Fela’s Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award: I’m So Honoured to Be His Daughter, Shalewa Kuti

“This honour reminds us that although his voice was often resisted, it was never silenced. The award is a celebration of his courage, his art, and his unwavering commitment to freedom and dignity,” says Shalewa Kuti, daughter of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Anikulapo Kuti, reflecting on her father’s historic Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

As the Recording Academy honours Fela with this landmark recognition, global attention has once again turned to the Kuti family, not only for legacy, but for the individuals actively shaping Afrobeat’s modern presence. On Saturday night at the Grammys Special Merit Awards, Fela Kuti received the Lifetime Achievement Award alongside music legends Chaka Khan, Cher, Carlos Santana, Paul Simon, and Whitney Houston.

The honour was presented by the Recording Academy in Los Angeles, with his children, Yeni, Femi, Kunle, and Shalewa Kuti. Accepting the award on his behalf, celebrating his lasting Afrobeat legacy. One name drawing renewed interest amid this moment is Shalewa Kuti.

Shalewa, born Omosalewa Anikulapo-Kuti, is far from a background figure in Afrobeat history. She is a professional DJ, music producer, creative entrepreneur, and a lawyer by education, known in music circles as DJ Shaarks. Her work places her at the intersection of Afrobeat’s roots and its contemporary global evolution, a position that has become especially relevant as the
Grammys spotlight Afrobeat’s origins.

Unlike the performance-led paths of some of her siblings, Shalewa carved her own lane behind the scenes and on the turntables. She studied Mass Communication at Moshood Abiola Polytechnic before going on to study law at the University of Lagos, later expanding her music and industry training in the United Kingdom, including studies at Point Blank Music School and the University of Hertfordshire.

Her career spans DJ culture, music production, and event curation, with a clear focus on Afrobeat-inspired sounds and cross-border collaborations. Under her imprint Shaarks Music, she has released and promoted music projects that connect Afrobeat to contemporary African club culture, including collaborations with South African artists.

Shalewa has also played a direct role in expanding Afrobeat’s reach through her involvement with Felabration, the annual celebration of Fela’s life and music. In 2019, she organised Felabration UK, helping take the festival beyond Nigeria and introducing Afrobeat’s history to new international audiences, a move that aligns closely with the Grammys’ growing recognition of African music.

The timing of Kuti’s Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award has placed fresh emphasis on Afrobeat’s origin story, especially as Afrobeats continues to dominate global charts. For many observers, Shalewa Kuti represents a bridge between these two worlds: the politically charged Afrobeat foundation created by Fela, and the modern African music ecosystem shaped by DJs, producers, and cultural curators.

In past interviews, Shalewa has acknowledged the weight of carrying the Kuti name, describing it as both a responsibility and a challenge. Yet her career choices reflect a deliberate effort to build credibility on her own terms, through education, technical skill, and industry participation rather than symbolism alone.

As Grammy conversations continue to spotlight Afrobeat’s influence on global music, Shalewa’s name is increasingly surfacing as audiences look beyond the icon and toward the people actively sustaining and evolving the culture today.

With Afrobeat now formally recognised by the Recording Academy, the focus is no longer only on where the sound came from, but on who is shaping where it goes next. And in that conversation, Shalewa is firmly in the frame