Colossium Magazine September Issue_2019 | Page 67

HISTORY Fela Kuti & Afrobeat: A Legacy For Generations The term 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. A frobeat is a music genre which involves the combination of elements of West African musical styles such as Fuji music and highlife with American funk and jazz influences, with a focus on chanted vocals, complex intersecting rhythms, and percussion. The term 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. Distinct from Afrobeat is Afrobeats - a sound originating in Nigeria in the 21st century, one which takes in diverse influences and is an eclectic combination of rap, dancehall, and even R&B. The two genres, though often conflated, are not the same. 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). Highlife was associated with the local African aristocracy during the colonial period and was played by numerous bands including the Jazz Kings, Cape Coast Sugar Babies, and Accra Orchestra along the country’s coast. Nigeria later joined the Afrobeat wave in the late 60s led by Fela Kuti who experimented 67 | Colossium . March 2019 with different contemporary music of the time. Upon arriving in Nigeria, Kuti also changed the name of his group to Africa ‘70. The new sound hailed from a club that he established called the Afrika Shrine. The band maintained a five-year residency at the Afrika Shrine from 1970 to 1975 while afrobeat thrived among Nigerian youth. Although the term Afrobeat was coined as early as 1968, after making a trip to the United States, Kuti wasn’t really making music in the category