Afrobeat Rules

Seun Kuti & Egypt 80
@ S.O.B.'s
New York, NY - July 1, 2007

Afrobeat Rules. So says the shirts for Seun Kuti and so it is that it is also true. The rhythms of Africa tossed and toiled into an American sound, evolved and evolved some more, one day becoming the work of James Brown and George Clinton, brought back to Africa, reworked, evolved, and brought back again, and this is Afrobeat. And this is Seun Kuti. The son of a famed Nigerian musician and social critic, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Seun is an extremely energetic and effervescent musician and singer. He leads a powerful, perfect horn section that is backed up by a non-stop, hard driving, rhythm section. It was a funky good time. A Jazzy good time. A soulful good time. It was all those great African-American-created musical good times rendered full of inter-continental vibe and swing. Afrobeat rules, indeed.