Not new. The only ethnicity I ever associated with the kind of drumming and drum circles I've seen was Native American. I never thought about it being an African "thing," but I suppose it can be.
It's mostly just "New Age," so to speak. Some people in one of my meditation classes went to these and they were definitely hippie-ish, although upscale hippie-ish, or "up-market" as they sometimes say now.
I'm so out of the loop these days.....
Thanks