Afrobeat vs Afrobeats comes down to one letter and about forty years of music. Afrobeat, with no s, is the long, horn-heavy protest sound Fela Kuti built in Lagos with drummer Tony Allen from the late 1960s. Afrobeats, with an s, is the umbrella name for modern West African pop, the music of Wizkid, Burna Boy, Davido, Tems and Rema, which keeps some of Fela’s bounce and mixes it with hip hop, R&B, dancehall and highlife.
If you grew up with Fela on your parents’ record player and now hear Rema at every wedding, here is how the two connect.
Where Afrobeat began: Fela Kuti and Tony Allen
Fela Anikulapo Kuti was born in Abeokuta in 1938. In 1958 he went to London to study at Trinity College of Music, with the trumpet as his instrument, and started a band called Koola Lobitos that mixed jazz with highlife.
The turning point came in 1969, when he took the band to the United States. In Los Angeles he met Sandra Smith, later known as Sandra Izsadore, who introduced him to the Black Power movement. He came home with sharper politics and a new sound, and the band became Nigeria 70, then Africa 70.
Behind the drum kit sat Tony Allen, the band’s drummer and musical director from 1968 to 1979. Fela’s own verdict: without Tony Allen, there would be no Afrobeat.
What Afrobeat sounds like
- Long songs. “Water No Get Enemy” (1975) runs about eleven minutes.
- A big live band. Horns, guitars, keyboards and percussion locked onto Allen’s drum patterns.
- Mixed roots. Highlife, jazz, funk and soul, built on Yoruba rhythms.
- Politics. Fela often sang in Pidgin English and aimed his lyrics at the government and the army.
The price of “Zombie”
Fela’s 1976 album Zombie mocked Nigerian soldiers as mindless zombies. On 18 February 1977, about 1,000 soldiers stormed Kalakuta Republic, his compound in Lagos. Fela was badly beaten, his mother, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, was thrown from a window, and the compound was burned along with his master tapes and band equipment.
He kept going. In 1979 he formed a political party, the Movement of the People, and in 1984 he was jailed on currency smuggling charges. Fela died in Lagos on 2 August 1997. Reports put the crowd at his funeral at more than a million people.
A legacy the Grammys finally named
Zombie entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2025. In 2026 the Recording Academy gave Fela a Lifetime Achievement Award, making him the first African artist to receive it, and his children accepted it in Los Angeles. His sons still carry the sound: Femi Kuti has been nominated for Grammys several times, and Seun Kuti leads Egypt 80, his father’s later band.
How Afrobeat turned into Afrobeats
Through the 2000s and 2010s, a new wave of Nigerian and Ghanaian artists made shorter, dance-ready pop. They kept the bounce of the old rhythms and added hip hop, R&B, dancehall, highlife and the slang of Lagos and Accra.
The name “Afrobeats” took off in London around 2011. Ghanaian DJ Abrantee is usually credited, after he started a radio show called Afrobeats with Abrantee that year, though he has said the artists were already calling their music that. Not everyone accepts the London story: Burna Boy has said the UK had no influence on creating or naming Afrobeats.
The quick difference
- Afrobeat: 1970s Lagos, a big live band, songs of ten minutes or more, openly political.
- Afrobeats: 2000s onward, producer-built tracks, three or four minute songs, mostly about love, parties and success.
Some fans and artists prefer Afropop or simply Naija music for the newer sound. Either way, Fela sits near the root of the family tree.
The artists who took it worldwide
D’banj opens the door (2012)
“Oliver Twist” entered the UK Singles Chart at No. 9 in May 2012.
Wizkid and a Toronto connection (2016 to 2021)
Toronto’s own Drake brought Wizkid onto “One Dance” with Kyla, and the song spent ten weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2016. Wizkid’s “Essence”, featuring Tems, later climbed to No. 9 on the Hot 100 in 2021 after a remix with Justin Bieber. That same year Wizkid shared the Grammy for Best Music Video as a featured artist on Beyoncé’s “Brown Skin Girl”.
Burna Boy fills a stadium (2021 to 2023)
Burna Boy’s Twice as Tall won Best Global Music Album at the 2021 Grammys, his first Grammy. On 3 June 2023 he played London Stadium as the first African artist to headline a UK stadium.
Tems, Rema and Davido
Tems won a Grammy in 2023 for Best Melodic Rap Performance, for her part in Future’s “Wait for U” with Drake, and won Best African Music Performance in 2025 for “Love Me JeJe”. Rema’s “Calm Down” remix with Selena Gomez reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became the first track led by an African artist to pass one billion streams on Spotify. Davido sang “Hayya Hayya” at the 2022 FIFA World Cup closing ceremony in Qatar.
The industry caught up
Billboard launched its U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart in March 2022. The Grammys added a Best African Music Performance category in 2024, won first by South African singer Tyla for “Water”.
Where to start listening
Seven picks, from the source to the charts:
- Fela Kuti and Africa 70, “Water No Get Enemy” (1975)
- Fela Kuti and Africa 70, “Zombie” (1976)
- D’banj, “Oliver Twist” (2012)
- Drake featuring Wizkid and Kyla, “One Dance” (2016)
- Wizkid featuring Tems, “Essence” (2020)
- Burna Boy, Twice as Tall (2020, album)
- Rema and Selena Gomez, “Calm Down” remix (2022)
Fela’s horns need room, so play him on proper speakers, and save headphones and earbuds for the commute.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Afrobeat and Afrobeats?
Afrobeat is the 1970s style Fela Kuti and Tony Allen created in Lagos: long, live, horn-driven and political. Afrobeats is the newer umbrella term for West African pop that mixes those rhythms with hip hop, R&B and dancehall.
Who created Afrobeat?
Fela Kuti is regarded as its main creator, working with Tony Allen, the drummer and musical director of his band from 1968 to 1979.
Which Afrobeats artists have won Grammys?
Burna Boy won Best Global Music Album in 2021, and Wizkid shared Best Music Video that year for “Brown Skin Girl”. Tems won in 2023 and again in 2025.