A ‘60s star going through a major revival in the new millennium thanks to a series of reissues and contemporary acid jazz collaborations, Julius absorbed early on US-imported jazz, soul and R&B influences and spat them back anew—vigorous, fresh and highly influential in their own right. Afrobeat great Fela Kuti, as well as subsequent funk bands are said to owe a lot to Julius, who started marrying the popular highlife grooves with everything from juju to jazz, fuelling a new craze in his native Nigeria—and, sooner or later, the key music capitals of the world.