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“Sex is life, that’s what I believe”: A look into Fela Kuti’s biography

The late Nigerian multi-instrumentalist, musician and composer Fela Kuti lived a very interesting life.

Published in 2010, the musician’s authorized biography ‘Fela: This Bitch of a Life’ definitely deserves a spot on the list of books one should read before death.

The book, first published in 1982, is based on hours of conversation with the Kuti and interviews with 15 of his 27 wives.

During the long and interesting conversation, author Carlos Moore questioned the music legend about his wives and the love for women. This was what Kuti had to say:

“OK What attracted me to each of them? Sex! I thought they were sexy and f***able. That’s what attracts me to a woman first. Some came to my house on their own. Others, I had come. Why? ‘Cause I wanted to f*** them. That was all. I wanted a house where I could be f***ing and I had it. It grew into something else after though. Something special. But it started just with sex.

The desire to f***. Man, the one most important thing in the human being is that life-giving and pleasurable sensation: sexual orgasm. And that’s what’s being condemned the most. Yeah. Somebody was asking me, trying to put down my ideas, if I thought sex was politics. “No, I don’t,” I said. “Sex is life.”That’s what I believe. Me, I f**k as often and as long as I can-o! Now, it’s not even a matter of choice.

“When I married twenty-seven women I knew what I was doing-o! Did I sleep with all of them on the night of the marriage? No. Man, I said I married twenty-seven, not seven! I only slept with one. The one next in turn. I followed my normal procedure.

You see, before I married them I’d told them: “Look, when I marry you, I’m gonna do the same thing I was doing before with you. It’s gonna be the same house, the same thing, but just that we’re married.”

The well known musician died on 2 August 1997 at the age of 58. He work is still celebrated all over the world.

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