Journey of the Beats launched a 10-part documentary series produced by creative entrepreneur and the creator of Storm Records, Obi Asika solely on Showmax yesterday. The series details a unique story that explores the origin and evolution of Afrobeats and black music.
A Spotify playlist accompanies each episode of the series. Episode One: Origins and the Switch Up is curated by Ed Keazor, co-director and producer on Journey of the Beats, and a historian, lawyer and musician. Each episode is also told through the lens of music historians and some of Nigeria’s most prominent artists, like 2Baba, P-Square, Onyeka Onwenu, Daddy Showkey, Flavour, and D’Banj. The series goes behind the scenes to shed light on the Afrobeats movement that has taken the world by storm.
Watch the trailer for Journey of the Beats:
The Spotify playlist of 103 songs straddles the grooves that made Nigeria dance from the inception, with traditional drum and melodic tunes, through to the birth of modern popular music in the 1920s. The playlist covers the emergence of highlife music, through to the influence of Latin and Caribbean genres like rhumba and calypso, US jazz, soul, RnB and funk, including the birth of a uniquely Nigerian sound, with juju, highlife, Fuji, and Afrobeat.
New episodes of the music documentary drop every Friday exclusively on Showmax. Afrobeats fans, documentary lovers and anyone who appreciates music can subscribe to watch the docuseries on www.showmax.com from as low as N1,200.
Find the Spotify playlist here: