Afrobeat is a music genre which involves the combination of West African musical styles such as Fuji music and highlife with American jazz. It focuses on chanted vocals, rhythms and percussions. It was pioneered by a Nigerian singer Fela Anakulapo Kuti known by his stage name Fela Kuti in 1969.
When Fela Kuti introduced his ingenious Afrobeat sound – the disruptive genre founded on the harmonic backdrops of jazz, funk, highlife and soul, rooted in traditional West African rhythms and melodies – to the world, it changed the landscape of African music for generations to come, earning him the title of the Afrobeat patriarch. However, few know that the genesis of this sound was built on a mosaic of contributions from various figures along the way – many of them were also women.
Years fast forward, meet OG Spaceman, a singer, songwriter, producer and instrumentalist from Toronto. His open, melodic approach to song-making is polished whilst maintaining a hypnotic upbeat tempo that requires attention. As Afrobeat begins to assert itself into the mainstream, OG Spaceman is one to look out for as a surging new artist with an incredible amount of natural talent. Listen to his 2 song EP "Drama Delay" below and follow him on instagram to keep up with his updates.
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