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Abstract
Afrobeat is a combination of Ghanaian highlife, jazz, James Brown-style funk, and traditional Nigerian musics. It was created in the late 1960s by Nigerian musician Fela Anikulapo-Kuti for use as both dance music and as a tool to critique the military, government, and British-influenced society of Nigeria. Since Kuti's death in 1997, bands have appeared throughout North America that use Afrobeat for similar reasons, except their critiques are aimed at the governments and consumerist societies of Canada and the United States.
This thesis addresses four aspects of contemporary North American Afrobeat. First are the similarities and differences between the bands in terms of their formation, musical style, and current concerns. Second is the issue of musical appropriation, which is particularly interesting given that Afrobeat is Nigerian in origin, but most of its North American performers are white. The third aspect is the political ideologies of the bands, especially the forms of political action they choose to use. The last topic is the inherently political nature of Afrobeat and how it implicitly manifests itself in the music. The thesis argues that the musical style of Afrobeat models democratic behavior and decision-making. The fieldwork for this thesis, which took place between Spring 2007 and Spring 2009, includes interviews, concert attendances, and performances with three bands: Antibalas, Chicago Afrobeat Project, and Mr. Something Something.
