Newen Afrobeat is an

Afrobeat Afrobeat is a Nigerian music genre that involves the combination of West African musical styles (such as traditional Yoruba music and highlife) and American funk, jazz, and soul influences, with a focus on chanted vocals, complex intersecting ...

band that started in 2009 in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. Newen Afrobeat revisits

Fela Kuti Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti (born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti; 15 October 1938 – 2 August 1997), also known as Abami Eda, was a Nigerian musician, bandleader, composer, political activist, and Pan-Africanist. He is regarded as the p ...

's musical heritage. The word means 'strength' in the

Mapuche language Mapuche (, Mapuche & Spanish: , or Mapudungun; from ' 'land' and ' 'speak, speech') is an Araucanian language related to Huilliche spoken in south-central Chile and west-central Argentina by the Mapuche people (from ''mapu'' 'land' and ''che ...

History

Newen Afrobeat was founded in 2009 by the Chilean composer and singer Nicholás Urbina, who composed the music for the first, eponymous, album released in 2013. The intro of the first song ''Santiago'' incorporates parts of

José Mujica José Alberto "Pepe" Mujica Cordano (; born 20 May 1935) is a Uruguayan politician, former revolutionary and farmer who served as the 40th president of Uruguay from 2010 to 2015. A former guerrilla with the Tupamaros, he was tortured and impr ...

's speech originally delivered in front of the 2013

UN General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

. Urbina relocated to the United States in the mid-2010s. The group's last concert with Urbina was at the Felabration Festival in Lagos in 2016 (founded by

Yeni Kuti Omoyeni 'Yeni' Anikulapo-Kuti (also known as YK, born 24 May 1961, England, United Kingdom) is a dancer, singer and descendant of the Ransome-Kuti family. Her grandmother was Nigerian women's rights activist Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti. Anikulapo-Kuti ...

in 1998). Without Urbina the group continued after various member changes and reformed into a collective releasing the EP ''Newen Plays Fela'' in 2017. A third album, (a Mapuchian word meaning 'black person'), was released in February 2019. The EP ''Newen Plays Fela Vol. II'' was released in 2021.

Style

Their style finds its inspiration in the Nigerian Afrobeat of Fela Kuti and their repertoire includes a number of Kuti's titles. Their music is also influenced by the

aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

roots of their own country. Their songs celebrate the environment,

indigenous rights Indigenous rights are those rights that exist in recognition of the specific condition of the Indigenous peoples. This includes not only the most basic human rights of physical survival and integrity, but also the rights over their land (includ ...

women's empowerment Women's empowerment (or female empowerment) may be defined in several ways, including accepting women's viewpoints, making an effort to seek them and raising the status of women through education, awareness, literacy, and training.Kabeer, Naila ...

, and

multiculturalism The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for "Pluralism (political theory), ethnic pluralism", with the tw ...

. Newen Afrobeat's live performances are also demonstrations in support of the Mapuche cause.

Discography

Albums

* ''Newen Afrobeat'' (2014) * ''Newen Plays Fela'' (''EP'') (2017) * ''Curiche'' (2019) * ''Newen Plays Fela Vol. II'' (''EP'') (2021)

Singles

* ''Chaltumay'' (2018) * ''Open Your Eyes'' feat. Oghene Kologbo (2019) * ''Cántaros'' (2019) * ''No Les Creeré'' (2020)

References

External links

*
Newen Afrobeat
discography at

bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

Newen Afrobeat feat. Seun Kuti & Cheick Tidiane Seck playing ''Opposite People'' by Fela Kuti
(in Nigerian Pidgin) at the studio La Makinita in Santiago de Chile, Chile, February 2016 3:49 {{Authority control Afro-beat musical groups Musical groups established in 2009 Chilean musical groups 2009 establishments in Chile