Tony Allen

As the drummer for Fela Kuti’s groundbreaking Africa 70 band, Tony Allen was one of the prime architects of Afrobeat. Born in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1940, he learned drums as a teenager and forged a style equally informed by bebop and African styles like highlife and juju. Allen began playing a jazz/highlife hybrid with Fela in the ’60s, and by the end of the decade they began fusing those elements with funk, as Allen’s driving, polyrhythmic approach became a key element of the blossoming Afrobeat sound. Allen remained Fela’s key collaborator throughout the ’70s, shaking up the African music scene (and generating an international buzz) on a long string of classic albums including He Miss Road, Yellow Fever, Shuffering and Shmiling, and many more. He kicked off his solo career with 1975’s Jealousy, offering a variation on the Africa 70 sound. Allen left Fela’s band by decade’s end, going on to work with King Sunny Ade, Manu Dibango, and others. In the 2000s, he played in a pair of supergroups alongside Blur’s Damon Albarn: The Good, the Bad & the Queen (also including Clash bassist Paul Simonon) and Rocket Juice & The Moon (featuring Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea). Allen died at 79 in 2020, leaving behind an unimpeachable legacy as a globally revered rhythmic innovator.