The Musical Genre Of Afrobeat - 1525 Words

In this essay, I will be examining the musical genre of Afrobeat which was created by Fela Anikulapo Kuti. Afrobeat first came to be in the late 1960’s during the Civil Rights Movement in America. Fela Kuti a Nigerian, was able to create a genre that has change the way we view music today. Afrobeat is made up of two different words, â€Å"Afro† and â€Å"Beat†. â€Å"Afro† correlates with â€Å"African organized sound while beat is a rhythmic counting pattern in relation to such music† (Oikelome, 2013). Therefore, the meaning of Afrobeat is the unique African rhythmic patterns of such music. The coming of this genre is very interesting since the man behind it has quite a story. Fela Kuti’s family background plays an interesting role in the making of Afrobeat. Fela’s father was a pastor and his mother was feminist activist active in the anti-colonial and anti- military movements in Nigeria. â€Å"So at an early age, Fela experienced politics and music in a seamless combination† (Dougan). Yet, he was sent to London for an education in medicine, however Fela registered at Trinity College’s school of music. Which led to the beginning of the creation of Afrobeat. Afrobeat became a popular genre, due to its diverse Beliefs, Culture significance, and its Composition in the late 1900’s. I. Beliefs When Fela attended the Trinity College school of music it was the first time he was introduced to the European composers of the time. While studying at Trinity he grew to love the trumpet and became veryShow MoreRelatedAfrican Music And Its Impact On The World1051 Words   |  5 Pagesimpacted the world today and stayed in their roots. African music or better known as black music brought a lot of different types of music to America. Such as Afrobeat founded by Fela Kuti and many bringing over a polyrhythm sound. One of the very first Africans to America were a variety of different ethnic groups with a long history of African musical traditions. When arriving some were allowed to bring their instrument and other made new instrument. An example of this is the â€Å"Banja† or â€Å"banshaw† now