Babatunde Olatunji
As one of the first great traditional African drummers to make it to America,
Babatunde Olatunji's wild, expressive rhythms and lung-bellowing chants
influenced some of the biggest artists of the 1960s and helped pioneer Afrobeat
and world music across the globe.
Born in the small fishing village of Ajido in Nigeria, 40 miles north of Lagos,
Olatunji spent his childhood drumming with his great aunt and the master
percussionists of the area learning the traditional, spiritual importance of
rhythms to his Youraba ethnic heritage. Thanks to a scholarship from Morehouse
College ...
