Meet Newen Afrobeat, one of the first Chilean Afrobeat ensembles. Formed in 2009, they have a firm foothold in the Latin American response to the style created by Fela Kuti and brought to the continent with the arrival of West African slaves.
The union of the African tradition with Chilean musical heritage is reflected in the band name. ‘Newen’ is taken from Mapudungan, – the language of one of the main indigenous communities in Chile, the Mapuche people. It means the force or spirit that manifests itself within every person. Their music represents Afrobeat with an extra potency. Formed of close to 20 musicians, Fela Kuti’s famous warcry “Music is the weapon” resonates in their every rhythm.
Newen Afrobeat are in search of genuine expression through music and dance. Those who have seen their live shows testify to a vigorous live music experience. Their lyrics touch on a collective social conscience, inviting listeners to transcend the strictures of modern society and liberate themselves through a unified energy. This message has touched the hearts of new generations of Chileans that are not afraid to speak the truth, dance and sing with power for their freedom in a society that is rapidly awakening.
Their first album didn’t drop until 2013 (Newen Afrobeat recorded at Estudios Del Sur in María Pinto, an hour west of Santiago) but subsequent write-ups lauded a hugely successful independent release tipped as a groove-busting trip through some of the first Chilean Afrobeat ever recorded. Combined with the great quality of their live shows, this led to billings at gigs and festivals in Chile and beyond.
A tour of Brazil in summer 2015 saw the band light up dancehalls with contemporaries from the Brazilian Afrobeat division – the likes of Bixiga 70 and Abayomy Afrobeat Orquestra. Shows in LA were followed by a journey to Paris to play alongside French Afrobeat band Les Frères Smith before their stand out tour ‘La Viaje a la Raiz’ (The Journey to the Roots); the result of receiving the golden invitation to Nigeria, the motherland of Afrobeat, to perform at Felabration Festival– a celebration in memoriam to the genre’s late king.
In the same year they recorded the audiovisual production of their cover of Fela Kuti’s Upside Down – a video (see below) that quickly went viral with promotion by the ‘Queen Mother of Afrobeat’ Sandra Izsadore and Antibalas vocalist and percussionist Duke Amayo. It sparked a subsequent friendship with Carlos Moore, author of Fela Kuti’s biography Fela – This Bitch Of A Life.
Their alliance is ever-growing and the band have now shared stages with some of the genre’s established heavyweights; including Tony Allen, Femi Kuti and Oghene Kologbo. With their position as a visionary force in contemporary Afrobeat consolidated, they are rumoured to be working on a second album using the techniques picked up on their trip to Africa and aiming for a more improvisational approach to present-day currents in live jazz and afro-rhythms whilst still interweaving their original alchemy of African and Chilean tradition.
Written by Orlando Del Maestro