ARTIST BIO:

Mádé Kuti is a multi-instrumentalist, composer/arranger, and Afrobeat artist/performer whose music carries forward a legacy while carving a path of its own. The son of Femi Kuti and grandson of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti, Mádé was raised in The New Afrika Shrine, surrounded by rhythm, resistance, and live sound.

He picked up the saxophone at age five and joined his father’s Positive Force band as a child—touring globally and performing at venues like Glastonbury and the Hollywood Bowl before the age of ten. Later, he trained at London’s Trinity Laban Conservatoire, where Fela once studied, mastering up to six instruments including saxophone, trumpet, bass, guitar, and Piano. His intensive daily practice and eclectic music taste—from jazz to alternative rock— shape a sound that’s distinctly his.

In 2021, Mádé released his debut album For(e)ward, a modern Afrobeat manifesto addressing issues like corruption, inequality, and police brutality. The album was packaged with his father’s Stop the Hate under the joint title Legacy+, earning the pair a Grammy nomination for Best Global Music Album in 2022. On For(e)ward, Mádé played every instrument himself— delivering a raw, politically charged record rooted in personal conviction and national consciousness.

He formed his band, The Movement, that same year and headlined his first solo show at The Shrine on April 4, 2021. In 2024, he expanded his reach across the continent with a standout performance at Tanzania’s Sauti Za Busara Festival.

Following the release of singles like Stand Tall and No More Wars, Mádé Kuti returned in 2025 with I Won’t Run Away—a deeply personal new track and the first offering from his upcoming studio album, Chapter 1: Where Does Happiness Come From? set for release in July 2025.

Mádé continues to evolve as a thoughtful voice in modern Afrobeat, blending tradition with experimentation and staying true to a message that’s both reflective and radical.