Tekno says Fela was never his king and he still doesn't listen to him, names his real musical inspiration

• Tekno says Fela Kuti was never his musical “king” and that he did not grow up listening to the Afrobeat pioneer.

• The singer names Igbo highlife legend Oliver De Coque as the artist he considers his king.

• Tekno says only his song ‘Rara’ sounds like Fela's Afrobeat, while hits such as ‘Pana’ and ‘Duro’ came from a different musical background.

Nigerian singer Tekno has said the late Afrobeat pioneer Fela Anikulapo-Kuti was never a musical influence on him growing up, naming Igbo highlife legend Oliver De Coque as the artist he considers his "king."

Speaking on an episode of Yanga FM that aired Wednesday, Tekno said: "Fela was not my king and he will never be my king." He explained that he grew up in Bauchi, where his Igbo father raised him around no Yoruba speakers, adding: "I didn't listen to Fela growing up."

He said the only track in his own catalogue that sounds like Fela's Afrobeat is ‘Rara,’ noting that hits such as ‘Duro,’ ‘Pana’ and ‘Yawa’ come from a different musical place entirely. 

He was careful to distinguish this from disputing Fela's legacy, saying he never claimed Fela wasn't the originator of Afrobeat, only that Fela's sound was not part of his own upbringing. Asked who his king is, he named Oliver De Coque and said there were "two or three" other legends he could not immediately recall by name.

Tekno, born Augustine Miles Kelechi Okechukwu on 17 December 1992, is from Ivo in Ebonyi State but was born in Bauchi and raised across Nasarawa, Kaduna and Abuja, moving frequently as his father served in the Nigerian Army. 

He began formal music training at age eight and has since built a career on hits including ‘Pana,’ ‘Duro’ and ‘Yawa,’ alongside ‘Enjoy,’ which featured in an episode of the Emmy-winning series Ted Lasso. He is the older brother of fellow singer Spotless.

His comments follow an earlier interview on New York radio station Hot 97 last month, in which Tekno argued that Fela should not be regarded as Afrobeats' sole originator, pointing instead to the contributions of Eastern Nigerian highlife musicians such as Oliver De Coque. 

That interview sparked debate online over musical credit and regional identity in Nigerian music history, a conversation his latest comments have reopened.

On other topics raised in the Yanga FM interview, Tekno said he would like to work with Olamide and Fola on future projects. He also addressed rumours of a falling-out with fellow singer Kizz Daniel, saying the two remain on good terms and describing reports of a rift as unsubstantiated.

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