Drums of Passion

One of the most influential African records of all-time is Babatunde Olatunji's heavy Afro percussion album Drums of Passion. This record, which sounds like it's from the early seventies was actually released in 1959, which was well before anything remotely sounding like it had emerged. According to many early deejays, the African drum arrangements of the record, especially the funky "Jin-Go-Lo-Ba(Drums Of Passion) track, helped introduce the world to African percussion, which thereby influencing the early discos in Manhattan. In Tim Lawrence's amazing book on the history of American dance music culture, titled "Love Saves The Day", legendary disco deejay Francis Grasso describes the effect the song would have during the early years of the Sanctuary, "They moved their hips, their bodies, and their arms, and the faster the music got the crazier they reacted". With the records intense and unique drum work, deejays and producers a like have made Olatunji's Drums of Passion one of the most sampled records of all-time. The record could be considered as the earliest form of Afrobeat, as well as settting the percussion standard for many of the early seventies disco songs. Overall, the album not only serves as a great record but as a classic time piece. Enjoy!

Babatunde Olatunji - Jin-Go-Lo-Ba (Drums Of Passion)