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Entertainment

Nigeria: How I Met, Collaborated With Damian Marley On ‘Heavier Yet’ Album – Seun Kuti

todayOctober 28, 2024 3

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“The Kutis and Marleys have never made music. How weird is that? Our fathers both stood for the same thing with their music; they sang to and for the restoration of our people’s dignity…”

Singer Seun Kuti has revealed how his collaboration with Jamaican deejay and singer Damian Marley on his latest album, ‘Heavier Yet (Lays The Crownless Head)’, came about.

The album, released on 4 October, featured Damian, the son of the late Jamaican music icon, songwriter, and guitarist Bob Marley on the track ‘Dey’.

The album was produced by a stellar team, including rock legend Lenny Kravitz (executive producer), Fela Kuti, and Egypt 80’s original producer Sodi Marciszewer (artistic producer).

In a recent interview on The Ebro Show on Apple Music 1, Seun said the collaboration with Damian Marley came during their first meeting.

He said the collaboration was born out of mutual respect work–with both recognising how their fathers used music as a powerful tool to restore dignity and hope to their people during times of hardship.

He said: “Oh, man. I met Damian for the first time in Oni. We met backstage at a concert in France. I remember it was a concert called Euro Cairns or something long ago. The vibe has always been real since then. This time was just like a light bulb moment. And I have to give credit to my manager for that.

“The Kutis and Marleys have never made music. How weird is that? Our fathers both stood for the same thing with their music; they sang to and for the restoration of our people’s dignity and gave us something to hold on to at our lowest. And it was weird that these two giants never made musi”.

He described the collaboration as a historic opportunity, likening it to the musical legacy created by the Kuti and Marley families.

The son of the late Afrobeat pioneer, Fela Kuti, shared that his collaboration with Damian Marley was far smoother than he expected.

“I just sent him the whole album. He loved it. And he picked this track, and the rest, as they say, is history. We had to work the arrangements a bit to fit his vision of the sound, but other than that, yeah. And he went and surprised me by picking Dey. I thought we were going to pick something else”, he said.

Emi Aluta

Additionally, the 41-year-old revealed the inspiration behind his track ‘Emi Aluta’, which he recorded with Sampa the Great and released in June 2022.