Why I interrogate society in my latest single ‘Stand Well Well’ – Seun Kuti

Seun Kuti

Published By: Ayorinde Oluokun

By Nehru Odeh

Grammy-nominated artiste Seun Kuti has announced the release of his latest single, “Stand Well Well” on all digital platforms on Tuesday 10 September 2024.

“Stand Well Well” is the third and final single from his forthcoming album, Heavier Yet (Lays The Crownless Head) which will be released on 4 October. The album release will be a prelude to Seun’s European and UK Heavier yet tour which starts 10 October.

Inspired by Aldous Huxley’s 1932 dystopian novel “Brave New World”, which is set in a futuristic world where citizens are arranged into social hierarchy challenged by the protagonist, Stand Well Well does not only interrogate society, it also questions the accuracy of George Orwell’s novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four.

“I wanted to throw a jab at what society looks like to me,” Seun explains. “Everything in the world today looks the same. Everybody likes the same stuff and does the same things. It reminds me of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. A lot of people talk about George Orwell’s 1984 as a prediction of our times, but I don’t think he was as accurate. He was far from accurate, but Brave New World was accurate because I see it in my everyday life.”

The first two singles, “Dey (featuring Damian Marley)” and “T.O.P.”, have already hit international airwaves on stations like BBC Radio 6 Music, KCRW, KEXP, Radio France Internationale (RFI), France Inter Paris (FIP), RadioEINS, Cool FM Nigeria, Wazobia FM, and more.

Seun, the youngest son of Afrobest legend Fela Anikukapo Kuti, is renowned for his captivating global performances and socially conscious musiic and has spent most of his life preserving and extending his father’s political and musical legacy.

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He joined Fela’s band Egypt 80 as a developing saxophonist and percussionist before the age of 12. And in fulfilment of his father’s wishes, he assumed the leadership of the band following the death of his father in 1997. .

Seun has also made his mark as a political activist and voice for the people of Nigeria, primarily via social media platforms. He was a participant in the Occupy Nigeria and #EndSARS protests and has revived Movement of the People (M.O.P.), a political party established by his father in 1979 that was quashed by the military government shortly after Fela’s failed presidential bid.

Seun has released four albums namely, Many Things (2008); From Africa With Fury: Rise (2011), which was co-produced by Brian Eno and John Reynolds; A Long Way to the Beginning (2014); and Grammy-nominated Black Times (2018), which includes a feature from Carlos Santana.

Seun has also joined forces with countless notable artists, including Janelle Monae on the singles “Float” and “Knows Better” from her Grammy-nominated album The Age of Pleasure (2023); Talib Kweli and Madlib on the song “Nat Turner,” which features Cassper Nyovest, from their album Liberation 2 (2023); The Roots’ co-founder and emcee Black Thought on their EP African Dreams (2022); and Vic Mensa on the record “Bad Man Lighter 2.0,” which is a new version of Seun and Black Thought’s hip-hop remix of a single from Black Times.

His song “Dey”, which is a collaboration with reggae icon and four-time Grammy Award-winner Damian Marley released on June 26, has been submitted for consideration in the Best African Music Performance category of the 2025 Grammy Awards.

The track is produced by a team of top-tier artists, including superstar Lenny Kravitz (executive producer) and original Fela Kuti and Egypt 80 engineer Sodi Marciszewer (artistic producer).

And it marks an historic moment for African art and unity. The record was made available on a limited edition 7” vinyl on September 6.