Afrobeat

Afrobeat is a genre developed in Nigeria in the late 1960s and early 1970s, principally by the bandleader Fela Kuti and the drummer Tony Allen. It is characterised by long-form compositions, often ten to twenty minutes, built on interlocking, repetitive grooves that fuse West African highlife and Yoruba percussion with American funk and jazz; arrangements use large bands with horn sections, call-and-response vocals and extended instrumental development over a steady rhythmic foundation. Tony Allen’s fluid, polyrhythmic drumming is central to the style. Beyond its sound, Afrobeat served as a vehicle for political protest, Fela using its expansive form to confront Nigeria’s military governments. It drew on highlife, jùjú, funk and jazz, and in turn its rhythmic approach has influenced a wide range of later music, from global funk and electronic producers to hip-hop — and it gives its name, though not its sound, to the distinct contemporary pop genre Afrobeats.