Allen has long been credited by both local and international media as a co-pioneer of Afrobeats, largely due to his role as Fela Kuti’s lead drummer and music director. However, Femi Kuti—a multiple Grammy-nominated artist and the son of the late Afrobeats pioneer, Fela Kuti—has strongly refuted claims that the legendary drummer Tony Allen co-created the genre alongside his father.
Femi Kuti stated, “My father was a multi-instrumentalist and composer. He studied music and understood every aspect of his instruments. You’ve probably heard people say he once said, ‘Without Tony Allen, there is no Afrobeat.’ That is the biggest bullsht ever said about my father. It’s a complete lie.”*
He continued, “I’ve asked those making this claim to show me where Fela ever said that. They can’t produce any evidence. There’s no article, recording, or interview footage to support it. It’s impossible that my father would make such a statement and there wouldn’t be a single record of it.”
Speaking in a recent video message shared on his social media page, Femi dismissed the idea that Allen—or anyone else—contributed to the creation of Fela’s music. “They tried to sell Tony Allen’s legacy, so they built that lie. Yes, he was a good drummer, but Fela taught him his drumming style. Fela created all the drum patterns. We witnessed it.”
“When Fela was composing, no one could interrupt. He would enter a trance-like state while creating music, and everyone around had to remain silent and attentive. I saw it as a child, a teenager, and as a grown man—Fela wrote all the parts himself.”
Femi added, “I keep asking them: which specific songs did Tony Allen claim to have written or arranged drums for? He never did, because there wasn’t a single song where Fela asked him to create the drum patterns. It simply didn’t happen.”
According to Femi, Allen was taught by Fela—just like every other instrumentalist in the band.