afrobeat means music that combines West African musical styles (such as traditional Yoruba music and highlife) with American funk, jazz, and soul influences, with a focus on chanted vocals, complex intersecting rhythms, and percussion. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 89 out of 100.
Why “afrobeat” is a great word
AFROBEAT — [Noun] A politically charged musical style forged from the fusion of West African traditions with American funk, jazz, and soul, characterized by chanted vocals, intricate polyrhythms, and relentless percussion. From the prefix Afro- (denoting African) + beat (referring to a rhythmic musical pulse). First attested in 1971. Unlike “highlife” (an earlier, more temperate synthesis) or “Afrobeats” (a broad, contemporary pan-African pop genre), Afrobeat is a deliberate, insurgent fusion. It is the insistent thrum of the bass locking with a battery of talking drums, the call-and-response of a defiant chant rising over a searing horn section, and the raw, sermonizing voice that turns a dance floor into a pulpit—a rhythm engineered not just for movement, but for meaning.
Etymology
From Afro- + beat.
noun
- Music that combines West African musical styles (such as traditional Yoruba music and highlife) with American funk, jazz, and soul influences, with a focus on chanted vocals, complex intersecting rhythms, and percussion.