Roforofo Jazz

Born out of the wake of the French afrobeat collective Les Frères Smith, the seven-piece Roforofo Jazz extends Fela Kuti’s legacy by blending it with funk, jazz and an old‑school aesthetic hip‑hop. Led by guitarist Martin Smith, Roforofo Jazz develops an afrobeat focused on prolonged grooves, brass arrangements and the space afforded to the flow of MC Days aka RacecaR, with a pronounced taste for intersections between African music and rap culture. The name Roforofo, which refers to the idea of mud in Yoruba, signals this deliberately hybrid approach in which influences mix without hierarchy. Shortly after forming, the band was invited in 2019 to Lagos by Fela Kuti’s family to perform at Felabration, a formative tour that put them in direct contact with Nigerian scenes. Roforofo Jazz then recorded a five‑track debut EP at the end of 2019, released in 2021, accompanied by the video “Fire Eater” shot in Lagos. In 2023, the group refined this afrobeat–hip‑hop signature with the album Running The Way, released on Office Home Records, which established Roforofo Jazz across a network of venues and festivals in France, from club shows and live recordings for FIP and RFI to appearances at events dedicated to world music.