The Real History Of AfroBeats
Introduction;
Afrobeat is a Nigerian musical genre that combines West African musical styles, such as Yoruba music, highlife, and jazz. It focuses on chanting vocals, intricate intersecting rhythms and percussion. The style was pioneered in the 1960s by Nigerian multi-instrumentalist and bandleader Fela Kuti, who is responsible for popularizing the style both within and outside Nigeria. Many still argue as to the accuracy of him being the sole person in the position of leadership for this genre.
Afrobeats is distinct from Afrobeat. It is a sound that originated in West Africa in 21st-century West Africa and incorporates diverse influences. Afrobeats is a mix of different genres like hip hop, house music, juju and R&B. Although they are often confused, the two genres are different.
Afrobeat Grassroot History
Fela Kuti and Tony Allen experimented with various contemporary music styles to create Afrobeat in Nigeria in late 1960s. Afrobeat was influenced a wide range of genres such as highlife and fuji as well as Yoruba vocal rhythms, rhythms, and instruments. Kuti fled Lagos in the 1950s to study at the London School of Music, where he was exposed jazz. Kuti returned to Lagos, where he played highlife-jazz, but without commercial success.
Kuti, along with his band, went to America in 1969 and met Sandra Smith (now Sandra Akanke Isidore). Smith was a singer and ex-Black Panther. Sandra Akanke Isidore or Sandra Izsadore, also known as Sandra Akanke Isidore, introduced Kuti many writings by activists like Martin Luther King Jr. and Angela Davis. He also discovered the work of Malcolm X.
Smith would inform Kuti about current events, as Kuti was keen to learn more about African-American politics. Kuti would then fill Smith in on African culture. Kuti spent so much time at Smith’s home and began to reevaluate his music. Kuti realized that he wasn’t playing African music. Kuti’s sound and message changed from that point forward.
Kuti changed the name of his band to Africa ’70 upon arriving in Nigeria. Kuti established the Afrika Shrine, which was where the new sound came from. From 1970 to 1975, the band stayed five years at the Afrika Shrine. Afrobeat was thriving among Nigerian youth. Ray Stephen Oche [de], an influential Nigerian musician who toured from Paris, France with his Matumbo Orchestra in the 1970s, was also influential.
Named partly in an effort to differentiate Fela Kuti’s music from American soul music such as James Brown,
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His and Lagbaja’s music is dominated by native Nigerian rhythms and harmonies. They take different elements and combine them, modernize and improvise upon them. Afrobeat is a political movement. Its founder Kuti used social critique to promote social change. His message was controversial and confrontational. This can be attributed to the political climate in most African countries during the 1970s. Many of these countries were struggling with military corruption and political injustice while undergoing the transition from colonial government to self-determination. Many bands adopted the style as it spread across the African continent. These recordings and the songs of these bands were not often heard outside their home countries. However, many can be found on compilation albums or CDs at specialist record shops.
To be continued.
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