We’ve already posted Take me away fast which features German Afrobeat digger Frank, but the cats at Double U O Globe are hard at work with their own documentary based on Afrobeat music, although apparently less focused on the digging aspect. Legends of Afrobeat features renowned digger Duncan Brooker and Soundways records founder Miles Claret, both of which, along with Frank, are often referred to as the most revered historians and collectors of 70’s era African music. You won’t find much on the Legends of Afrobeat documentary on the internet other than that the Double U O site itself.

“it is impossible to squeeze the afro scene from Nigeria into one album,
you could do twenty albums and still not have covered much of it. There
are literally thousands and thousands of records made there, and the vast
majority of non Nigerians have never heard it.”

– Miles Claret, Soundways records”

” In some cases I’m the first person to talk to these guys about their music in thirty years … I’ve seen incredible things, heard extraordinary stories. In one instance I heard about people looking for a place to live be cause things have gotten so shitty in some of these places , that they would just go into the vaults of recording studios and just grab all the tapes, and pressing plates and old acetates and just burn it all just to make room for a place to sleep. It began to dawn on me that if I didn’t try to save this music no one would. I decided to build an archive and rather that just bootleg the music, like others often do, I’d start trying to get the license and see what more I could discover.

– Duncan Brooker

Peep the teaser and trailer for Legends of Afrobeat.