fela kuti
I only knew the words Afro-Beat or Afro-Pop before a friend of a friend played me some Fela Kuti.
Fela thumbed his nose at the various Nigerian military governments in the 70's, both in his music and actions, for his entire career. Even when they burned his house down twice and threw his mother out the second story window of his house, he still continued to write brilliantly caustic beautiful songs like Kalakuta, Coffin for Head of State, and Zombie.
Evidently he had 28 wives, most of them dancers in his stage show. He was known for conducting performances and interviews in his underwear. He died August 2nd, 1997 of heart problems and complications of AIDS.
I just thought I'd mention him because his music is really moving me these days.