Jay-Z has spoken about his involvement as a producer on the afrobeat musical, Fela!.

The rapper pledged his support for the production, which opened on Monday, at the last minute alongside actor Will Smith.

In an interview with MTV, Jay-Z said he had been inspired by Fela Kuti's life as a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist and afrobeat founder.

"It's an inspiration, about the power of music,” he said.

“Here's a guy that's on the other side of the world who was influenced by James Brown, who takes this thing and makes his own sort of genre of music. I just think it's fascinating."

Also known for his political activism, Kuti died in 1997.

Fela! is scheduled to run at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre in New York until next April.

(by Jason Gregory)