EXPLAINED: Afrobeat | Rare Historical Photos

That Vodou that you do

Brass bands have featured in World Beat many times over the years, most recently The Klezmer Brass Allstars created by Frank London (of The Klezmatics band).

Bangkok Post · Jun 26

Afrobeats legend Fela Kuti to become first African to get Lifetime Achievement Award at Grammys

The award comes nearly 30 years after Fela Kuti's death, and two years after the Grammys introduced the Best African Performance category.

Euronews · Jan 30

‘You can’t drink Fanta. You have to smoke marijuana’: Fela Kuti’s artist recalls their wild collaborations

When the Afrobeat sensation first saw Lemi Ghariokwu’s work, he said, ‘Wow!’ Then he plied him with marijuana and asked him to design his album sleeves. The artist recalls their extraordinary partnership – and the day Kuti’s Lagos HQ burned

The Guardian - UK · Jan 6

From Fela Kuti to Jimi Hendrix and The Grateful Dead – the story of music manager Rikki Stein

Rikki Stein, born into a regular, middle-class home in the UK, has had what must have seemed an unlikely career. As a music manager he has toured the world in the company of music legends – from the late Nigerian Afrobeat star Fela Kuti to American rockers The Grateful Dead…

The Conversation · Oct 10, 2024

Foals’ Yannis Philippakis: ‘I don’t see myself as being tethered to the band’

The frontman is finally releasing his years-in-the-making collaborative album with the late, great Afrobeats legend Tony Allen. Over a pint, he opens up to Mark Beaumont about the lessons he learnt from the music legend, the future of Foals, and why he feels hopeful about the UK’s future

The Independent UK · Sep 1, 2024

Fela Kuti is more famous today than ever – what’s behind his global power

Almost three decades after his passing in 1997, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, the legendary Nigerian musician and activist who created the Afrobeat music movement, remains the subject of global obsession.

The Conversation · Jul 31, 2024

‘Bass on one shoulder, bow and arrows on the other’: life with Fela Kuti on history’s most dangerous tour

In 1979, my father Roy Ayers went on an extraordinary three-week tour with the Afrobeat pioneer amid extreme violence in Nigeria. Three band members recount the unforgettable trip

The Guardian - UK · Apr 10, 2024

Womad review – more music festivals need this vitality, daring and breadth

Quirky, brilliant and politically forthright acts from over 40 countries, among them Femi Kuti, Susana Baca, Souad Massi and 47Soul, grace the festival’s 41st edition

The Guardian - UK · Jul 31, 2023

Afrobeats in 2022: global mobility, election songs, placemaking albums – and Tems

More than Nollywood films, Afrobeats is arguably Nigeria’s strongest cultural export since the turn of the millennium. It is a hugely dynamic music category that incorporates a range of moods, languages, styles, and existing genres. To understand its impact, a cultural connoisseur has equated good Afrobeats music with well-made, smoky…

The Conversation · Dec 27, 2022

Setting the record straight: Burna Boy didn't create a music genre called Afrofusion

Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu was born in 1991 in Port Harcourt, the largest city in Rivers State in Nigeria. He would become known as Burna Boy, a singer, songwriter and record producer who rose to stardom in 2012 after releasing Like to Party, the lead single from L.I.F.E., his debut studio…

The Conversation · Jul 25, 2022