The song “Jerusalem” became a hit during the pandemic. At least since then, African pop music has also made its way into the German mainstream.
Paris/Dakar – Burna Boy, Wizkid or Drake – these names have become an integral part of the music landscape and have all produced major global afrobeat hits. Even those who don’t have hip-hop and pop at the top of their playlist know the song “Jerusalem” by South African musician Master KG, which is perhaps the most prominent example of Afrobeats in Germany. But what is actually hidden behind this musical genre?
“The term Afrobeats originated in Europe, in the UK. It’s basically electronic music, it’s a lot about working with samples of music that already exists, just like in hip-hop,” says Professor Udo Dahmen of the Pop Academy of Mannheim. “What’s new about Afrobeats is the emphasis on African roots. In Berlin and even more so in Hamburg, many new clubs have sprung up where DJs play Afrobeats,” says Dahmen.
Quirky features
In Afrobeats – with the letter s at the end – is the word Afrobeat. And this references Nigerian multi-instrumentalist Fela Kuti, who co-invented the genre with his drummer Tony Allen in the 1960s. Afrobeat is often described as psychedelic music. And this is probably because the sound that Kuti has shaped has eccentric traits – there is an abundance of everything: in Afrobeat, for example, several rhythms are layered on top of each other, extensive improvisations have their place. Furthermore, Kuti’s bands had about two dozen members, and his songs sometimes lasted ten minutes, sometimes half an hour. “With Afrobeat, West African musical traditions come mostly from Yoruba culture along with 1950s pop trends, all mixed with jazz, soul and funk,” says music professor Dahmen.
But Kuti, born in 1938, has not only made a name for himself with his music, but also with his activism. Kuti gave Afrobeat a special accent. “Afrobeat always includes the political component. His songs have always been a political statement at the same time,” says Dahmen. For example “Zombie”: In the 12-minute comedy from 1976, Kuti criticizes Nigerian soldiers as undead, like zombies. He openly attacked the military dictatorship at the time and was imprisoned several times. Soldiers burned down his “Republic of Kalakuta” commune in the coastal city of Lagos in 1977, his mother Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti – herself a well-known women’s rights activist – was seriously injured and died a year later. Kuti was not discouraged by this either, until his death in 1997 from AIDS.
optimistic wave
A good quarter of a century later, Kuti has been rediscovered, especially by young people: ‘Of course there is no way around Fela Kuti in 2023. Culture is an icebreaker and it comes first. Africa is on the rise. And Kuti he’s right up there: He was a cosmopolitan, a politician and an artist. He brought it into the world as a matter of course and played concerts everywhere. Today he passes it on to young people. There’s an optimistic wave that creates energy, I’m convinced,” says Damen .
During his travels in Senegal and Namibia, for example, he got to know a young generation that thinks globally. This is actually in the spirit of the outstanding Nigerian musician, as one contemporary witness explains: “It was important for Kuti to reach out to young people,” says Mallam Abdul, who curated the Kuti Museum in Lagos and knew the musician personally as a teenager. For example, Kuti had concerts after school at two in the afternoon. “Everything was over by 9 p.m. at the latest, so that every student could be in bed when he checked out the boarding schools in the evening.”
In the 70s, the young Abdul Kuti was also heard playing live in his club. Abdul, whose stepfather was a friend of Kuti, remembers him as an extraordinary person. “His life was pure drama. He lived it on his terms. He wasn’t there to please anyone.”
Exhibition in Paris
Kuti’s children, Femi and Seun, as well as his grandson Made, nominated for his first Grammy in 2022, carry on the tradition of their grandfather Fela. The exhibition “Fela Anikulapo-Kuti: Rébellion Afrobeats” at the Musée de la Musique in Paris shows Kuti as a complex personality and provides insights into his thinking and work.
Numerous concert announcements can be seen where Kuti criticizes the Nigerian government policy, only to announce his next concert more or less separately. In a broadcast video, he himself says of his understanding of music: “As far as Africa is concerned, music can’t be fun. Music has to be for revolution.”
With small thematic focuses and two stage-like concert corners that bring Kuti’s performances to life, the exhibition invites you to linger and also indulge in seemingly lighter topics – such as the question why Kuti only liked walking around in panties or which was his They meant incredibly colorful stage outfits. But if you look closely, you’ll find that even these seemingly easy topics have a political undertone.
