Bab? Ken & Afrobeat ConneXion (formerly Afro-Groove Connexion) is a project of Bab? Ken Okulolo, the beloved leader of West African Highlife Band and the West African Highlife Band. Okulolo was first seen in the U.S. with King Sunny Ade's African Beats. He was five times voted Nigeria's best bassist by that country's music journalists. Afrobeat ConneXion also features Nigeria's Soji Odukogbe, who was for five years the lead guitarist for Fela Kuti. The band mixes hard-hitting Afrobeat grooves with Okulolo's message of a better world through music.
"The new music of Baba Ken & Afrobeat Connexion is firmly grounded in Afrobeat, deep-hearted and improvisational, right at the sweet spot where bodies and souls connect." --The Music Messenger
The band won a "Best of the Bay 2009" award from the San Francisco Weekly:
" Best World Beat Dance Night: Baba Ken and the Afro-Groove Connexion [now Afrobeat Connexion] - The frontmen wear festive garb and enormous smiles, and their multidimensional sonic rhythms make it almost impossible not to get up and shake something. To groove to this quality of Afrobeat, you have two options: fly to Nigeria or come to this show."