1000 Day Album Challenge (#77) Tony Allen with Afrobeat 2000: N.E.P.A. (Never Expect Power Always) (1985) [17.03.24]

when one road close another one go open..

afrobeat combines traditional elements of Nigerian music with elements of jazz, funk, and soul. it is safe to say that Fela Kuti with Tony Allen as his drummer for all intents and purposes gave birth to the genre from mid-196os through the 1970s.

I’m not sure when I first truly encountered Fela Kuti’s music but I bought N.E.P.A. in the mid-1980s at St. Mark’s Sound in NYC. in my mind’s eye I can still still see the iconic St. Mark’s Sound price label on the cover of my copy. I don’t think I bought my first proper Fela record for another 15 years or so.

I’m not sure I was ready at the time to fully embrace Allen’s electro funk take on the afrobeat sound. I certainly listened to it enough to remember it’s sound when I heard it sampled in the late 90s in the Rainer Trüby Trio Remix of Bobby Matos' Guiro Electro. as soon as I heard that record I thought “hey I recognize that.” I’m not sure how long it took me to peg it as as Road Close Dance Dub on the second side of this record, but I did soon enough.

when I returned to N.E.P.A. I was more than ready to dig these sounds. there were several landmarks along the way for me – finding the funk in the spring of 1989 which is a post for another day involving the JB’s Doing it to Death and getting turned onto House Music during my days in San Francisco which let me to embrace all kinds of electronic music.

for me this record is all about the two dub versions of the main tracks. at least for me, they are more expansive and both draw me immediately. I can listen to each over and over.

#1000DayAlbumChallenge #TonyAllenWithAfrobeat2000 #NEPA(NeverExpectPowerAlways) #StMarksSound