Afrobeat is often described through its sound, extended grooves, layered percussion, and sharp political lyrics. Afrobeat! Fela and the Imagined Continent approaches the genre from a wider historical and cultural angle. Written by Sola Olorunyomi, the book treats Afrobeat not only as music but as a cultural practice shaped by power, performance, and political confrontation in postcolonial Africa.
The work is closely associated with the career of Fela Anikulapo Kuti, yet it is not a biography in the conventional sense. Instead, it explores how Afrobeat functioned as a public language, one that spoke directly to authority, challenged political legitimacy, and imagined Africa as a shared historical and political idea.
The meaning behind “the imagined continent”
The phrase “imagined continent” sits at the heart of the book’s argument. Africa is presented not only as geography but as an idea continually shaped through culture, struggle, and memory. In this framing, Afrobeat becomes one of the places where Africa is imagined, debated, and contested in public life.
This does not suggest that Afrobeat unified Africa in a political or organisational sense. Rather, it highlights how music can carry ideas beyond national boundaries. Through language, rhythm, symbolism, and performance, Afrobeat invokes shared histories of colonialism, post independence disappointment, and resistance to authoritarian power. The continent becomes an idea shaped through sound and repetition rather than borders and institutions.
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Afrobeat as cultural practice and political expression
The book places strong emphasis on Afrobeat as cultural practice. Music is examined not just for what it says, but for how it operates. Performance length, call and response, collective instrumentation, satire, and confrontation are treated as political tools. Afrobeat is shown as a form that demands attention and participation, creating a public space where power can be questioned openly.
In this sense, Afrobeat functions as more than protest music. It becomes a structured way of speaking politically, one that uses musical form to sustain critique over time. Songs are not isolated statements but parts of a broader cultural system that includes live performance, public persona, and direct engagement with audiences.
Fela as a public political figure
Fela’s role within this framework is examined through his public actions and artistic choices. The book presents him as a figure whose music, stage presence, and public statements were inseparable from political confrontation. His work consistently addressed corruption, military authority, foreign influence, and the failures of post independence leadership.
Rather than portraying Fela as myth or icon alone, the book situates him within the realities of political pressure and state response. His artistic output is understood as part of an ongoing struggle over who has the right to speak publicly and how power reacts when challenged through popular culture.
Nigeria, postcolonial tension, and sound
The historical setting of Afrobeat is central to the book’s narrative. Nigeria’s postcolonial experience, marked by political instability, military rule, and contested national identity, forms the backdrop for Afrobeat’s emergence. Within this environment, music becomes a way to express frustration, anger, and refusal.
Afrobeat addresses not only individual leaders but political structures. It names problems that many people experience but cannot formally confront. By doing so, it turns private dissatisfaction into public discourse. The music becomes a mirror held up to society, reflecting both hope and disillusionment.
Public language and political imagination
One of the book’s lasting contributions is its treatment of Afrobeat as a public language. Afrobeat speaks through rhythm, repetition, and performance as much as through lyrics. It shapes how audiences listen, respond, and interpret authority. Political meaning emerges through the collective experience of sound, not only through written texts or formal speeches.
This approach allows readers to understand Afrobeat as a form of political imagination. It shows how culture can create shared ways of thinking about power, responsibility, and resistance. Afrobeat does not resolve political conflict, but it gives people a language to name it.
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Continued relevance and circulation
The book was first published by Africa World Press and later released in a revised edition through Africae, with open access distribution via OpenEdition Books. This later availability expanded its reach, allowing the work to circulate more widely in academic and educational settings.
Today, the book remains relevant because it offers a way to study music historically without separating sound from politics. It demonstrates how Afrobeat can be understood as part of African intellectual and cultural history, not simply as entertainment or protest soundtrack.
Why the book still matters
Afrobeat! Fela and the Imagined Continent matters because it provides a language for understanding how music participates in political life. It shows how Afrobeat imagined Africa as a contested idea and how that imagination was carried through sound, performance, and public confrontation.
For readers interested in Afrobeat, Nigerian history, or African cultural politics, the book offers a framework that connects music to lived political experience. It invites readers to listen not only for rhythm and melody, but for how power is challenged, named, and reimagined through culture.
Author’s Note
This article highlights the historical and cultural significance of Afrobeat! Fela and the Imagined Continent, focusing on how the book presents Afrobeat as a public language shaped by Nigerian political history, performance culture, and African political imagination, offering readers a grounded way to understand Fela’s music beyond myth or slogan.
References
Afrobeat! Fela and the Imagined Continent, revised edition, Africae, OpenEdition Books.
Africa World Press, publisher description and early edition listings.
IFRA Nigeria, notice on the OpenEdition Books release.
