Afrobeat musician Seun Kuti has accused global pop star Wizkid of taking his nickname online.
He made the claim during a recent livestream after a Wizkid fan urged him to change his nickname from “Big Bird” because Wizkid also goes by “Biggest Bird.”
Seun told the fan to advise Wizkid to be original, stressing that he has been using the name long before Wizkid. He said: “Wizkid stole my name. Tell your fave to be original. Why are you telling me to change my name? Sorry, I can’t change it. This name has been here since. I am the first to come up with it. I am not dragging it with anybody, please.”
Seun also addressed comparisons between Wizkid and his late father, Afrobeat pioneer Fela Anikulapo‑Kuti. He said: “It’s an insult to Fela to call Wizkid the new Fela.” He added: “I can say Wizkid is the greatest singer in the world. I can say Wizkid is the greatest artiste of all time — it carries weight. Why must you now add ‘more than Fela’?”
Expressing frustration at what he described as a constant habit of pitting modern stars against cultural icons, Seun said: “Every day these clowns keep on doing mistakes, all the time. And I would understand if we were the kind of family that lord our father’s greatness over everybody — no, we don’t. We are very humble. We don’t even cross our lane, but they always cross our lane, just to drag this man down. Leave my father, let him rest.”
Seun pointed out that other countries preserve the legacies of their icons without forcing comparisons with new stars. “Go to Jamaica, they have created many new stars, but you will never hear anybody say this one is the new Bob Marley. Go to South Africa, you will not see them doing it to Yvonne Chaka Chaka. Go to America, you will never see them doing it to James Brown or Aretha Franklin. If you want Wizkid to be great, he is the greatest. I agree. Just leave my father alone,” he said.
The 43-year-old had earlier stated that calling Wizkid the new Fela is disrespectful.
Seun’s sister, Motunrayo Kuti, also weighed in online, expressing her disapproval of the comparisons. She wrote that Wizkid is cancelled in the context of such debates, echoing her brother’s sentiment that Fela’s influence cannot be replicated.
