Jim Bishop in the late 70s.
Relating the experience in a chat with Daily Sun, Tee Mak recalled: “My manager, Jim Bishop traveled all the way from America to see Fela in Lagos. Then Fela was homeless. It was a while after Kalakuta Republic a invaded and Fela was broke.
“My manager, Jim Bishop traveled all the way to Nigeria with the sum of $100, 000 cash in his briefcase. He wanted to re-arrange Fela’s music because his songs were very long and sometimes could get boring.”
He disclosed that they got the shocker of their lives when Fela rejected the offer insisting that he did not want anyone to tamper with his music.
“We went to visit Fela where he was squatting at the time with a friend and we explained to him but Fela refused. He said that he did not want anybody to remix or touch his songs. The funny thing was that at that time, Fela was broke and homeless,” Tee Mak concluded.
