# The 8 Best Afrobeat Tracks of All Time

Highlife and Yoruba percussion welded to James Brown's rhythm section in Lagos from 1969, stretched to twenty minutes and pointed at the government. Not to be confused with the later, unrelated pop genre spelled afrobeats.

- **Origin:** Lagos, Nigeria, 1969
- **Tempo:** 100–130 BPM
- **Also known as:** afro-beat, africa 70, highlife funk
- **Tracks:** 8
- **Updated:** 2026-08-29
- **Canonical page:** https://waxonia.com/genre/afrobeat/

## The list

### 1. [Fela Kuti & Africa 70](https://waxonia.com/artist/fela-kuti-and-africa-70/) — [Zombie](https://waxonia.com/track/fela-kuti-and-africa-70--zombie/)

*1976 · Coconut*

Twelve minutes calling the Nigerian army a column of unthinking bodies. The state responded by burning his compound down, which is the most direct review any record on this site has received.

Also on: [1976](https://waxonia.com/theme/nineteen-seventy-six/), [Dancing to Bad News](https://waxonia.com/theme/dancing-to-bad-news/), [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/).

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Fela%20Kuti%20%26%20Africa%2070%20Zombie) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=RUSg31Ignw4)

### 2. [Fela Kuti & Africa 70](https://waxonia.com/artist/fela-kuti-and-africa-70/) — [Water No Get Enemy](https://waxonia.com/track/fela-kuti-and-africa-70--water-no-get-enemy/)

*1975 · Coconut*

The gentlest thing he made and the one people who dislike political music still love. A proverb, a horn line, and Tony Allen playing the most relaxed complicated drum part imaginable.

Also on: [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/).

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Fela%20Kuti%20%26%20Africa%2070%20Water%20No%20Get%20Enemy) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=3Jx2qcKd1-0)

### 3. [Fela Ransome-Kuti & Africa 70](https://waxonia.com/artist/fela-ransome-kuti-and-africa-70/) — [Shakara](https://waxonia.com/track/fela-ransome-kuti-and-africa-70--shakara/)

*1972 · EMI*

The template arriving fully formed: a fifteen-minute instrumental build, then the vocal, then the argument. Afrobeat's structure is settled here and barely changes afterwards.

Also on: [The Waxonia Desk — One Subject](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-one-subject/).

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Fela%20Ransome-Kuti%20%26%20Africa%2070%20Shakara) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=P2l7EPy1Svs)

### 4. [Fela Kuti & Africa 70](https://waxonia.com/artist/fela-kuti-and-africa-70/) — [Sorrow Tears and Blood](https://waxonia.com/track/fela-kuti-and-africa-70--sorrow-tears-and-blood/)

*1977 · Kalakuta*

Recorded after the soldiers came. The groove is as buoyant as ever and the lyric is a list of what they left behind, and the gap between the two is the whole point.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Fela%20Kuti%20%26%20Africa%2070%20Sorrow%20Tears%20and%20Blood) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=9EXbJDodN9Y)

### 5. [Manu Dibango](https://waxonia.com/artist/manu-dibango/) — [Soul Makossa](https://waxonia.com/track/manu-dibango--soul-makossa/)

*1972 · Fiesta*

A Cameroonian B-side that a New York DJ found in a Brooklyn record shop and turned into a disco hit. The first African record to cross over on a dancefloor rather than in a concert hall.

Also on: [The Waxonia Desk — One Subject](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-one-subject/).

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Manu%20Dibango%20Soul%20Makossa) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=PblSmVR7hCk)

### 6. [Ebo Taylor](https://waxonia.com/artist/ebo-taylor/) — [Heaven](https://waxonia.com/track/ebo-taylor--heaven/)

*1977*

Ghana's answer, and a reminder that highlife was never only Nigeria's inheritance. Taylor's guitar is looser and jazzier than Lagos allowed, and the record swings where Fela's marched.

Also on: [The Waxonia Desk — One Subject](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-one-subject/).

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Ebo%20Taylor%20Heaven) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=z54HkbHg8Ec)

### 7. [Tony Allen & The Afro Messengers](https://waxonia.com/artist/tony-allen-and-the-afro-messengers/) — [No Discrimination](https://waxonia.com/track/tony-allen-and-the-afro-messengers--no-discrimination/)

*1979*

The drummer steps out from behind the bandleader and it turns out the band's whole character was his. Everything you thought was Fela's is audibly still here.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Tony%20Allen%20%26%20The%20Afro%20Messengers%20No%20Discrimination) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=j7cj4JbApgA)

### 8. [Femi Kuti](https://waxonia.com/artist/femi-kuti/) — [Beng Beng Beng](https://waxonia.com/track/femi-kuti--beng-beng-beng/)

*1998 · Barclay*

The son takes the form, shortens it to radio length and points it at sex rather than the state — and gets banned in Nigeria anyway. Proof the grammar survived the transfer.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Femi%20Kuti%20Beng%20Beng%20Beng) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=-EiimlzQ-o0)

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