THE AFRICAN COURIER. Reporting Africa and its Diaspora! The African Courier is an international magazine published in Germany to report on Africa and the Diaspora African experience. The first issue of the bimonthly magazine appeared on the newsstands on 15 February 1998. The African Courier is a communication forum for European-African political, economic and cultural exchanges, and a voice for Africa in Europe.
Afrobeat pioneer and cultural icon Fela Anikulapo-Kuti has made history by becoming the first African artist to receive a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. The honour was bestowed at a special ceremony held on 31 January 2026, ahead of this year’s Grammy Awards, nearly three decades after Fela’s death in 1997.
Members of the Kuti family, including Fela’s children, accepted the award on his behalf, describing the moment as both emotional and symbolic. For many, the recognition represents a long-overdue acknowledgment of an artist whose influence reshaped global music and political expression.
A milestone for African music
Fela Kuti’s Grammy honour is widely seen as a watershed moment for African music. As the creator of Afrobeat—a genre blending jazz, funk, highlife and traditional Yoruba rhythms with sharp political commentary—Fela laid the foundation for much of today’s global Afrobeats movement. Yet during his lifetime, despite international acclaim and a prolific output, he was never nominated for a Grammy.
Industry figures and cultural commentators have hailed the award as a validation of Africa’s creative power. Musicians and producers point out that Fela’s work influenced generations of artists across Africa, Europe and the Americas, from jazz and funk legends to contemporary hip-hop and Afrobeats stars. His music, they say, proved that African sounds could be both deeply local and unmistakably global.
Fela’s son, Femi Kuti, described the recognition as “a victory for Africa,” noting that his father’s music was always about justice, dignity and freedom. His grandson, Made Kuti, added that the award confirms Fela’s place among the world’s most important musical innovators, regardless of geography.
Recognition meets resistance
The posthumous honour also revives a long-standing debate: would Fela have accepted a Grammy if it had been offered during his lifetime?
Fela was famously anti-establishment and openly critical of Western political and cultural institutions, which he saw as complicit in the exploitation of Africa. He often rejected official honours and clashed with authorities, both in Nigeria and abroad. For this reason, some observers believe he might have viewed a Grammy with suspicion, questioning its motives and the system behind it.
Others argue that Fela, ever the strategist, might have accepted such an award as a platform to amplify his message of resistance and African self-determination. As one cultural commentator put it, the irony of the establishment honouring a lifelong rebel is precisely what makes the moment so powerful.
A legacy sealed
Ultimately, Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award is about more than a trophy. It is a global affirmation of African creativity, protest music and cultural confidence. By honouring Fela, the Recording Academy has also acknowledged the profound impact of African music on the world stage—an impact that continues to grow, long after Fela’s voice was silenced, but never his message.
Adira Kallo
