Popular singer, Alexander Adegbola Akande, better known as 9ice, has said the late Afrobeats pioneer, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti established the platform for Nigerian musicians to thrive.
9ice praised Fela’s dedication to Afrobeats as against his counterparts who were experimenting with different genres in the quest for a musical identity.
The ‘Gongo Aso’ crooner stated this in a recent interview with Sis Project Studios.
9ice said, “Fela Anikulapo-Kuti gave us the platform which is Afrobeat for us to climb on top. We were trying to do Afropop. We were trying to do afrobeats. We were trying to do different names. But Baba [Fela] already has something that the world recognized.
“Afrobeat taught me a lot. King Sunny Ade, Ebenezer Obey, and Fela Anikulapo-Kuti are our grandfathers. And I’m glad to be in existence to emulate or to follow what they’ve done.”