Orlando Julius & The Afro Soundz Orlando Julius & The Afro Soundz

Nigerian Afrobeat legend, Orlando Julius, plays classic Afrobeat with a psychedelic twist, heading into new and exciting directions. Few artists have been more crucial to the invention, development, and popularization of Afro-pop than Orlando Julius. Starting in the ’60s, Julius was fusing traditional African sounds and rhythms with those of American pop, soul, and R&B. Aside from performing and recording in his native Nigeria, he spent many years in the United States working on collaborations with Lamont Dozier, the Crusaders, and Hugh Masekela. His 1966 effort, Super Afro Soul, made him a national celebrity in Nigeria and even went so far as to influence music in the United States. The record’s dramatic, highly melodic incorporation of soul, pop, and funk was very much ahead of its time, and some say that Super Afro Soul helped shape the funk movement that swept over the United States in subsequent years.
 
“Before Fela Anikulapo Kuti, the edgiest, funkiest man in Nigerian pop music was Orlando Julius” – Morgan Greenstreet, Afropop WorldWide
 

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