Femi Kuti Speaks On What It Takes To Win The Grammys – Says It Is Political

“For the fourth time, Afrobeat King, Femi Kuti lost the Grammy Award. The saxophonist was not bothered about not winning , Rather he insisted his music is his priority. Reacting to how his fans felt about him losing out.. Here is what he said in a recent interview conducted by Encomium Magazine….

It is understandable because if you listen to the album , No Place For My Drama, you will realize it will worth the award. The album deserved to win but I know it takes to win. The Grammy is very political, the voting process is complex. There was an argument last award where it was said some people were robbed. The person who won the Best World Music Album had to apologist later, he is not surprise to win. A lot of voting are involved and if you play the political game very well you would win. From Lagos here, I don’t have the means to play that political game . I have to no intention to play along.

My record company doesn’t have the financial muscle to play the game, to put your album in every radio station in America to make sure everybody who wants to vote listen to that album. It is very complex and if you don’t have what it takes to do that, you stand no chance of winning. However, I won’t allow that to make me lose focus on why I started music. I have to move on. I am not heart-broken. It is not a love affair like my wife left me.

On my Twitter, many people were upset I didn’t win. The Gipsy King were nominated six times before they won; the band from South Africa , they have been nominated five times before they won. They have been winning in the traditional music category before it was abolished and they were moved World Music category. None of them turned up for the award. They were too bitter that anytime they turned up they never won. It was their management that was at the awards. My problem now is how to do another album better than No Place For My Dream. It is a great album that is difficult to beat and if I get nominated for the fifth time I would open a bottle of Champagne to celebrate.”