If you are the child of a famous musician, there are two paths that you can take: embrace your parent’s legacy or run as far as you can in the opposite direction. That pressure is compounded when your parent not only helps create an entire genre of music, but also has an extensive resume as an activist. Any one of those considerations would be enough to give someone the jitters, let alone all three. That’s the background noise to the career of Fela Kuti’s youngest son, Seun, but instead of running away from it, Seun seemingly jumped in headfirst. When his father died as a result of AIDS in 1997, the 14-year-old became the frontman of Fela’s band, Egypt 80. It would be more than a decade before Seun released an album, but he benefited from having years of experience spent performing his father’s music to help him slowly emerge as his own man when it came to performing. However, as the cliché goes, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Seun has fully embraced his father’s sonic past and activist legacy, and those sides are all prevalent on his latest album, A Long Way to the Beginning (Knitting Factory Records).

There’s a fine line between tribute and mimicry, but Seun stays comfortably on the right side of that division. And just looking at the tracklisting, you can spot a glaring difference from his pops: eight songs and a 45-minute run time. In Fela’s hand, it would be three songs for an hour of music. But there are also clear and undeniable parallels. Like his father and his older brother Femi, Seun is a saxophone-wielding bandleader. And like his father, he uses pointed and confrontational political language in his music. Take, for example, “IMF,” the opening track. For most of the world, it stands for International Monetary Fund, but here it’s an abbreviation for “International Motherfuckers” as Seun rails against the institution’s influence in Africa. And that’s only the beginning. Neocolonialism, the undue influence of media on beauty standards, and a host of other issues are front and center targets on the record. But instead of sticking strictly to the Afrobeat of his father, Seun brings nu-disco, hip-hop, and R&B into the proceedings. The new styles may come from the influence of his co-producer Robert Glaser, who similarly merges styles, or simply a conscious attempt to step out from Fela’s shadow.

A Long Way to the Beginning is a glaring example of not being paralyzed by the past. Seun manages to honor his heritage while also moving it to the present. It’s also an undeniably groove-oriented album, and Seun seems determined to move asses as much as minds. The horns are taut and driving, the drums hypnotically nimble, and Egypt 80’s playing is tighter than shrunken wool. If it is indeed A Long Way to the Beginning, then this a great start to the journey.