While Fela himself remains today one of the most amazing and influential musicians in history, without question, one of the key factors to his music was the presence of one of the greatest drummers in history, Tony Allen. As the musical director for Kuti’s Africa ’70 for more than a decade, it was Allen who constructed and led the band on many of Kuti’s most famous songs, and Allen’s work as a performer, leader, and songwriter remain largely unrivaled.

Having released a massive amount of work on his own, Tony Allen completely rewrote the books on what was possible within the Afrobeat genre with his stunning 1999 album from Comet Records, Black Voices. While at first, the album seems to follow the time-tested pattern of Afrobeat, it quickly begins to move into uncharted waters, as Allen is out to prove that one can take the old sound and seamlessly integrate it with new musical forms.