Lesson Outcomes:
- Explain what afro beat is.
Narrate the background of Afro Beat Genre
Name popular artists who have influenced the Afro Beat genre.
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Afro Beat Music Genre
What is Afro Beat?:
A music genre which involves the combination of elements of West African musical styles such as highlife, with American jazz, soul and funk.
Origin:
Afrobeat began in Ghana in the early 1920s. During that time, Ghanaian musicians incorporated foreign influences like the foxtrot and calypso with Ghanaian rhythms like osibisaba (Fante).
The term however was coined in the 1960s by Nigerian multi-instrumentalist and bandleader Fela Kuti, who is responsible for pioneering and popularizing the style both within and outside Nigeria.
Developments:
In 1969, Kuti met Sandra Smith who introduced Kuti to many writings of activist particularly Malcolm X.
From Kuti’s interaction with Sandra, he started re-evaluating his music and realized that he was not playing African music. From that day forward, Kuti changed his sound and the message behind his music.
Characteristics:
- Chanted vocals,
- Complex intersecting rhythms,
- Percussion.
Message:
- Political Injustice
- Social Activism
- Social Injustice
Influential Afro Beat Artists:
- Fela Kuti
- Yemi Alade
- Lagbaja
- Gyedu Blay Ambolley
- Bob Marley
Afrobeats:
Afrobeats, also known as Afro-pop or Afro-fusion, is not a genre, but an umbrella term to describe popular music from West Africa and the diaspora that initially developed in Nigeria, Ghana, and the UK in the 2000s and 2010s.
Origin:
Afrobeats is less of a style per se, and more of a descriptor for the fusion of sounds flowing out of Ghana and Nigeria. Includes Genres such as hiplife, jùjú music, highlife and naija beats.
Afrobeats is primarily produced in Lagos, Accra, and London.