Ebo Taylor: The Ghanaian musician who helped put West African music on the world map

0
95
Ghanaian musician in a patterned suit and hat sings into a microphone while playing an electric guitar on stage under colorful lights, reminiscent of Ebo Taylor’s influence on West African music.

Ebo Taylor became one of Ghana’s major prolific musicians in the 1950s and ’60s, making his signature Ghanaian highlife that influenced the father of afrobeat, Fela Kuti.

As highlife and afrobeat music has entered the global stage, Taylor’s work has been sampled by international R&B artist Usher on his 2010 track “She Don’t Know,” featuring rapper Ludacris, and by Canadian hip-hop duo Ghetto Concept on their 1992 track “Certified.”

His influence can also be seen in afrobeat’s clubbier offshoot, afrobeats (with an “s”),…