Fela Had Enough Money To Buy The Whole Computer Village, Buy He Opened A Box For Anyone To Take -Kuti

Musician and grandson of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti, Mádé Kuti, has revealed the surprising truth about his grandfather’s finances, explaining that Fela died poor despite his global fame due to his boundless generosity and a complete disregard for financial management. Kuti stated that his grandfather had enough money at his peak to have “bought the whole of Computer Village.”

In his appearance on the “Tea With Tay” podcast, Kuti detailed how Fela had the “worst people around him” and an open-house policy that allowed anyone to take money from him at will. He would return from a successful show, open a box full of cash, and simply let anyone from the street walk in and take what they needed, with no questions asked.

Mádé Kuti in words: “Fela was the kind of person that when he made a bunch of cash, he had the kind of money that could have bought the whole of Computer Village. But he would come back from a show, go to Kalakuta, open a box of money and say, ‘Anybody that needs, take.’ Anybody from the street would walk into Fela’s house…....