Music
Afrobeats & African Music Quiz
From Fela Kuti to Burna Boy — explore the rhythms shaping global music
From Fela Kuti to Burna Boy — explore the rhythms shaping global music
Afrobeats streaming on Spotify grew more than 500% between 2017 and 2023, fueling a global takeover led by Nigerian and Ghanaian stars. The original Afrobeat genre was pioneered by Fela Kuti in the 1970s as a fusion of jazz, funk, highlife, and Yoruba rhythms. Wizkid's collaboration with Drake, 'One Dance,' reached #1 in 15 countries and helped kick off the modern wave.
Each round presents 10 randomized questions from a pool of 50, with four multiple-choice options and instant feedback after every answer. Your final score comes with a performance tier and shareable results.
You'll distinguish Afrobeat (Fela Kuti's politically charged 1970s genre) from Afrobeats (the modern pan-African pop movement), trace the roots of highlife, juju, and soukous, explore the rise of amapiano from South Africa, and cover the Grammy-winning breakthroughs of Burna Boy and Tems. Expect artists from Wizkid and Davido to Miriam Makeba, Youssou N'Dour, and Mulatu Astatke.
Afrobeat (no 's') refers to Fela Kuti's 1960s-70s genre fusing jazz, funk, highlife, and Yoruba music with politically charged lyrics. Afrobeats (with an 's') is the modern pan-African pop umbrella genre that emerged in 2000s Nigeria and Ghana, blending hip hop, dancehall, R&B, and local rhythms.
Global leaders include Burna Boy, Wizkid, Davido, Tems, Rema, Asake, Ayra Starr, Fireboy DML, Omah Lay, and Tiwa Savage from Nigeria, along with Sarkodie and Stonebwoy from Ghana. Burna Boy and Tems have won Grammy Awards, and Rema's 'Calm Down' with Selena Gomez became a global smash.
Fela fused Nigerian highlife and Yoruba percussion with American jazz and funk after travels to London and Los Angeles in the 1960s, adding long improvisational structures and Pidgin English protest lyrics. His band Africa 70 (later Egypt 80) and drummer Tony Allen crystallized the sound on albums like 'Zombie' (1977).
Last updated: April 2026