Afrobeat history
A genre created by Nigerian musician Fela Kuti in the late 1960s, fusing Yoruba music, highlife, jazz, and funk into extended, politically charged compositions.
In Depth
Afrobeat was essentially invented by one person: Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, who combined the horn-driven arrangements of James Brown's funk, the improvisatory spirit of jazz, the rhythmic foundations of Yoruba traditional music, and the guitar-band format of West African highlife into something entirely new. His band Africa 70 (later Egypt 80) featured up to 30 musicians, and songs regularly exceeded 15 minutes, built on hypnotic, interlocking polyrhythmic grooves.
Fela used Afrobeat as a weapon of political protest against Nigeria's military governments, singing in pidgin English to reach the widest audience. His compound, the Kalakuta Republic, was raided multiple times by soldiers. Tony Allen, his drummer, is widely credited as the co-creator of the Afrobeat rhythm — his polyrhythmic drumming style is one of the most influential in modern music. After Fela's death in 1997, his sons Femi and Seun Kuti continued the tradition, while artists like Antibalas and Budos Band spread Afrobeat globally.
Tony Allen, Fela Kuti's drummer, was named by Brian Eno as "perhaps the greatest drummer who has ever lived" — his polyrhythmic style essentially created the rhythmic foundation of Afrobeat single-handedly.