5 minutes on the History of Afrobeat, African Funk, and Disco

Origins and Hidden Talents

The story of Afrobeat, African Disco, and Funk music goes way further back than expected.

These are genres that experienced many turnovers, adaptations, complications, and aspirations. Today, they can be perceived as genres that you simply just dance to.

However, the roots of Afrobeat, funk, and disco dig a hole in the highly complex history of Nigeria.

When talking about the beginning and progression of Afrobeat, Disco, and Funk, it isn't very straightforward to tell one linear story of their progression. It’s further complex than just that.

It's not one storyline that proves the progression from West Africa to the USA, or vice versa.

The seed of it all, Afrobeat!

AfroBeat goes way back to the 1920s.

Back then, it was just the combination of Foxtrot and calypso merged with Ghanaian rhythms. The fusion between these two also incorporated sick African percussions and local traditions, and hence the first layers of Afrobeat started to build up.

But, even from the very beginning, Afrobeat was never about just music and fusion.

It was about oppression, dictatorship, fighting the violence, and the will to progress and reach peaceful cohabitation. And that is the exact moment that Afrobeat becomes the hymn of freedom. Better known as "Postcolonial" African politics.

How Nigeria Became The First Afrobeat Community AKA, Fela Kuti's indispensable contribution

In the 1960s, Nigeria was finally decolonized and obtained independence. However, that did not mean equality or freedom for all.

The political climate of Nigeria and most African countries after the 60s was quite brutal.

Most of them were dealing with governmental injustice, military, and ministerial corruption. The racism and violence against the civilians was a totalitarian regime that tried to demolish every soul fighting for equality.

These were the pure grasping concepts for creating Afrobeat - To Fight violence with music.

One of the most well-known activists and Afrobeat, as well as pioneers, was Fela Kuti. His lyrics are often remembered as shaming the political movements, critiques of society, and the ones in power.

Fighting for encouraging self-pride and self-reliance is what spread Fela's spirit around the world.

The albums and songs were full of vigorous sayings and jamming instruments.

These songs were so electrifying they started to shake the whole country and later the world.

The late 1960s was the beginning of Fela Kuti's unforgettable journey when he formed a small band with legendary drummer Tony Allen. The group was named "Africa 70", and all of them were concentrated on experimenting with contemporary music of the time.

The idea was to merge the different percussions, shakers, keyboards, drums, and vocals into one.

Fela and his fellow band members were the ones who created this magnificent fusion between beat funk and Afro sounds.

He traveled to the United States of America in 1969, where Malcolm X and Black Panthers majorly inspired him. He was introduced to many activists from the states, and right after that trip, we see the first solid face of Afrobeat.

Bringing politics into the jams

They were shaming the government right under their noses; that was Fela's style. The unforgettable themes started to sway the cities of Nigeria.

These tunes instantly show us what a fighter Fela was. "Monkey Banana" is one of the masterpieces by Fela, which brings all three: Political, Instrumental, and Lyrical characteristics together.

Besides saxophone, trumpets, electric guitar, and drum, Fela used Intercontinental (Viscount) Imperial Duo, which had a significant number of "traditional" organ stops and percussion sections.

Imperial Duo also had a few "sustain" stops like Piano, Harpsichord, and spinet. Some versions additionally had a feature called "Intersound," which was sort of a Leslie effect.

Fela Kuti's rush and thirst for freedom continued with every album. Starting from "Why Black Man Dey Suffer," "Live!", "Expensive Shit," and many more.

He even formed his very own republic called "Kalakuta." This was Fela's way of denying the Nigerian regime and resisting.

In this republic, he reunited many friends, band members, family and even established a recording studio. The environment was one big strong family living in peace.

Unfortunately, as we're talking about Nigeria in the 70s, it indeed had an unfortunate ending.

The record "Zombie" directly opposed the Nigerian military regime, shaming them for many brutal acts. This eventually was the last drop for the government, and shortly after the release, the army viciously attacked the peaceful housing.

During the raid, many were strongly injured, and sadly Fela Kuti's mother passed away.

All actions that Fela was carrying out were politically charged. Hence why there was a constant struggle between him and the cold-blooded regime of Nigeria.

Fela's Followers help further the electronic side of Afrobeat with African Disco and Funk

Fela not only made striking changes in human lives, but he inspired many others to fight back with music.

Numerous contemporary musicians started forming their labels, running radio stations, and just like Fela rebelling peacefully.

By saying what had to be said eventually, everyone's effort created the genre that we all admire today.

Another remarkable pioneer of African Funk was William Onyeabor.

Probably one of the most mysterious musicians in the world.

Even though he was born in a low-income family, he worked himself up. Went to study abroad and, later, when he returned to Nigeria, continued his career as a businessman and as a musician at the same time.

The conspiracies about Onyeabor's life still have not been resolved.

But one clear thing is that he released nine albums between 1977 and 1985 on his very own "Wilifilms label."

His albums are a fuse of Afrobeat funk, disco, and attentive synthesizer sounds.

His albums were an entirely new chapter for the genre "Afro Funk." Metronomic rhythms, multitracked synths, and unmistakable African highlife with a smooth and natural groove.

He produced, wrote, and arranged every detail of his albums. Full of the tenor voice with lyrics about love, injustice in the country, political issues, calling to end the war, and worshiping god.

As he once said, "I only create music that will help the world."

And he not only helped the world to spread love, but he also supported many local artists who made significant changes in the genre.

One of the artists was Pete Baja with the album -

"Take Off Your Hands (On My Woman)."

Pete, just like his fellows, sung and fused many different vocals with instruments.

The funky groove that is following the whole album is at the same time addressing the issue of injustice that was highly problematic against women in Nigeria at the time.

Just like Fela and Mr. Onyeabor, he continued to speak up about the concerns of the civilians.

As the 70s created a real face of Afro Funk's essence, many other artists were lighting up the fire with their work.

A lot of the African Funk and Disco songs that weren’t previously released outside the country or at all have been dug back up, discovered, and repressed onto vinyl by those looking to preserve these sounds such as the albums, “Funky Lagos”, and “Who Is William Onyeabor?”

Unfortunately, some of the songs or even artists are forgotten today, but one cannot dismiss these sounds if there is a passion for Afro Funk or Disco.

Chief Tony Okoroji, who is also a prodigy of Afro Funk, also owned a label called "Love Records."

In 1976, he pressed his very first album called "Super Sure." The playful vocals and shakers, accompanied by percussions creating a joyful atmosphere in the album.

All of a sudden, the sick basslines are popping up and merging with the synths in the background.

Today we all know Tony Okoroji as one of the masters of Afro Funk, but back then, he was just getting started with a music career.

In 1976, he encountered a trio called "UDU," The same year, he arranged and produced the "Sound of the People."

Both albums: "Sound of the People" and "Super Sure," were recorded at the legendary "Arc Studio" in Lagos, Nigeria.

The sound engineers who worked on the recordings of UDU had previously worked on many of Fela Kuti's albums.

The album "Sound of the People" is relatively loose, almost brings the feeling of conversational arrangements in the tracks. The noticeable and unusual for this Afrobeat and Funk time was the laid-back style. However, the laid-back album does not necessarily mean chill.

It always has a beautiful element of surprise occurring here and there. And the genre of the album is ranging from psychedelic to funky ambiance, but not to the fullest extent.

The album is full of nostalgic folk emotions recalling the Ghanaian Afro. This is one of the albums that widens the eyes and ears of the audience, bringing a new kind of Afrobeat and Funk wave to us.

How everything came together

Nigeria had quite a hectic challenge. The civilians were suffering intensely, and the country needed a group of people who would push for the change. And those were musicians who decided to fight suppression with the power of music.

This unremarkable genre was created back when but today can be heard anywhere: Clubs, DJ sets, Podcasts, and many more.

Still these days, from around the world, we see the protests with the themes by the prodigies mentioned above.

Thankfully their music traveled the world and inspired every musician on the planet.

And just like that, they made history!