Over the years there has been different definitions of what African
music is, what it sounds like but its origination is something that is
neglected in the 21St Century.
Afrobeat evolved in Nigeria in the late 1960s by Fela Anikulapo Kuti,
(born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun) who, with drummer Tony Allen,
experimented with different contemporary music of that time. Afrobeat was
influenced by a combination of different genres, such as highlife, fuji,
and jùjú, as well as Yoruba vocal traditions, rhythm, and instruments. In
the late 1950s, Kuti left Lagos to study abroad at the London School of
Music, where he took lessons in piano and percussion and was exposed to
jazz. Fela Kuti returned to Lagos and played a highlife-jazz hybrid,
albeit, without commercial success.
