Biography
The drummer and unofficial music director of the late Fela Kuti's band, Africa 70, from 1968 until 1979, Tony Allen (born Tony Oladipo Allen) helped create the sounds of afro-beat. With his solo recordings, however, Allen has refused to remain stagnant, incorporating dub and avant-garde hip-hop influences into his modern African dance music.
Read More...A self-taught musician, Allen began to play drums at the age of 18 while working as a technician for a Nigerian radio station. Within nine months, he had embarked on a professional career as a drummer. Although they had known each other since the early '60s, when they performed on the Nigerian music circuit with different bands, Allen and Kuti began playing American-style jazz together in 1964. Before long, they shifted to a more African-influenced style of highlife jazz, which they continued to play for five years.
Forming Africa 70 in 1969, Allen and Kuti began reaching out to an international audience. A few months later, while touring North America for the first time, Allen was introduced to the music of James Brown, Max Roach, and Art Blakey. Despite critical acclaim, the group faced numerous obstacles, including financial difficulties, racial discrimination, and political oppression. Arrested during the first of a long series of government-sponsored raids of black townships in 1974, Allen spent three days in jail. The following year, he released his first album as a leader, The Fake Sound Of Progress. After performing his last show with Kuti and Africa 70 at the Berlin Jazz Festival in 1979, Allen continued to play with his group Lagos until emigrating to Europe in 1984. After temporarily living in London, he settled in France the following year and worked as a session drummer for such transplanted African musicians as Ray Lema and Manu Dibango, and released N.E.P.A. (Never Expect Power Always) in 1985.
Allen was largely inactive for the next decade, re-emerging in the late '90s with a string of singles, culminating in the release of Home Cooking in 2002. Reissues of his '70s solo albums started showing up around the same time, as well as Eager Hands And Restless Feet - The Best Of Tony Allen, a summation of his post-Fela Kuti career. In 2004 a live album came out, and 2006 saw a return to his afro-beat roots with Lagos No Shaking, which was recorded in the Nigerian city itself. That same year, Allen co-founded the British rock outfit The Good, the Bad & the Queen alongside Paul Simonon (The Clash), Simon Tong (The Verve), and Damon Albarn (Blur) and released a well-received eponymous album under the moniker in 2007, followed in 2009 by an all new collection of afro-beat material called Secret Agent, as well as "Inspiration Information, Vol. 4" with Jimi Tenor. ~ Craig Harris, Rovi
Top Tracks
Total plays on Last.fm over the last 6 months- Ariya - (7:37) - 5,135 plays
- Download This Track
Amazon MP30.89 USD
7digital0.99 USD
Juno1.49 USD
iTunes0.99 USD- Ringtone
- Secret Agent - (5:19) - 1,952 plays
- Download This Track
Amazon MP30.99 USD
7digital0.99 USD
iTunes0.99 USD- Ringtone
- Asiko - (9:27) - 1,284 plays
- Download This Track
Amazon MP30.89 USD
7digital0.99 USD
Juno1.49 USD
iTunes0.99 USD- Ringtone
- Jealousy - (11:21) - 1,199 plays
- Download This Track
Amazon MP30.89 USD
7digital0.99 USD
Juno1.49 USD
iTunes- Ringtone
- Elewon Po - (5:39) - 1,068 plays
- Download This Track
Amazon MP30.99 USD
7digital0.99 USD
iTunes0.99 USD- Ringtone
- Celebrate - (7:51) - 1,006 plays
- Download This Track
Amazon MP30.99 USD
7digital0.99 USD
iTunes0.99 USD- Ringtone
- Get Together - (5:54) - 950 plays
- Download This Track
Amazon MP30.89 USD
7digital0.99 USD
Juno1.49 USD
iTunes0.99 USD- Ringtone
- Afro Disco Beat - (5:31) - 993 plays
- Download This Track
Amazon MP30.89 USD
7digital0.99 USD
Juno1.49 USD
iTunes- Ringtone
- Hustler - (12:57) - 737 plays
- Download This Track
Amazon MP30.89 USD
7digital0.99 USD
Juno1.49 USD
iTunes- Ringtone
- Progress - (6:12) - 594 plays
- Download This Track
Amazon MP30.89 USD
7digital0.99 USD
Juno1.49 USD
iTunes0.99 USD- Ringtone
- The Same Blood - (8:01) - 472 plays
- Download This Track
Amazon MP30.89 USD
7digital0.99 USD
Juno1.49 USD
iTunes0.99 USD- Ringtone
- Road Close (dance Dub) - (6:43) - 448 plays
- Download This Track
Amazon MP30.89 USD
7digital0.99 USD
Juno1.49 USD
iTunes0.99 USD- Ringtone
- Home Cooking - (4:43) - 507 plays
- Download This Track
Amazon MP30.89 USD
7digital0.99 USD
Juno1.49 USD
iTunes0.99 USD- Ringtone
- Every Season - (4:07) - 539 plays
- Download This Track
Amazon MP30.89 USD
7digital
iTunes0.99 USD- Ringtone
- Black Voices - (5:48) - 392 plays
- Download This Track
Amazon MP30.89 USD
7digital0.99 USD
Juno1.49 USD
iTunes0.99 USD- Ringtone
- Crazy Afrobeat - (4:52) - 398 plays
- Download This Track
Amazon MP30.89 USD
7digital0.99 USD
Juno1.49 USD
iTunes0.99 USD- Ringtone
- No Discrimination - (8:17) - 385 plays
- Download This Track
Amazon MP30.89 USD
7digital0.99 USD
Juno1.49 USD
iTunes0.99 USD- Ringtone
- Ijo - (5:02) - 435 plays
- Download This Track
Amazon MP30.99 USD
7digital0.99 USD
iTunes0.99 USD- Ringtone
- Ayenlo - (5:01) - 402 plays
- Download This Track
Amazon MP30.99 USD
7digital0.99 USD
iTunes0.99 USD- Ringtone
- African Message - (11:54) - 309 plays
- Download This Track
Amazon MP30.89 USD
7digital0.99 USD
Juno1.49 USD
iTunes- Ringtone

Peter King
Femi Kuti
Fanga
BLO
Fela Kuti
Ebo Taylor
Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra
Seun Kuti
Manu Dibango
The Daktaris