Nigeria's Fela Kuti was one of the leading ambassadors of African music, bringing his Afrobeat sound to fans around the world. Though he passed away in 1997, his influence continues to resonate, ...

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Tony Allen breaks down the five major drum patterns of Afrobeat in an unreleased clip from the recent documentary short Birth of Afrobeat. Production team Rest In Beats and director Opiyo Okeyo ...

Tony Oladipo Allen (born in Lagos, Nigeria) is a Nigerian drummer, composer and songwriter who currently lives and works in Paris. His career and life story have been documented in his 2013 ...

Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, listening to jazz drummers like Gene Krupa and Art Blakey. He started playing the drums at 18, but several months later, he announced to his ...

It is getting near midnight on a Friday evening in the Nigerian capital in the late 1970s. Young Lagosians are trekking from Oju Elegba, at the heart of the city’s night club scene, towards the old ...

Angélique Kidjo, Jeff Mills, Sébastien Tellier and more remember the late drummer: his humility, his brilliance, and his awesome sportswear My dad used to play Fela Kuti records to me – some of my ...

Pioneering Nigerian drummer Tony Allen, a co-founder of the afrobeat musical genre, died in Paris on Thursday aged 79, his manager says. Eric Trosset told NPR radio that he had died of a heart attack.

With the Nigerian bandleader Fela and later on his own, he merged West African styles with American jazz and funk, reaching listeners worldwide. By Jon Pareles Tony Allen, the drummer who created the ...