Seun Kuti’s New Album, ‘Heavier Yet (Lays The Crownless Head)’, is “For the Working Class and Poor”
The Afrobeat scion and his band, Egypt 80, make their noteworthy comeback. OkayAfrica speaks to Seun Kuti about keeping class consciousness at the center of his new album.
Seun Kuti has released his new album alongside Egypt 80, ‘Heavier Yet (Lays the Crownless Head)’. Photo by Kola Oshalusi.
When OkayAfrica caught up with Seun Kuti recently, he was walking around the Lagos residence of the Afrika Shrine. Evocative murals of his father, Fela Kuti, would come into view every now and then on the video call, their bluish hues impressing the distinct warm pride of an ancestor.
The Afrobeat star was busy preparing for a concert, and his performer’s instinct to quickly return to his rehearsals was evident, but he was ostensibly excited to speak about his latest album.
Ever since Seun took control of the Egypt 80 band almost 30 years ago, their projects have consistently relayed a high sense of musicianship. Heavier Yet (Lays The Crownless Head) is their first album in six years, since the combustive enlightenment of 2018’s Black Times.
Singles like “Dey,” a propulsive track which features Damian Marley, and “T.O.P,” bring the new album’s revisionist ethos into view. Heavier Yet is a record that calls upon the tested triumphs of the artist’s previous work. It also — by virtue of Kuti’s vast collaborative tendencies — opens up a new direction to his style, in terms of the sound as much as the songwriting. Fans of Kuti and his band have been excited to hear bits of it on the road, as well as the news of Heavier Yet being executive produced by rock icon Lenny Kravitz.
“Love & Revolution” blends eclectic composition with a lived-in appraisal of love, an ode written to Kuti’s wife which props up his idea of the lover as a revolutionary. On “T.O.P,” the faint touches of highlife are apparent in the opening horn section, as well as the song’s progression into a mellow drum base. Meanwhile, “Dey” and “Emi Aluta” are quite urgent, leaning most onto the classic Afrobeat ideal of organized chaos. Zambian rapper Sampha The Great features on the latter, her verse advancing Kuti’s strong sociopolitical perspective.
Overall, the six songs on Heavier Yet (Lays The Crownless Head) reveal a master conductor and his orchestra still pushing new frontiers of sound. Listeners will hear many things to love, but perhaps most importantly, they’ll grapple with the unlovely aspects of the world, and why radical action is the only way through it.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
OkayAfrica: The title of this new album, Heavier Yet (Lays The Crownless Head), is very interesting. What’s the inspiration behind it?
Seun Kuti: This album is a story for the working class and the poor people of the world. It’s an album about class consciousness. It’s an album against the spirit of domination that manifests itself in politics and imperialism. Those who would commit these things are the crowned heads of the world. But due to the fact that they control global narrative, they seek power and they also seek sympathy, which is contradictory.
Many people know the saying, ‘heavy lies the head that wears the crown,’ [used] to buy sympathy from poor and working class people that they [the wealthy and politically powerful] also live hard lives. So I reply with the idea that Heavier Yet (Lays the Crownless Head) because we do not owe them any sympathy. What we owe them is action. And that action can manifest itself in different forms: from a simple protest all the way to outright revolution.
Promotional image for Seun Kuti. Photo by Kola Oshalus
You said this album is about class consciousness and one truly hears that in the music. The first song “T.O.P” explores the subject of running a rat race, how we’re all focused on our own dealings while not keeping an eye out for what’s happening in our communities. This line was particularly interesting, “this world is full of romance and this world ain’t got no love.”
Because, you know, romance is what they’ve replaced love with. Romance is nothing but the capitalist’s interpretation of love. Because the richest man is the most romantic man, automatically; you cannot out-romance Bill Gates or Elon Musk, sorry to say [laughs].
Anyways, for me, humanity and nature is under attack, not just in Africa but globally. The spirit of elitism that is born out of capitalism and imperialism, and spread all over the world, has us in a bind. And African people are the only ones for whom our elites have us in a bind for other peoples’ benefit. That’s why it’s doubly important for African people to understand ourselves from a class perspective. That’s why it was important that I made that point.
“Stand Well Well” was inspired by a 1932 book, Brave New World, written by Aldous Huxley. How often do other art forms inspire what you do as a musician?
I’m very interested in books. I read a lot. My library is quite impressive, if I have to say so myself. Funny enough, I don’t play music at home. If I have time to listen to music, that means I have time to watch all my movies. So I’d rather go and work on my music or practice my craft.
As an artist, you have to be inspired by the reality of your existence. And one of the interesting things about being African is that we’re spread across the globe, that we are affected and effected by a lot of global happenings and intrigue and policy. So to be able to understand the totality of my reality means that I have to indulge in the experiences of my people as much as I can. And that’s where a lot of great African authors have not only inspired my music, but inspired me to think in a way that makes my music better. They’ve inspired how I see the world.
How long have you been working on this album? When was the earliest song recorded?
The earliest song actually is “Emi Aluta,” which I wrote just after the Black Times tour in 2018. I started the next album then, but then there was COVID and a pause in the world for three years. And then I changed record companies and management, a lot of things were up in the air for me for about a year, trying to put organization back together, to get the band moving again. It took about a good 18 months administratively to know the path I was going to take, and then I started to complete the album.
We recorded in 2022 and 2023, and the album has been ready for almost a year now. But in-between this I’ve done a lot of side projects: I’ve done a song with Common and Black Thought; I did a full EP with Black Thought as well. I also featured on Janelle Monae’s project extensively. I’ve always been doing music but not on my projects. But now that I’m back releasing, I think I’m going to inundate the market with projects. You heard this here first.
Another quality of the album — regardless of its consciousness — is that it’s also lighthearted. Songs like “Stand Well Well” and “Love & Revolution” are different from anything you’ve written. How did you blend those two different ideas?
Che Guevara said revolution is the highest form of love. It’s when you put your life down for a cause that’s greater than you, for the betterment of your people. Those you know, those you don’t know, those born, those yet unborn. And for me also, love is not just nice kind words, love is a powerful force. And I believe that the only way it can be exercised is if two people decide in one rapport that they can change the world. It’s not okay that we wanna live a life where we’re alone and together, for the betterment of just the two of us. We must also become a force that wants to see everything around us improve. And also, because my wife always says I’m not romantic, so I wanted to show her my romantic side! I think I did a great job.
Promotional image for Seun Kuti. Photo by Kola Oshalusi
You’ve collaborated with a number of Afrobeats artists, from Yaadman to Fireboy DML most recently. What’s your relationship with that scene?
My relationship with the scene is very healthy. I’ve met a few of them — I just did a song with Fireboy. Vector is one of my best friends, not only as a musician but as a human being. I’m godfather to one of his children and our daughters are best friends.
You know, this is a common propaganda that the professionals of the world try to spread. They put too much responsibility on the musicians. It’s not Afrobeats musicians' fault that there’s no room for anything else. People that invest in the media only want to play one kind of music and they don’t want to increase the artistic education of Nigerians, to curate their taste, to expose Nigerians to all the forms of great music out there. You know, Nigerians are really forced to hear one thing by the media, not by the artists themselves.
It’s just like people saying, ‘Artists are not fighting for a better Nigeria, they’re not singing about a good Nigeria.’ Sing it to who? It doesn’t matter what the artist sings. If there are no lawyers that want justice, if there are no engineers that want development, if there are no teachers that are interested in knowledge, if there are no bankers that want to tackle poverty, if there are no farmers that want to fight hunger, there is nothing the musician can sing. It is the professionals that must raise their consciousness, and when they do, they will find out there is a lot of music out there to inspire that which they seek. The music they’re currently fed is [made] to inspire the pleasure they seek. So I don’t have any issues with the musician.
