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 ...

“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 ...

The Nigerian musician was a restless creator who embraced the physicality of drumming and innovated until the end Few musicians can claim to have invented a revolutionary rhythm, but then few are ...

Jazz Is Dead, the label co-founded by Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad that issues top-shelf recordings, will release Tony Allen JID018 on July 7. Pre-order the album here. The genius that is ...

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 ...

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 ...

“The first thing he asked was ‘Are you the one who said that you are the best drummer in this country?’ I laughed and told him, ‘I never said so.’ He asked me if I could play jazz and I said yes. He ...

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 ...

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, ...

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 ...