Afrobeat arose from the mind and spirit of Nigeria’s Fela Kuti who, like Beyoncé, is identified on a first-name basis. Throughout the 1970s he fused James Brown’s funk, traditional West African dance rhythms with jazz and his own take on chamber music for lengthy compositions. With a focus on chanted vocals, complex intersecting rhythms, and percussion. The style was pioneered in the 1960s by Nigerian multi-instrumentalist and bandleader Fela Kuti, who is most known for popularizing the style both within and outside Nigeria. At the height of his popularity, he was referred to as one of Africa's most "challenging and charismatic music performers."
Roxy Music are an English rock band formed in 1970 by lead vocalist and principal songwriter Bryan Ferry and bassist Graham Simpson. By the time the band recorded their first album in 1972, Ferry and Simpson were joined by saxophonist and oboist Andy Mackay, guitarist Phil Manzanera, drummer Paul Thompson and synthesizer player Brian Eno. Other members over the years include keyboardist and violinist Eddie Jobson and bassist John Gustafson. The band split in 1976, reformed in 1978 and split again in 1983. In 2001, Ferry, Mackay, Manzanera and Thompson reunited for a concert tour and have toured together intermittently ever since, most recently in 2022 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their first album. Ferry has also frequently enlisted band members as backing musicians during his solo career.
Remain in Light is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Talking Heads, released by Sire Records on October 8, 1980. Produced by Brian Eno, his third album with the band, the album was recorded at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas and Sigma Sound Studios in New York in July and August 1980.
Allan Holdsworth was a British jazz fusion and progressive rock guitarist, violinist and composer. He contributed to numerous bands, including Soft Machine, U.K., The Tony Williams Lifetime, Pierre Moerlen's Gong and Bruford, in addition to solo work.
Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as an outlet for music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expanded to include artists from around the world, with records reaching the top of the Billboard music charts.
Philip Hansen Anselmo is an American heavy metal musician best known as the lead singer for Pantera, Down, and Superjoint, amongst other musical projects. He is the owner of Housecore Records.
China Crisis are an English new wave and synth-pop band formed in Kirkby, near Liverpool, Merseyside in 1979 with a core of lead vocalist/keyboardist Gary Daly and guitarist/vocalist Eddie Lundon. Initially a politically charged post-punk band influenced by Brian Eno's ambient soundscapes, China Crisis soon crossed over to a more commercial sound and had success in the United Kingdom in the 1980s with ten top 50 singles, including the top 10 hit "Wishful Thinking", and three albums charting in or just outside the top 20, including Working with Fire and Steel and the top 10 entry Flaunt the Imperfection, that both received a gold certification.
John Britt Daniel is an American musician. He is the co-founder, lead singer and guitarist of the indie rock band Spoon, as well as the co-founder, guitarist, bassist, and singer of the band Divine Fits. Daniel also founded numerous other bands in the early 1990s.
Andrew John Fletcher, also known as Fletch, was an English keyboard player and founding member of the electronic band Depeche Mode. In 2020, he and the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Tony Oladipo Allen was a Nigerian and French drummer, composer, and songwriter who lived and worked in Paris, France. Allen was the drummer and musical director of Fela Kuti's band Africa '70 from 1968 to 1979, and was one of the founders of the Afrobeat genre. Fela once stated that "without Tony Allen, there would be no Afrobeat". He was described by Brian Eno as "perhaps the greatest drummer who has ever lived".
Capitol K is the name under which Kristian Craig Robinson works as a musician, producer, recording engineer and label manager.
Steven Maxwell Porcaro is an American keyboardist, songwriter, singer, and film composer, known as one of the founding members of the rock band Toto and the last surviving Porcaro brother ; as the songwriter of "Human Nature" by Michael Jackson and songs by Toto; and as the composer of the TV series Justified. He has won three Grammys, including Record of the Year for "Rosanna" and Album of the Year for Toto IV, and three nominations.
Mark Andrew White is an English singer, songwriter, composer, musician and record producer.
Mamouna is the ninth solo studio album by the English singer Bryan Ferry, released on Virgin Records first on 31 August 1994 in Japan and then on 5 September in the UK. It was Ferry's first album of original material in seven years and he spent six years writing and recording it, under the working title Horoscope. The album peaked at number 11 on the UK Albums Chart.
The Ariya Astrobeat Arkestra is a Leeds-based afrobeat band that takes its influence from Fela Kuti's Africa 70 band amongst many others. Although their music uses Afrobeat rhythm and language, they also owe part of their sound to the space Jazz pioneers of the 1970s and the free jazz trailblazers of the 1960s. The band have been quoted as crediting James Brown and Tony Allen for having a large influence on their music.
KonKoma are a London-based Afro-funk band signed to Soundway Records. The band fuse Afro-funk and Afrobeat with the influences of American blaxploitation-era soul and 1960s psychedelia.
Soundway Records is a British, London-based independent record label, founded and run by English DJ and music producer Miles Cleret. Since its initial release of a collection of Ghanaian music in 2002, it has released compilation albums of African, Caribbean, Latin, and Asian music from the 1950s to 1980s.
Uyai is the second studio album by Ibibio Sound Machine, released on March 3, 2017. It is the first album released by Merge Records since joining the label in 2016.
Agberos International is the 5th studio album by BANTU. The album was composed and written by all 13 members of the band. It was recorded live in Lagos, Nigeria, over six years. The title of the album Agberos International was inspired by Lagos public bus conductors known as agberos who attract customers to board their vehicles through their wild gesticulations and loud voices. The album was released on 7 July 2017 by Soledad Productions. The subject matter on Agberos International is centered around the Niger Delta crisis, oppressive Western policies and the blind African ruling class.
Black Focus is the only studio album by English duo Yussef Kamaal, composed of drummer Yussef Dayes and keyboardist Kamaal Williams. It was released on 4 November 2016 under Brownswood Recordings. Characterised by its "spontaneity and flow", the album draws influence from electronic music of British origin. It received universal acclaim from music critics, being described as having a culturally diverse palette.
