Group · 1970–1979 · Lagos [6.46, 3.39]

Africa 70

Africa 70 was the large Lagos ensemble that gave afrobeat its body — a wall of horns, layered guitars, and percussion anchored by Tony Allen's drumming, all directed by Fela Kuti. Formed around 1970 from Fela's earlier Nigeria 70 outfit, the group recorded the run of albums that defined the genre across the decade. Its tight, hypnotic grooves could sustain a single piece for the length of an entire LP side.

Evidence2

Connections4

  • collaborates with → Fela Kuti

    Fela Kuti led, composed for, and fronted Africa 70, the orchestra he assembled around 1970 to play his afrobeat. Every record of the period is credited to him together with the band. The relationship between the bandleader and his ensemble is the organizing structure of the scene.

  • collaborates with → Igo Chico

    Igo Chico was the featured tenor saxophonist of Africa 70 through the early 1970s, his solos central to the band's first afrobeat albums before he left mid-decade. His voice is one of the defining instrumental colours of the genre's founding records.

  • collaborates with → Lekan Animashaun

    Lekan Animashaun was the baritone saxophonist and long-running bandleader within Fela Kuti's ensembles, holding the horn section together across the Africa 70 years. His was one of the most durable musical partnerships in the entire afrobeat story.

  • collaborates with → Zombie (1976)

    Zombie, the 1976 album that mocked Nigerian soldiers as mindless automata, is credited to Fela together with Afrika 70 and stands as the band's most consequential recording. The ensemble's relentless groove gave the satire its force. Its release set in motion the events that would end the Kalakuta Republic.

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