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Afrobeat

American  
[af-roh-beet] / ˈæf roʊˌbit /

noun

  • Afrobeats
    plural
  1. a genre of music that originated in Nigeria in the 1960s and combines elements of traditional West African musical styles with funk, soul, and jazz.


Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms


Example Sentences

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Since his days as the frontman of Talking Heads, Mr. Byrne has been known for his eclectic taste, which has evidently expanded from samba and Afrobeat to include scientometrics.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

In the household, spiritual jazz, classic soul and funk, and Afrobeat were omnipresent.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026

In the 1970s, multi-instrumentalist Fela invented Afrobeat: a mixture of jazz, funk and African rhythms.

From Barron's ● Feb. 1, 2026

In the 1970s, Fela the multi-instrumentalist and full-of-life performer invented Afrobeat: a mixture of jazz, funk and African rhythms.

From Barron's ● Jan. 30, 2026

This includes older blended traditions such as rumba and samba, newer but well-established blended genres such as reggae and Afrobeat, and groups with unique experimental sounds borrowing from more than one tradition.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

It doesn't have Lagos's famous, and infamous, raucousness -- but neither does it have a riposte to the Lagos' film industry, known as Nollywood, or its major corporate headquarters and roster of Afrobeats stars.

From Barron's ● Oct. 3, 2026

Beyond Ryonex, there exists a universe of algo-manipulating copypastas that concern everything from authentic Afrobeats superstars to fake Asian rappers, international holidays to articles of clothing, legit news items to dumbed-down historical timelines.

From Slate ● Aug. 28, 2026

In 2024, she was the first Afrobeats artist to play Glastonbury's Pyramid Stage – and finished her set by declaring she'd return as a headliner.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

Ahead of the co-hosts match against South Africa, fans in the stadium were treated to musical performances from Shakira, Colombia's J Balvin, Afrobeats star Burna Boy, Latin music star Danny Ocean and Fher Olvera.

From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026

My heart thumps with the Afrobeats that float through the breeze.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

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