Afrofuturism

Read Harpsichord’s Comprehensive Guide on all genres relevant to the state of current pop, R&B, hip hop, and dance music.

Umbrella Genre: R&B & Hip Hop

Stylistic Origins: Soul, Funk, Disco, Jazz, Psychedelia, Art Rock

Date and Location of Development: Late 1960s Across The United States; Peaks In The 1970s

Afrofuturism, in itself, is an artistic expression that explores the intersectionality of the African diaspora and technology. The fundamental genres of black music that have utilized Afrofuturism to get this message across are alternative R&B and various branches of electronic, including Detroit house. Afrofuturism also lends itself to space aesthetics and psychedelic sounds. Thematically, the genre explores the identity of Blackness and the space those individuals take up in both human society and the overall universe.

Sonically speaking the most notable early example of Afrofuturism exists in Jimi Hendrix, whose songs like “Purple Haze” (1967) and “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” (1968) played upon his likings of science fiction books such as Philip José Farmer’s Night of Light (1957). Branching off from a sound regarded as “progressive soul” or “Black prog,” the likes of George Clinton and his bands The Parliament-Funkadelic brought about full on concept albums that delved deeper into the ideology of Afrofuturism. By December 1975, the group introduced the world to the Afrofuturistic derivative of P-funk on their fourth studio album, Mothership Connection. The album featured horns from former bandmates of James Brown, Fred Wesley and Maceo Parker. The album starts with a salute to the newly coined genre of P-funk, and features an intro of a radio DJ’s voice being morphed into an alien’s on hallucinogenics . The album art featured a drawing of Clinton—as his alter ego Star Child— hanging outside of a hovering space ship in the Milky Way Galaxy. “Swing down, sweet chariot/Stop, and let me ride,” they cry out on the title track.

George Clinton descending from the Mothership during a concert.

Janet Jackson is held by Busta Rhymes during the filming of their “What’s It Gonna Be?!” music video.

With the likes of Earth, Wind, & Fire going on a “Fantasy” in 1977, these bands’ fashion and aesthetics started to become more prominent. Sleek minimalistic palettes of white, silver, and black shadowed trippy-prism rainbow shine. Launching into the 80s, the Afrofuturism wave would get a hold of the Universal Zulu Nation, as Afrika Bambaataa & The Soulsonic Force delivered “Planet Rock” (1982). Inspired by the electronic vibes and synths of new wave groups like Kraftwerk, the genre took its dance music practibility to a new dimension. Soon, hip hop’s alignment with the visuals of Afrofuturism and electronic dance music would grace other cult staples like Strafe’s “Set It Off” (1984), which featured whistles and hovering UFO synths.

In terms of crossover R&B that went pop— or had some hedge way— Grace Jones brought pop art to a fresh realm with her music videos for her experimental 1981 an 1985 albums, Nightclubbing, and Slave To The Rhythm. Shimmering out of disco and further into new wave theatrics, Afrofuturism became the alternative. By 1993, scholar Mark Derry introduced the term “Afrofuturism” to describe the sci-fi connection to art. Notably 90s hip hop played amongst the alternative themes: As evident in the 1996 LP from Outkast entitled ATLiens. A Tribe Called Quest delivered sci-fi artwork of an inhabited dystopia for their 1996 project, Beats, Rhymes, And Life. Busta Rhymes and Janet Jackson’s 1999 single, “What’s It Gonna Be?!",” revolved around a music video featuring Jackson in a Space Queen dress and make up, with Busta Rhymes wearing metallic robot armor. Becoming one of the most expensive music videos in history due to its usage of special effects, the video’s director, Hype Williams cemented his status of bringing Afrofuturism to the small MTV and BET screens. His work on Missy Elliott’s “She’s A Bitch” (1999) underscored her outworld flow and appearance— as she would often dress up in sci-fi costumes to sell her image.

The late 1990s saw a boost in Black artists in R&B occupying space age scenery— as evident in Aaliyah’s “One In A Million” and TLC’s “No Scrubs”. Into the 2000s, that imagery would appear every once in a while, but was often traded for more reality encompassing settings. Though the production would be futuristic, it strayed from the blatant Afrocentric nature. It’s by the 2010s, where neo soul artists who embraced psychedelic sounds in their former debuting years, would reignite a movement of Afrofuturism— mainly lead by the likes of Erykah Badu. Artists such as Frank Ocean of the Odd Future rap posse, would delve deeper into scientific themes and practices to create 2012’s Channel Orange. Janelle Monáe would use Afrofuturism to commentate about womanhood in the social media era, as well as the prevalence of sexuality on 2018’s Dirty Computer. Solange Knowles released visual projects and live performances that strip back commotion in both the image and production, in order to highlight the basic art practices of Afrofuturism.