A premier session musician in his native Nigeria, Tony Allen was the rhythmic backbone of Fela Kuti’s band Africa ’70. As the band’s musical director, Allen created a sound that was infectious, complex, and unapologetically African. Besides his achievements in jazz, afrobeat, and afrofunk, Tony Allen’s grooves lead him to collaborate with artists from all kinds of genres, whether it was hip-hop groups, Blur’s Damon Albarn, or techno pioneer Jeff Mills.