Here’s a couple of videos introducing some technical exercises that will help you develop the coordination required to play Afrobeat in a Tony Allen influenced style.
These exercises are written for the ride cymbal in order to allow the focus to rest on the coordination of the hand patterns with the bass and hi hat without being too concerned with the sound of the stick on the hi hat which demands a more fine level of control on the hi hat. I will cover the hi hat in the next video. If you study these patterns to the point of fluency and then move to the hi hat, it will be easier to then focus on getting the hi hat stick sounding right.
Play each of the two-beat patterns on the first two pages until they flow in a relaxed and clean manner. Then try playing them in sequences of four or eight bars each, moving on to the next pattern without stopping. Once you can play all the examples fluently, try moving between the patterns improvisationally. Then play the patterns on page three that mix the bass and snare variations and/or make up