Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra

Antibalas' latest album, Who Is This America?, finds the 17-piece ensemble from Brooklyn making lemonade out of the bitterest lemons, whether it's misogynistic urban culture or stilted U.S. foreign policy. While a bit more overtly political than 2002's Talkatif, Antibalas offers a bright, danceable sound that's given backbone by a tight horn section and two talented conga players.

Related Content

• Tigercity
  December 3, 2009
• Craig "Pizza Expert" Agranoff on CBS 12 News
  October 2, 2009
• Beer of the Week: Brooklyn Lager
  September 3, 2009
• Chairlift
  December 3, 2009
• Five Steps to a Perfect Turkey -- Good for Eating and Throwing
  November 13, 2009

More About

• Brooklyn
• Duke Amayo
• Fela Kuti
• Tamara Palmer

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Music Newsletter: Keep your thumb on the local music scene with music features, additional online music listings and show picks. We'll also send special ticket offers and music promotions available only to our Music Newsletter subscribers.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

The album closes with the 19-minute "Sister," in which singer Abraham "Duke" Amayo apologizes to women for his past chauvinism: "What kinda brother I am if I check my sister like dog?/ What kinda brother I am if I hunt my sister like food?" His reasoning is so logical that it makes the alternative look barbaric. It's hard to imagine that Fela Kuti, the late Nigerian pioneer of the dynamic Afrobeat sound that inspired the formation of Antibalas (and a man of many wives), would write a feminist power anthem. But "Sister" is one of the most elegant ways that the band proves it is not only an extension of a strong musical lineage, but capable of transcending that history with its own heartfelt expression. -- Tamara Palmer