afrobeat

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noun

Music that combines West African musical styles (such as traditional Yoruba music and highlife) with American funk, jazz, and soul influences, with a focus on chanted vocals, complex intersecting rhythms, and percussion.

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Meanings

afrobeat1

nounafrobeat (uncountable)

alternative Afrobeat

  1. uncountableentertainmentMusic that combines West African musical styles (such as traditional Yoruba music and highlife) with American funk, jazz, and soul influences, with a focus on chanted vocals, complex intersecting rhythms, and percussion.

Afrobeat2

nounAfrobeat (uncountable)
  1. uncountableAlternative letter-case form of afrobeat.

    Cousin-Brother-in-Law comes out humming a seventies Nigerian Afrobeat hit.

    2018, Tsitsi Dangarembga, This Mournable Body, Faber & Faber (2020), page 166

Origin

From Afro- + beat.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Esperanto afrobito
  • afrobitoa fusion of jazz and funk from Nigeria
German Afrobeat
  • Afrobeata fusion of jazz and funk from Nigeria
Portuguese afrobeat
  • afrobeata fusion of jazz and funk from Nigeria
Russian афробит
  • афробит (afrobit)a fusion of jazz and funk from Nigeria
Spanish afrobeat
  • afrobeata fusion of jazz and funk from Nigeria
Cite this entry
APA

afrobeat. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/afrobeat

MLA

“afrobeat.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/afrobeat. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “afrobeat,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/afrobeat.

Source: afrobeat on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.