The Birth of Beat:

The Hidden Connection of African

Music

By

Cal Huss

May, 2010

All people who listen to music probably have their own set of connotations for particular genres – whether warranted or not. Some of these connotations may resonate stronger than others – think Punk, Hip Hop, Reggae, Disco – but surely everyone has a bias or reservation towards something. It is only natural. But when one hears the words “World Music,” what comes to mind? Chanting, tribal drumming and exotic stringed instruments? While unfortunately many use this incongruous classification for everything from Ukrainian folk to Congolese rumba, the word “world” is about as useful to describe any actual sound as “electric” would be to describe everything from rock to techno. Although not always obvious on the surface, things dubbed “world” music – from Africa in particular – have actually had a powerful impact on many popular Western styles of music. First and foremost, an easy route of explanation is that any black music – Blues, Jazz, R&B, etc., can be traced back to African roots. But if one intends to read deeper, they will find that many of the most cutting edge DJs and Hip Hop producers have actually begun to borrow heavily from decades-old Afrobeat tunes. One may even find that a middle-America scene, such as Denver’s, embraces a surprisingly large amount of African-based music, and that the modern day is seeing more and more African reissues than ever before.

Some scholars will claim that the general Western population was first exposed to genuine African music in 1959, by a Nigerian drummer named Babatunde Olatunji. Signed on to Columbia Records in 1957, he produced what is plausibly the first “world beat” album, called Drums of Passion, generating a notable following of jazz musicians. “…(Olatunji) not only inspired such musicians as John Coltrane and Dizzy Gillespie, but directly brought African music into thousands of American homes in stereophonic sound.”¹ Among working on many popular releases of the last twenty years, including original movie scores, a Tupac tribute album², and collaborations with Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, and The Grateful Dead³, his music was recognized early on to an unknowing counterculture of the 60s – with Carlos Santana fetching great success covering “Jin-go-lo-ba” in 1969⁴, and even being mentioned in the lyrics of a Bob Dylan song in 1963⁵.

Another blaring, yet rarely talked about subject, is the influence of Voodoo – the word invokes different emotions to different people of the Western Hemisphere, but Vodoun as a religion originated in West Africa, incidentally, in the same places that eventually became the most fertile music grounds in the continent. African Vodoun is heavily based around music and complex polyrhythms, and while the many fascinating characteristics of it can be researched in heaps, what is important to this contention is that when white slave masters returned from overseas, they not only brought with them a new trade, but a culture as well. Black slaves arrived with their languages, their traditions and their music, and when they emigrated from the Caribbean to Louisiana, the effect was shattering. Many musicians in New Orleans who participated in the famous drum battles in Congo Square, for example, were disciples of Voodoo – greatly affecting the way they played. These people and events played an important role in what is now considered a vital stage in the development of Jazz.⁶

The immediate references are strikingly ubiquitous, with countless first-generation blues artists mentioning Voodoo to some degree, as well as some Reggae, Ska, Metal, and virtually every other genre having referred to the word at some point. “The influence of Vodun from Benin on modern music is so vast and mysterious that it is difficult to know where to begin. … the religion, its theory and cultural expression has managed to impregnate American culture.”⁶ A quick search on Wikipedia will also reveal that the word is contained in hundreds of articles across the board. As far as the weight on just its native Africa, author Gérald Arnaud also states: “Both anthropologists and ethnomusicologists agree that this religion and its musical heritage form the principal ‘cultural bridge’ between the African continent and its peoples, spread throughout the New World.” If one is looking for a unifying key to African culture, Voodoo may be a good place to start.⁶

But all of that aside, some may argue that most people are not music historians and probably do not have an inclination to know any of the details stated above, leading to any found “similarities” of African music to that of the modern mainstream to be sheer coincidence. While there may be some truth to this – as any mention of who is influencing who is usually a purely subjective matter – there can be absolutely no doubt when one hears a groundbreaking DJ or electronic musician use a direct sample in his own music. Let us take the Stones Throw record label, for instance. An acclaimed example of everything Hip Hop, this past half decade has seen the label giving considerable focus to uncovering old African funk gems, and often fusing them together with ultra-modern Hip Hop.⁷

When the crate-digging culture of modern day DJs and MCs is examined, one will notice that often times, obscurity and “groovability” are the primary criteria in finding a song to sample. Funk and Soul references have become old hat, and Jazz is on its way to the same territory. The constant search for the perfect vinyl to sample has led many to dive into more adventurous terrain, and thus, a new direction for Hip Hop has begun. This is evident in the ever-growing number of African-themed releases Stones Throw – among other labels – has been putting out. For instance, the last 12 months have seen records like: 2009’s Ethiopium (a beat tape comprised of ultra-rare Ethiopian jazzfunk samples, with modern twists), 2010’s Medicine Show #3: Beat Konducta in Africa (a similar outing, but more extensive) and Black Man’s Cry: The Inspiration of Fela Kuti (songs by various artists, compiled to display the significance of Kuti’s impact).⁷ And those are just some of the obvious examples, with nods in the titles themselves. Electronic artists Moby, Thievery Corporation, Quantic, DJ Shadow and Ohmega Watts (rapper/producer) have long since been associated with creating a fusion of many different types of international music within their catalogues. Granted, those examples were mostly taken from a more experimental and underground corner of modern music, and will be unfamiliar to some, but connections can be found in unlikely places. While he has gotten a fair amount of press on his own recently, Femi Kuti, a Nigerian singer and trumpeter (also oldest son of the omnipresent Fela Kuti) who currently plays Afrobeat/Highlife, has also collaborated on projects with household rappers like Mos Def and Common.⁸ It will surely be interesting to watch what the future holds for such a synthesis of genres.

Music around the world develops and evolves largely from an embryonic, scene-specific position, building and building until it has enough components to be recognized elsewhere – though this fact is lessening by the minute, due to increases in digital music and media distribution worldwide. Putting different cities’ scenes under the microscope will surely yield different results, but for familiarities’ sake, Denver will be discussed.

A relatively eclectic and well-rounded metropolis musically, a number of African sounds have managed to seep in over the years, and can be heard in more than a few locations. A local group out of Boulder, The Motet, has been playing their own jazzy blend of jam-oriented dance shows since 1998.⁹ While this appeals to a lot of the younger generation of the “Jam Scene” (think Grateful Dead and Phish), fans have begun to inadvertently become exposed to a sound that is undeniably Afrobeat. The Motet have changed through many stylistic ebbs and flows, but they have usually worn their influences on their sleeves. In summer of 2009, they put out a completely Afrobeat-themed record (some might call it “Neo” or “Post” Afrobeat) and released it for one dollar at shows – sometimes even for free.¹⁰ Containing three original Fela Kuti covers, the disc was a direct infusion of a modern interpretation of authentic 70’s Afrobeat. This gave fans an absolutely painless means of exploring a type of music they might have never heard of before.

DJ/producer/MC for Stones Throw, Madlib (the man also goes by dozens of other pseudonyms), came to the Denver/Boulder area on April 22, 2010, and played what was largely a night of Hip Hop, to a largely Hip Hop-listening audience. However, peppered throughout the set were bits and pieces of West African Funk and Rock, circa 1970’s.¹¹ This is a fine example of how the everyday concertgoer in the area can be exposed to this previously unknown music more and more – sometimes without even knowing it. (For context, at least one of the songs sampled that night is included in its original form on the additional CD provided with this document). Along with the many independent venues that have the off chance to host an authentic African act during a given tour, there are places like Café Nuba, which are focused on bringing African artists and performers to music showcases; poetry; and spoken word readings on a regular basis.¹² Since these are certainly not the only examples, it can be safe to say that Denver is experiencing a growth in curiosity and reception towards what was formerly one of the most obscure cultures of the Twentieth Century.

That curiosity is obviously not limited to Colorado, or even the US as a whole. As stated before, there are hidden references and connections everywhere in popular music, and has been the case here for decades. Possibly, the first time many young Westerners’ ears were knowingly exposed to any traditional African jive was on Paul Simon’s Graceland album, in 1986.¹³ After that, actual references to Afrobeat, Fela, or anything going on within West Africa’s parallel scenes to that of Amerca’s Psychedelic, Funk, Soul, Blues, and Rock countercultures remained sporadic, yet mostly nonexistent.

In 1998 though, an explosive band hit the scene. Titled the Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra, the twelve-piece collective originally came together for a show kicking off “the popular Friday night
“Africalia!” concert series dedicated to celebrating Afrobeat, funk, and 
other diasporic music.”¹⁴ They can, in good consciousness, be strongly credited with creating the modern day Afropop resurgence that is now occurring across America. Since Antibalas, cities like New York, Chicago, and San Francisco have supported a small, but growing scene of Afrobeat collectives, including ALBINO!, The Daktaris, Akoya Afrobeat Ensemble, The Afromotive, Chicago Afrobeat Ensemble, The Budos Band, and Kokolo. Out of Michigan, the band Nomo’s unique sound is one of the most promising twists amongst the Afrobeat revivalists. In the same realm as The Motet as far as listener demographics, Telepath introduces a subtle fusion of Dub and Afrobeat (more Fela covers),¹⁵ as well as Middle Eastern sounds.

Amid all of these young groups’ attempts to hold down the Afro Beat tradition and keep a once wilting form of expression alive, perhaps the most inspiring fuel for the Afro flame has been the spark of authenticity. While a very limited amount of the music discussed thus far might have existed on a few minor compilations before the early 2000’s, one of the most significant pulses in the movement happened in 2003, when the label Soundway stepped into the reissue market. Producing volume 1 of a record titled Ghana Soundz: Afro-Beat, Funk and Fusion in 70's Ghana – pieced together by compiler and music ethnologist Miles Cleret during his long record-digging travels to Ghana and Nigeria – the U.K. record company kicked off a new formula for making quality compilations. Scores of labels have since been following suit and sending recruits over to the birthplace of Voodoo to literally sift through dusty markets and warehouse storage of condemned vinyl pressing plants, on a quest for deplorably rare cuts from bands seldom heard after their brief moments of popularity, decades ago.¹⁶

Since much of the music from the movements of Afrobeat and related styles were either never even recorded in the first place, (mainly due to economic or political reasons), or only sold in small numbers inside of their native countries, good records have obviously been hard to unearth. For the modern record collectors, what does exist is often in very poor condition and sometimes tracking down leads can be unbelievably inconsistent. Most of the hundreds of bands in question tended to dabble in many styles from Highlife to Juju to Afrobeat to Soukous to Latin to Soul to fuzzy Psychedelic Rock, making compilations and reissues confusing and difficult to create. From what work has been painstakingly done though, the last ten years have seen an interesting influx in awareness and curiosity on a worldwide scale, the likes of which have not yet been seen before. As time goes on, publications are finally taking notice. Countless dedicated blogs, podcasts and radio shows are sprouting everywhere. People are taking things into their own hands, and a once missing link in music history is being rewritten and given the attention it has deserved since its soulful start.

Works Cited

1. "Remembering Olatunji." All Things Considered. National Public Radio. KCFR, Denver (National), CO, 8 Apr. 2003. Web.

2. Ojetunde, Femi, and Babatunde Olatunji. The Rose That Grew From Concrete. Perf. Tupac Shakur. Amaru/Interscope Records, 2000. CD.

3. Olatunji, Babatunde. Planet Drum. Perf. Mickey Hart. Mickey Hart. Ryko, 1991. CD.

4. Santana, Carlos, perf. "Jingo." Rec. 1969. Santana. Columbia/Legacy, 1969. Audio

recording.

5. Dylan, Bob. "I Shall Be Free." Rec. 24 Apr. 1963. The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. Bob Dylan. Columbia, 1963. Audio recording.

6. Arnaud, Gérald. "The Gods and Rhythms of Vodun Have Tavelled." Orchestre Poly Rythmo De Cotonou. Vol. 1. Analog Africa, 2008. 12-17. Print.

7. Stones Throw Records. Ed. Alex Robinson. Mar. 2010. Web. 4 May 2010. .

8. Birchmeier, Jason. "Femi Kuti: Biography." Answers.com: Wiki Q&A Combined with Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus, and Encyclopedias. All Music Guide, 2010. Web. 04 May 2010. .

9. Prato, Greg. "The Motet Overview." Allmusic. Web. 4 May 2010. .

10. The Motet. Owsley's Golden Road (now Quixotes), Denver, CO. 10 July 2009.

Performance.

11. Madlib DJ Set. The Fox Theatre, Boulder, CO. 22 Apr. 2010. Performance.

12. "About Us." It's Hot & It's Black | CafeNuba. Web. 04 May 2010. .

13. Simon, Paul. Graceland. Paul Simon. Rec. 1 Aug. 1986. Warner Bros. Records, 1986. Audio recording.

14. "Biography." Antibalas. Ropeadope. Web. 4 May 2010. .

15. Telepath. "Water Get No Enemy." Rec. 7 July 2007. Deerfields, RE:Generation

Music Festival. 2007. Audio recording.

16. Tangari, Joe. "Africa 100: The Indestructible Beat." Pitchfork Apr. 2005: 1-4. Print.