Popular Nigerian singer and producer Augustine Miles Kelechi, known professionally as Tekno, has challenged the long-held narrative positioning afrobeat pioneer Fela Anikulapo-Kuti as the sole founder of Afrobeats.
Speaking in an interview with Hot 97 FM in New York, the hitmaker argued that the genre’s origins are far more diverse, pointing to eastern Nigerian music icons who shaped soundscapes that laid the groundwork for modern African pop.
Eastern Legends Deserve Greater Recognition
Tekno emphasized that while Fela is globally celebrated for taking Afrobeat to an international audience, artists from other regions contributed heavily to the genre’s foundations without receiving comparable accolades.
“Fela is not the originator of Afrobeats. Lagos people and the Yorubas might say he is the one, but I am from the East, and we had legends like Oliver De Coque,” Tekno stated during the interview. “Oliver De Coque made pure highlife music. Highlife is also Afrobeats.”
He went on to credit his early home environment for shaping his musical sensibilities, noting that his father regularly played eastern highlife classics.
“Fela Took It International, But Others Built the Foundation”
While pushing back against the single-origin narrative, Tekno acknowledged Fela’s massive legacy and personal influence on his own catalog, specifically referencing his hit single “Rara.”
“My song ‘Rara’ is heavily inspired by Fela because I heard his music while growing up. He is a legend. He was the one who took Afrobeat international. But there are other people that we listen to. In the East, we had some legends who sang some type of music that, if you heard today, you wouldn’t believe was made in those times,” Tekno explained.
He concluded by urging music lovers and historians to broaden their perspective when tracing the lineage of contemporary Nigerian sound:
“I feel like these legends deserved more recognition. I would say I was more inspired by Oliver De Coque and his peers from the East. Fela gets all the credit because he travelled and performed with his band around the world. To some people, he is the originator of Afrobeats, but to me, there are a bunch of them—legends that no one speaks about.”
