Lagos

The Shrine nightclub on Pepple Street, Ikeja, becomes ground zero for Afrobeat's birth, where Fela and Africa '70 perform marathon sets that transform music into political ceremony from 1970 onward. EMI Nigeria and Decca capture early Afrobeat recordings, though Fela will soon establish his own Kalakuta Records to maintain creative control, while studios like Phonodisk and Abbey Studios document the explosive scene. The city's Surulere neighborhood houses Fela's Kalakuta Republic commune, where the music, politics, and lifestyle merge into an inseparable whole that defines the decade.

Scenes

Artists