The Nigerian Afrobeats artist and activist will release 'Journey Through Life' via Partisan Records on April 25. Produced, written and arranged entirely by Kuti, it was recorded at Nigeria's Legacy Plus studios, built by the Kuti family, with mixing by Sodi at Studio Zarma in Paris, France. Kuti commented:
"'Journey Through Life' is basically a summary of my life from my childhood to adulthood. All through my life family has been a solid foundation, from my parents, grandparents, to my siblings, cousins and now my children, my nieces and nephews, soon my grandchildren, and true to my song at the end of the day for me family is all that matters. I believe many events happen in our lives that draw us away from each other like an undercurrent, but the essence is to manage such events and let love prevail.
"Most importantly too, is to forgive oneself for mistakes we make in life, as we strive to make corrections to improve our wellbeing and characters and always find peace and harmony with our minds, body and soul."
To coincide with the news, Kuti has shared a new single, After 24 Years, which combines horns, keyboard melodies and Afrobeat rhythms with socio-political lyrics. He explained:
"After 24 Years is summarising the last 24 years of our leadership in Nigeria (from 1999 to 2023). Since my track Sorry Sorry was released in 1998 on the album 'Shoki Shoki', where I sang that our politicians and soldiers were one and the same, Nigeria went into another democratic dispensation in 1999, and true to the words of the track Sorry Sorry, our politicians have proven me right that they govern as bad if not worse than the military dictatorship.
"After 24 Years was written and the recording was completed in November 2023. It’s nearly two years after the recording was completed that the track is being released and unfortunately not much has changed except we’re now two years distant from its creation."
Kuti previously teased the record with last November's single Politics Don Expose Them.
His most recent studio album is 2021's 'Stop The Hate', though in 2023 he collaborated with Detroit techno pioneer Robert Hood for the 'Variations' EP.
'Journey Through Life' tracklist:
1. Journey Through Life
2. Chop And Run
3. After 24 Years
4. Corruption Na Stealing
5. Politics Don Expose Them
6. Shotan
7. Oga Doctor
8. Last Mugu
9. Work On Myself
10. Think My People Think
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