Fela is trending because Alhaji Tekno said Fela is not the founder of Afrobeat, and it spiraled into a Yoruba vs. Igbo debate.
Tekno said, there were many musicians like Oliver de Coque (highlife) in the South East, but Fela was popular in South West and went international, so people assumed he created the genre and gave him the credit.
We believe what Tekno is trying to say is that there were other artists in the Southeast making similar sounds to Fela, but they didn’t go as far as he did. Thus, Fela wasn’t the only one who shaped Nigerian music.
There is Afrobeat and Afrobeats.
Afrobeat (African Beat) which Fela created fusing Highlife + jazz + funk + Yoruba/West African rhythms + percussion + social commentary.
While Afrobeats is an umbrella term for sounds inspired by a fusion of;
Highlife, Afrobeat, Pop, Hip-Hop, Dancehall, Electronic Music, Hiplife, Ghanaian Pop, Reggae, Fuji, R&B and many others, it emerged from both Ghana and Nigeria. Just like Fela, artistes like 2Face, D’banj, P-Square, Davido and Wizkid helped take the sound global.
So, Tekno is saying that Fela getting credit for Afrobeat is like 2Face, D’banj, P-Square, Davido and Wizkid getting credit for originating Afrobeats, when it was, in fact, a collective effort.
It’s a controversial take because Oliver De Coque’s music was primarily guitar-led highlife, while Fela’s Afrobeat was driven by horns and percussion.
A closer reference to Fela would have been Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe, who used the same instruments as Fela, except his commentary, which wasn’t political like Fela. Chronologically, Osadebe also started before Fela and De Coco.
Highlife is a major piece of Fela’s afrobeat, but it doesn’t constitute majority of the sound. But Tekno insists, Oliver de Coque inspired his music not Fela.
However, Fela never claimed ownership of the genres he fused. He simply brought these different musical influences together and was among the first to turn them into a distinct, recognizable sound.
Because in the ’60s, saxophonist and band leader, Orlando Julius was already experimenting “Afrobeat” by fusing highlife, jazz, R&B, soul and African rhythms before Fela’s Afrobeat emerged in the ’70s and perfected it.
A typical example of both Afrobeat and Afrobeats is Wizkid’s Jaiye Jaiye ft. Femi Kuti. Which is technically, Afrobeats.
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