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“I honour the legacy I was born into—but I’m here to expand it, not repeat it. Every song is a search for meaning, truth, and a new kind of freedom.”
– MÁDÉ KUTI
GRAMMY® Award-nominated multi-instrumentalist, composer, and performer Mádé Kuti releases his debut album today. Chapter 1: Where Does Happiness Come From? sees Kuti – the son of Afrobeat legend Femi Kuti – continuing to push Afrobeat forward towards the next generation, blurring the lines of genre as he fuses elements of jazz, psychedelia, and rock, pulling them all into his mesmerizing orbit.
PURCHASE/STREAM CHAPTER 1: WHERE DOES HAPPINESS COME FROM?
The album was initially heralded by “Life As We Know It,” an urgent and groove-laden ode to keeping the focus, led by swirling brass and cyclical beats. The uplifting and hopeful single, “Wait And See," followed. An official music video for the latest single, "You Can't Hide," is streaming now.
"Self-awareness is the first step toward growth," says Kuti. "'You Can’t Hide' is about confronting your worst habits, your flaws, your pain — everything you’d rather ignore. It’s about facing that version of yourself in the mirror, not to shame it, but to fight for something better. I believe personal accountability is how we build stronger families, communities, and nations."
WATCH "YOU CAN'T HIDE" OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO
LISTEN TO “LIFE AS WE KNOW IT”
WATCH "LIFE AS WE KNOW IT" VISUALIZER”
LISTEN TO "WAIT AND SEE"
WATCH “WAIT AND SEE” VISUALIZER
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Mádé Kuti has been making waves in the music scene with his unique sound and style since the age of 8, when he began playing bass guitar and saxophone in his father’s band, The Positive Force. A graduate of London’s Trinity Laban Conservatoire for Music and Dance, where he studied composition, Kuti showcased his own exceptional skills by playing all instruments on his 2021 debut album, For(e)ward, released as part of the Legacy + double-album alongside his father’s Stop the Hate. The collection was met by worldwide applause, earning a prestigious GRAMMY® Award nomination for “Best Global Album” alongside plaudits from the likes of The Guardian, MOJO, Uncut, NME, Loud and Quiet, The Observer, Record Collector, The Wire, The Independent, The Line of Best Fit, DJ Mag, and more.
Kuti formed his band, The Movement, that same year and has since performed at prestigious venues and festivals around the world, including Paris, France’s Philharmonie de Paris, Zanzibar’s annual Sauti Za Busara festival, and South Africa’s African Energy Week. Along with his own dynamic work, Kuti has joined forces with a number of diverse fellow artists for notable collaborations including Coldplay’s acclaimed “Arabesque” (as well a memorable live performance at 2024’s Glastonbury Festival), PJ Morton’s “Who You Are,” and Morgan Heritage’s “I’ll Be There,” to name only a few.
Now, with the bold and introspective Chapter 1: Where Does Happiness Come From?, Mádé Kuti continues to evolve as a reflective and radical voice in modern Afrobeat, exploring the true meaning of happiness in a world shaped by inequality, misinformation, and cultural disconnection with his signature blend of Afrobeat, jazz, alternative compositional techniques, and deeply personal lyricism. Across the project, Kuti fuses tradition and experimentation to question, reflect, and challenge what we often accept as success or progress, unpacking the societal contradictions we all live with – mansions beside homelessness, comfort built on silence, and the myth that material wealth equals happiness. Kuti doesn’t preach; he probes. At its heart, the album is not just a critique – it is a call. A call for togetherness, shared responsibility, and the courage to ask better questions about who we are and what kind of world we want to build.
Among its many thought-provoking highlights, Chapter 1: Where Does Happiness Come From? also includes the recently premiered “I Won’t Run Away,” a seven-minute epic rich in infectious beats and unforgettable toplines available everywhere now, accompanied by an official lyric visualizer streaming now on YouTube.
LISTEN TO “I WON’T RUN AWAY”
WATCH “I WON’T RUN AWAY” OFFICIAL LYRIC VISUALIZER
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MÁDÉ KUTI
CHAPTER 1: WHERE DOES HAPPINESS COME FROM?
(LegacyPlus Records)
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