Afrobeat is a combination of traditional Nigerian music, jazz, music highlife, funk, and chanted

vocals,[1] fused with percussion and vocal styles, popularised in Africa in the 1970s. It was
named by Nigerian multi-instrumentalist and bandleader Fela Kuti, who is responsible for the
creation of the style and spreading the genre outside of Nigeria. [1] Fela used it to revolutionize
musical structure as well as the political context in his country, Nigeria. It was Kuti who coined
the term "afrobeat" upon his return from a U.S. tour with his group Nigeria '70 (formerly Koola
Lobitos). Afrobeat features chants, call-and-response vocals, and complex, interacting rhythms.[1]
The new sound hailed from a club that he established called the Afrika Shrine. Upon arriving in
Nigeria, Kuti also changed the name of his group to Africa '70. The band maintained a five-year
residency in the Afrika Shrine from 1970 to 1975 while afrobeat thrived among Nigerian youth.
Afrobeat is now one of the most recognizable music genres in the world and has influenced as
many Western musicians as it has African ones with its exuberant style and polyrhythms.

Origins
Afrobeat originated from Fuji, heavy Nigerian drumbeats and [highlife]].[2][3] It was later
exported to the southern part of Nigeria in the 1970s, Fela Kuti, experimented with many
different forms of contemporary music of the time.[4][5] Prevalent in his and Lagbaja's music are
native nigerian harmonies and rhythms, taking different elements and combining, modernizing,
and improvising upon them. Politics are essential to Afrobeat, since founder Kuti used social
criticism to pave the way for social change. His message can be described as confrontational and
controversial, which can be related to the political climate of most of the African countries in the
1970s, many of which were dealing with political injustice and military corruption while
recovering from the transition from colonial governments to self-determination. As the genre
spread throughout the African continent many bands took up the style. The recordings of these
bands and their songs were rarely heard or exported outside the originating countries but many
can now be found on compilation albums and CDs from specialist record shops.

Instrumentation
Big band (15 to 30 pieces: Fela-era afrobeat) and energetic performances

Lead vocals (may play sax/key solos as well)

Chorus vocals (may include horn players)

Rhythm guitar(s) (plays funk strumming pattern)

Tenor guitar (plays a finger-picked ostinato groove)

Bass guitar

Drum set, generally in the form polyrhythmic percussion

Saxophone(s)

Trumpet(s)

Trombone(s)

Organ/keyboards

Rhythm conga #1

Rhythm conga #2

Solo (lead) conga

Akuba: a set of 3 small stick-hit Yoruba congas (play flourishes/solos, and ostinatos).
Also mistakenly called "gbedu" (gbedu is the name of a large ceremonial drum), but are
related to the Gbedu.[6]

"Sticks"/claves (plays ostinato)

Shekere

Fela Kuti included the traditional Gbedu drum in his ensemble, with a percussionist pounding
out a thunderous rhythm from a 2.5 metres (8.2 ft) drum lying on its side.[7]

Influence
Many jazz musicians have been attracted to afrobeat. From Roy Ayers in the 1970s to Randy
Weston in the 1990s, there have been collaborations that have resulted in albums such as Africa:
Centre of the World by Roy Ayers, released on the Polydore label in 1981. In 1994 Branford
Marsalis, the American jazz saxophonist, included samples of Fela's "Beast of No Nation" on his
Buckshot LeFonque album. The new generation of DJs and musicians of the 2000s who have
fallen in love with both Kuti's material and other rare releases have made compilations and
remixes of these recordings, thus re-introducing the genre to new generations of listeners and
fans of afropop and groove (see Afrobeats section below).
Afrobeat has profoundly influenced important contemporary producers and musicians like Brian
Eno and David Byrne, who credit Fela Kuti as an essential influence. Both worked on Talking
Heads' highly acclaimed 1980 album Remain In Light, which brought polyrhythmic afrobeat
influences to Western music. More recently, the horn section of Antibalas have been guest
musicians on TV On The Radio's highly acclaimed 2008 album Dear Science, as well as on

British band Foals' 2008 album, Antidotes. Some Afrobeat influence can also be found in the
music of Vampire Weekend and Paul Simon.

Afrobeats
Afrobeats (a term also sometimes used to denote popular popular Nigerian music, hiplife, or
Afropop) is an emerging genre: drawing from broad continental and diasporic sounds.[8][9] The
new genre seeks inspiration from Afrobeat, hiplife, house music, Jamaican dancehall, as well as
various local musics.[10] According to David Drake, the eclectic genre reimagines diasporic
influences andmore often than notcompletely reinvents them. [11] However, some caution
against equating Afrobeats to contemporary pan-African music, in order to prevent the erasure of
local musical contributions.[12]
Afrobeats is primarily produced between Lagos, Accra, and London. Paul Gilroy, of The Black
Atlantic, reflects on the changing London music scene as a result of shifting demographics:
"We are moving towards an African majority which is diverse both in its cultural habits and in its
relationship to colonial and postcolonial governance, so the shift away from Caribbean
dominance needs to be placed in that setting. Most of the grime folks are African kids, either the
children of migrants or migrants themselves. It's not clear what Africa might mean to them" [8]
Many first and second generation African immigrants follow - and produce - Afrobeats music.
Fuse ODG, a UK artist of Ghanaian descent, coins #TINA or This is New Africa as a means to
change perceptions of Africa:
"This movement will shed light on Africa in a positive way and focus on how we can improve
Africa. Its not about just plying your talents in the Western world; its about going back home
and helping Africa."[8]

Notable afrobeat musicians

William Onyeabor

Geraldo Pino

Fela Kuti[1]

Femi Kuti

Seun Kuti

Tony Allen[1]

Cymande

Osibisa

Yinka Davies

Manu Dibango

Dele Sosimi

Kola Ogunkoya

Sonny Okosun

2face Innocent Idibia[1]

Today
There are several active afrobeat bands worldwide today. Afrobeat today is often mixed with
other genres, such as hip hop, makossa, gospel, skelewu, shoki, shakitibobo. dancehall and
galala.[13]
Modern afrobeat bands/artists include:

Tony Allen, drummer, played in Africa 70 and helped define afrobeat in Fela Kuti's band

Femi Kuti, Nigerian musician, son of Fela Kuti

Seun Kuti, Nigerian musician, son of Fela Kuti

Jose Chameleone, Kampala, Uganda

R2Bees, Ghanaian Group

Ad Bantu, German-Nigerian musician

Dela, Kenyan musician

Sauti Sol, Kenyan Group

Wizkid, Nigerian musician

Yinka Davies, Nigerian Musician

Lgbj, Nigerian musician

Sarkodie, Ghanaian rapper

Kokolo, New York City Afrobeat group

Nomo, Ann Arbor-based group that weaves various styles into a primarily Afrobeat sound

The Shaolin Afronauts, are an Adelaide-based instrumental afrobeat band. Their music
incorporates elements of avant-garde jazz, soul and traditional African and Cuban
percussive rhythms.

Afrodizz, an eight-piece band from Montreal, Canada

Antibalas, Brooklyn, New York-based multiracial Afrobeat Orchestra

Funsho Ogundipe, Nigerian musician

Chopteeth, an international 14-piece outfit based in Washington D.C.

Chicago Afrobeat Project, Based in Chicago Il

Afrolicious Afrofunk from Sacramento CA

Dele Sosimi, Nigerian musician and former Fela Kuti and Femi Kuti band member

Weird MC, Nigerian musician

May7ven, UK Based, Nigerian musician

Mr. Something Something, Canadian afrobeat group

Fuse ODG, a British Ghanaian musician

Budos Band, based in New York

Castro de Destroyer, Ghanaian

Afrikan Boy, London based Nigerian Afrobeat rapper

Don Jazzy, head of Mavin Music, Producer, Artist.

Timaya, Nigerian Dancehall Artist

EMEFE, based in New York City[14][15][16]

Atomga, based in Denver CO

See also

Confusion, Fela Kuti Album

Funk

James Brown

Latin Music

References
1.
Grass, Randall F. "Fela Anikulapo-Kuti: The Art of an Afrobeat Rebel". The Drama Review:
TDR (MIT Press) 30: 131148. doi:10.2307/1145717. JSTOR 1145717.