By the time the internet turned the feud into a trending spectacle, the battle lines had already been drawn—not just between two musical worlds, but between history and modern stardom.
In the swirling storm of social media outrage and celebrity reactions, one voice rose above the noise with calm, memory, and emotion: Yeni Kuti.
The eldest daughter of Afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapo Kuti chose not to join the war of words between her brother, Seun Kuti, and global music star Wizkid. Instead, she offered something rare in celebrity conflicts—perspective.
“I love Wizkid a lot,” she said softly, yet firmly, as she addressed the controversy on the TVC programme Your View. “You know, Wizkid is my padi now. When two giants fight, it’s the grass that suffers. I refuse to enter some of the insults that they are hauling because I love Wizkid a lot.”
Her words landed like a reminder in a heated room: beyond the insults, beyond the ego, beyond the trending hashtags, lies a deeper story of shared history and cultural legacy.
From Shrine to Stardom
To Yeni, Wizkid is not just a superstar—he is part of the Kuti family’s musical journey.
“We have come a long way together. I remember when we started that shrine, he was a backup singer during Felabration,” she recalled.
In those early days, long before sold-out arenas and global charts, Wizkid had crossed paths with the Afrobeat dynasty at the iconic Shrine. For Yeni, that shared past makes the current feud feel deeply personal—and painfully unnecessary.
“So, there’s no way I can ever not like Wizkid,” she added. “I like him and I wish at the beginning, he had quickly put a stop to it but he didn’t.”
A Nation Watching, a Legacy at Stake
The feud began after Seun Kuti accused Wizkid’s fanbase of disrespecting Fela’s legacy by comparing the Afrobeat pioneer to the Grammy-winning star. The disagreement escalated when Wizkid fired back with blunt posts, sparking debates across Nigeria’s entertainment space about legacy, relevance, and greatness. (Vanguard News)
But Yeni believes the argument has gone beyond personalities—it now threatens something larger.
“Let’s mend fences, we are one people,” she urged. “We’re just about to go and celebrate our icon at the Grammy and you’re all doing as if you are trying to dent it. It’s not Fela or Fela family that you are denting, it’s all Nigeria.”
Her comparison was striking:
“Did you Bob Marley people do that? They don’t do that.”
Beyond Comparison, Beyond Conflict
For Yeni, the endless comparison between Fela and modern stars misses the point entirely.
“Whichever way you look at it, this one is bigger than Fela, that one is bigger than Fela. He started the genre of music, he’s an icon,” she said.
Then came her most poignant reflection—part lament, part tribute:
“What people don’t understand is Fela has been dead for 27 years. And you are still mentioning his name. That’s just answer to his greatness. So let’s just respect that.”
A Call for Peace in Afrobeat’s House
In a conflict driven by pride, fandom, and generational rivalry, Yeni Kuti’s voice stands out—not as a combatant, but as a bridge between eras.
Her message is simple yet powerful: legends are not diminished by comparisons, and greatness should unite, not divide.
As Nigeria prepares to celebrate Fela on the global stage, her words echo like a warning—and a prayer:
When giants fight, the grass should not be Nigeria’s cultural heritage.
