Borrowing from jazz and African rhythms, he forged a singular style that helped define music in his native Ghana — and West ...

Thirty years after his death, Nigerian Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti is set to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at this ...

The people loved seeing an Englishman in Africa 70. They couldn’t believe it at first. Oyinbo (white man) drummer! They would come and press money on my forehead. It was a mark of approval. It would ...

Ekpenyong Otu felt adrift in Orlando. The Nigerian disc jockey, who'd spun for some of the biggest Afrobeat artists in his homeland, had moved to Florida in 2006 with the goal of developing a music ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Reporting on Africa, its diaspora, and hip-hop's class acts today. Following in the footsteps of his legendary grandfather Fela ...

Afrobeat is no longer just a Nigerian or African genre—it’s a global phenomenon. With its infectious rhythms, vibrant beats, and universal appeal, Afrobeat has captured the hearts and dance floors of ...

In the spectrum of global music and culture, a powerful force is rising—not quietly, but with the thunderous beat of talking drums, hypnotic basslines, and unapologetic energy. Afrobeat, more than ...

Once upon a time, long before brazenness dissolved into the air inhaled by youths, Àkèré, the son of Onítùre, was a prince in an Ọ̀yọ́ village called Ìkẹyọ̀. In lands faraway, Àkèré is called Frog, ...

On 18 February 1977 a thousand soldiers from the Nigerian army stormed a communal compound in Lagos that outlaw bandleader Fela Kuti had declared his own independent state: the Kalakuta Republic. They ...

But Fela Kuti and his music were a revelation to the seasoned veteran. "It was like lightning," he says. "I thought, 'Why haven’t I heard this before? How did this escape me?!'" Afrobeat has elements ...