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 ...

Afrobeat drum loops capture the relentless, syncopated heartbeat at the core of Nigerian funk, blending traditional West‑African rhythms with the swagger of early ’70s soul and jazz fusion. These ...

RABAT, Morocco (Reuters) - Legend has it that when Nigerian drummer Tony Allen quit the band of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti, it took four percussionists to replace him. Sign up here. Brian Eno called ...

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 ...

“I wanted to be one of the best — that was my wish,” Nigerian drum legend Tony Allen said on the Trap Set podcast during a 2015 interview. “To be the best, it’s not when you are doing the same thing ...

Gilles Peterson and Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers pay tribute to the Fela Kuti collaborator, described by Brian Eno as ‘perhaps the greatest drummer who ever lived’ The Nigerian drummer Tony Allen, ...

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, ...

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 ...

Tony Allen, who drummed his way out of Lagos, Nigeria, with Fela Kuti to become an architect of the Afrobeat sound, has died. He was 79. Allen’s work on percussion starting in the mid-1960s set in ...

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 ...

Governor Dapo Abiodun has disclosed that his administration would be reviving the erstwhile drum festival by hosting the first Afro Beat Drum festival in Africa in Ogun State, as a way of ensuring and ...