SampleRadar: 345 free Afrobeat samples

Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti
Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti (Image credit: Sophie Elbaz/Sygma/Corbis)

Hailing from Africa in the '70s and christened by Fela Kuti, the infectious sound of Afrobeat combines elements of jazz, funk and traditional Nigerian music.

The likes of Talking Heads, TV On The Radio and Vampire Weekend have all been influenced by the genre, and now it's making its presence felt on SampleRadar.

What you need to know

The samples are split into three construction kits of different tempi (105, 110 and 118bpm). These contain drum, bass, guitar, keyboard and percussion loops.

All the samples are supplied as WAV files so can be imported directly into your DAW or sampler of choice. Because they're royalty-free, you're welcome to use the samples in your music in any way you like - all we ask is that you don't re-distribute them.

The Afrobeat samples are supplied in a zip file, so you'll need to extract them before you can see them. Enjoy!

Example sounds

Drums 110bpm

Bass 105bpm

Wurlitzer piano 118bpm

Guitars 110bpm

Afrobeat samples: click to download

Afrobeat samples (159MB)

These samples originally appeared on Future Music magazine's cover DVD. Check out the latest issue for many more.

Tutorial

Percussion instruments round-up: the best in the world today

For more than 50,000 more samples, head to our SampleRadar hub

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