Amayo — a graphic designer, fashion designer, and martial arts fighter — was living in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood and developing a successful clothing line. His project began as a positive-messaging T-shirt initiative for historically black colleges and universities and expanded into Asian- and African-inspired martial arts wear. “I grew up listening to Afrobeat music; I grew up doing my martial arts to Afrobeat music. The show chronicles how Kuti rose to fame in Lagos in the 1970s by fusing traditional African music with James Brown-inspired funk during performances at his nightclubs Afro-Spot and the Afrika Shrine. The Asian, Afrobeat, and Afro-American funk elements are easily identifiable, and the pacing is sure to cause a related style of martial arts dancing.

Source: The North Africa Journal January 22, 2020 16:13 UTC