Where to start with Afrobeat
Afrobeat is a genre from Lagos, Nigeria, 1968–1997. Its principal artists include Fela Kuti, Tony Allen and Sandra Izsadore. This issue covers 9 essential albums and 14 dated events.
Start here
- 1
Gentleman
Fela Ransome-Kuti and Africa '70 · 1973Original release: EMI · NEMI (LP) 0009 · 12″ Vinyl · Nigeria 1973This introduces Fela's core stance against colonial conditioning, the ideological foundation the whole scene is built on.
- 2
Zombie
Fela Kuti and Africa '70 · 1977Afrobeat's biggest hit and its most direct political confrontation, showing the real-world stakes of Fela's music.
- 3
Black President
Fela Anikulapo Kuti and Egypt 80 · 1981Original release: Arista · 203 554 · 12″ Vinyl · France 1981Shows where Fela's story led after Zombie's fallout, with a new band and a bolder claim to leadership.
Go deeper
- 4
Expensive Shit
Fela Ransome-Kuti and Africa '70 · 1975Original release: Editions Makossa · EM2315 · 12″ Vinyl · US 1975The title track turns a police frame-up into a dark comedy: officers planted marijuana on Fela and then waited for him to defecate so they could retrieve the evidence from his feces.
- 5
Lagos No Shaking
Tony Allen · 2006Original release: Honest Jon’s Records · HJRCD20 · CD · UK 2006Recorded live in Lagos in 2006 with a full Afrobeat band, this record marked Allen's return to roots sound after years spent in electronic experiments and global collaborations.
- 6
Stratavarious
Ginger Baker, Fela Kuti, Bobby Tench · 1972Recorded in Lagos during the year Ginger Baker spent running a multitrack studio there, this collaboration paired Cream's British rock drummer with Fela's band and introduced Afrobeat to Western listeners…
For the obsessed
- 7
Remain in Light
Talking Heads · 1980Original release: Sire Records · SRK 6095 NP promo · 12″ Vinyl · PT 1980Brian Eno and David Byrne folded Afrobeat's polyrhythms into art-rock on this 1980 record, crediting Fela as an essential influence on its sound.
- 8
The Good, the Bad & the Queen
The Good, the Bad & the Queen · 2007Original release: Parlophone · Digital Media · 2007Damon Albarn built this 2007 supergroup around Tony Allen's drumming, rounding out the lineup with Paul Simonon and Simon Tong.
- 9
Fu Chronicles
Antibalas · 2020Original release: Daptone Records · DAP-060 · CD · US 2020This 2020 record earned Antibalas a Grammy nomination and settled any lingering question about whether the Brooklyn Afrobeat scene was just paying tribute or actually carrying the tradition forward.
The stories behind every record are in Afrobeat, a members' issue.