A Platform for Ethnically and Culturally Inspired Music
The French word for “shiver” is “frisson,” but in this instance, we’re not shivering
from the cold; rather, we’re trembling from the stimulation of Afrobeats music.
Traditional Yoruba music, jazz, West African highlife, and funk were combined to
create the musical genre known as afrobeat in the 1960s and 1970s. The Nigerian
musician Fela Kuti, known for his colorful personality, musical prowess, and
involvement in post-colonial African politics, is credited with creating
the original afrobeat genre.
Jazz musicians have been drawn to Afrobeat in large numbers. Collaborations
have given rise to albums like Roy Ayers’ 1981 Polydore label record Africa:
Center of the World, which spans the decades from the 1970s with Roy Ayers
to the 1990s with Randy Weston. Fela’s “Beasts of No Nation” was sampled by
jazz saxophonist Branford Marsalis in 1994 for his Buckshot LeFonque album.
Important modern producers and musicians like Brian Eno and David Byrne,
who acknowledge Fela Kuti as a major influence, say that afrobeat has had
a significant impact on their work. Both worked on Talking Heads’ highly
acclaimed 1980 album Remain in Light, which brought polyrhythmic Afrobeat
influences to Western music. 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.
A tiny Afrobeat movement emerged in Brooklyn, New York, in the late
1990s and early 2000s, with groups like Antibalas, The Daktaris, and
the Kokolo Afrobeat Orchestra. Since then, other performers have
emerged on the scene, including Zongo Junction. Many additional
artists, including The Budos Band and El Michels Affair, two bands
affiliated with Daptone Records, have credited Afrobeat as an
influence. Both the critically praised 2008 album by TV on the Radio,
Dear Science, and the 2008 album by the British band Foals, Antidotes,
featured the Antibalas horn section as guest performers. Paul Simon
and Vampire Weekend both use some Afrobeat elements in their music.
Antibalas was a Grammy Award nominee for Best Global Music Album
in 2020.
Following in the footsteps of Fela Kuti are Afrobeat musicians from
the 2000s and today, such as his sons Femi Kuti and Seun Kuti, Franck
Biyong & Massak (from Cameroon), Segun Damisa & the Afro-beat Crusaders,
Shaolin Afronauts (from Adelaide, Australia), Newen Afrobeat (from
Santiago, Chile), Eddy Taylor & the Heartphones (from Cologne, Germany
(from Vilnius, Lithuania),Afrodizz and Dele Sosimi and the ex-Africa ’70
members Oghene Kologbo (guitar) with Afrobeat Academy, Nicholas Addo-Nettey
(percussion), who is also known as Pax Nicholas [de], with Ridimtaksi
(both based in Berlin, Germany). Namibian artist EES (Eric Sell)
associates Afrobeat with reggae and kwaito.
The Broadway production Fela! was created by the music company Knitting
Factory Records (KFR) in 2009. The narrative told the tale of Kuti’s life
as well as his “courage and extraordinary musical talent.” The play received
three Tony nominations for Best Costumes, Best Sound, and Best Choreography
out of its 11 total nominations. Produced by well-known people like Shawn
“Jay-Z” Carter and Will and Jada Pinkett-Smith, Fela! spent 15 months on
Broadway. Denzel Washington, Madonna, Sting, Spike Lee (who watched it
eight times), Kofi Annan, and Michelle Obama are just a few of the famous
people who were spotted at the performances. Sandra Izsadore is portrayed
in the movie by former Destiny’s Child vocalist Michelle Williams.
Afrobeats has gotten to a point now where it’s surviving without the
co-signs of major players like Drake, Jay-Z and others.
The influence of the genre has now spread outside of West African artists
with R&B artists like Beyoncé, Chris Brown and Roy Woods plus British pop
singers like Dua Lipa and Anne-Marie incorporating the sounds into
hits of their own.
