Afropop Worldwide

1. The Prehistory of New Orleans Music - Treasures from the Hogan

In 2010, to mark the 5th anniversary of the Katrina disaster, we went way way back to honor New Orleans as the unique American treasure it is. This program tells the story of how jazz emerged in the context of all the other African American musics that proliferated in late 19th and early 20th century New Orleans: blues, ragtime, Mardi Gras Indian music, vaudeville and minstrelsy, spiritual church music, and more. With our guides Bruce Boyd Raeburn and Lynn Abbott, we'll comb through a vast world

Feb 16,2023 59:00

2. Bangkok After Dark: The Story of Maurice Rocco

Jazz pianist Maurice Rocco was a star of American nightclubs and Hollywood films in the 1930s-40s, playing in an ecstatic, stand-up style that left a deep impression on rock and roll. But in the 1950s Rocco fell out of fashion. Hoping to reverse his fortune, he went abroad in 1959. Rocco landed in Bangkok, Thailand, where he lived and played in relative privilege, away from American racism and homophobia, in an elite tier of Vietnam War-era nightlife. His murder in 1976 by two young sex workers

Feb 09,2023 59:00

3. The African American String Music Tradition

There’s been a lot of speculation about the chain of musical events that link the blues back to Africa. Most of that chain is unrecorded and shrouded in mystery. But there is one chapter, just before the blues, that we do know something about. And that’s the history of African-American string bands. This program explores that history, with music and memories from a special guest, the late string maestro Howard Armstrong. Along the way, we hear music from Canray Fontenot, Blind James Campbell, Ho

Feb 02,2023 59:00

4. Béco’s Brazil: New Sounds for 2023

Brazilian broadcaster, producer and music aficionado Béco Dranoff returns to Afropop Worldwide with a set of great new music from South America’s music cauldron. We’ll hear current sounds from Bahia, Sao Paulo, Rio and Belo Horizonte, including Caetano Veloso, Afrocidade, Lucas Santtana, Ze Manoel, Da Cruz, Jadsa and more. Produced by Béco Dranoff and Sean Barlow.

Jan 26,2023 59:00

5. Afro-Tech: Stories of Synths in African Music

Technology is one of the great drivers of musical change, and often one of its least understood. In this episode, we explore the synthesizer, looking closely at the history of this ubiquitous (and often debated) piece of musical technology, and investigating how and why it was first used in a variety of African musics. Enabled by groundbreaking record reissues by synth pioneers like William Onyeabor (Nigeria) and Hailu Mergia (Ethiopia), disco stars like Kris Okotie, and South African superstar

Jan 19,2023 59:00

6. Amapiano To The World

South Africa is one of the biggest dance music nations, and now it seems like the whole world is dancing along to its amapiano (piano/yanos) beats, a genre that blends its kwaito roots with house, jazz and its signature log drum.Afropop Worldwide first explored amapiano’s origins and growing popularity in October 2020, since then, the genre has seen explosive growth outside of South Africa. A combination of factors, such as: a fresh unique sound, social media, the African diaspora, hard work, an

Jan 11,2023 59:00

7. From Haiti To The World

From Paris to New Orleans and Boston, Haitian musicians are shaking up the music scene. The island’s powerful Africa-rooted culture—from celebratory rara and sensuous kompa to the deep well of vodun songs—has become a global force. In this program, we spend time with racine music veteran Lolo Beaubrun of Boukman Eksperyans, and his rising star son, Paul Beaubrun, both on a swing through New England. We also meet Paris-based Moonlight Benjamin, and hear recent New Orleans-tinged music from Lakou

Jan 05,2023 59:00

8. A Visit To Afro-Sweden

Afro-Sweden? Who knew? Over the past 60 years, a number of musicians from Africa and its diaspora have come to base themselves, or have been born, in Sweden. And recently, they have emerged as a collective voice in Swedish society. From the acoustic Mande folk of Sousou and Maher Cissoko, to the kaleidoscopic hip-hop of Timbuktu, and the smooth soul-pop of Swedish-born, Gambian-descended Seinabo Sey, there’s definitely something happening in Scandinavia. On this program we speak with and hear re

Dec 29,2022 59:00

9. New Africa - 2022

This year, we are launching a new tradition: a year-end episode that looks forward rather than back. We’ll ask artists and others to tell us about something new they discovered in African music this year, something that points to the future. The answers range from rising- star artists, to changes in the industry, to revelations about artists and styles that have been around, just not noticed. We’ll hear from Angelique Kidjo, Oumou Sangare, Fally Ipupa and many of the artists we met at WOMEX 2022

Dec 22,2022 59:00

10. Ghana - Celebration Sounds

In hard times and boom times, people in Ghana know how to party. In this program, we hear the regional pop and neotraditional music that animates festivals, funerals and community celebrations across the county. We travel to the lush Volta region in the east to hear Ewe borborbor, agbadza and brass band music. In the northern city of Tamale, we hear Dagbani traditional music, hip-hop and pop, and visit the vibrant Damba chieftaincy festival in nearby Yendi. Back in the bustling metropolis, Accra

Dec 16,2022 59:00

11. Afropop Women Of Note

DJ Kix returns by taking us on a musical journey across Africa, showcasing some of the continent’s formidable women who are quickly rising in the industry and making their presence known.In this episode we’ll hear from: top Namibian MC, Lioness; Zimbabwean Afro-fusion artist, Gemma Griffiths; as well as Kaleo Sansaa from Zambia with her “sun-drunk” sounds and “solar-based” hip-hop; alongside Hibotep’s experimental East African electro vibes and Rhita Nattah’s Aissaoua-influenced Moroccan tunes.W

Dec 08,2022 59:00

12. The Black History of Tap Dancing

Foundational for Broadway and the movies, intertwined with jazz, tap dancing is a Great American Art. Strap on your shoes and shuffle along as we trace the history of tap and celebrate the Black artists and innovators who built--and continue to build this art form. From its murky origins melding African percussion and Anglo-Irish step dancing to tap's golden age and its ongoing evolution.Produced by Ben RichmondAPWW #851

Dec 01,2022 59:00

13. WOMEX 2022 - The Women Rule!

The 2022 global music exposition, WOMEX, went down in Lisbon, Portugal. For the second year running, most of the African-related showcases featured bands led by women. In this episode we meet Selma Uamusse from Mozambique and Portugal, Djazia Satour from Algeria and France, Pilani Bubu from South Africa, and hear 78-year-old Lia de Itamaracá, Brazil, positively blow away this tough-to-please crowd. And we’ll hear from some guys as well, Fra! with highlife funk from Ghana and Aywa fusing Moroccan

Nov 23,2022 59:00

14. Global Griots In France

Traditional Manding (Mande) griots living in France sit at the crossroads between Africa and Europe. Historically, their role has been to weave traditional, oral histories, often within music, to promote a united, peaceful society. As they have become part of the modern global community, each griot has their own way of staying true to these historical roles, while also broadening their appeal to multicultural audiences. In this program, we hear how these international troubadours spread their me

Nov 17,2022 59:00

15. Ladama In The Studio

Ladama is a collective of four female musicians and activists from Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela and the U.S. Drawing on traditions from all these countries and beyond, they create original music with the zest of soul, r&b and pop. In this podcast, the group visits the Afropop studio to perform and deconstruct key songs in their repertoire. Narrated and produced by Zubin Hensler.

Nov 16,2022 24:46

16. The Mighty Orchestra Baobab

Fifty-two years ago, the president of Senegal’s nephew was putting together a band for his new, upscale Dakar nightclub, and he recruited a handful of musicians who are still together today. Bringing together elements from their homes across West Africa to the Afro-Cuban style of the time, the Orchestra Baobab became one of Dakar’s top bands. From the rough recordings made in Club Baobab, to their 21st century revival, their music ranges from slow folk ballads to wah-pedal heavy psychedelia. We’

Nov 10,2022 59:00

17. New Sounds From Nigeria 2020

Nigeria is today the undisputed powerhouse of African pop music. Call it Naija Pop, Afrobeats, Afropop or what have you. The likes of Burna Boy, Wizkid, Yemi Alade and Tiwa Savage are giants on the scene. In this program we hear the latest from these and others, and sample action on the Afrobeat and Alté scene. We also speak with key artists in Nigeria and the U.S. about the rising social activism among Nigerian artists in the era of the EndSARS movement against police violence. Produced by Bann

Nov 03,2022 59:00

18. Agua y Luz: Music of Tumaco and the Afro Colombian Pacific

Currulao is the traditional music of Colombia’s majority-Black, southern Pacific coastal region. In this episode, professor Michael Birenbaum Quintero describes how this performative practice has been used to grapple with modernization, dramatize Black politics, demonstrate national heritage and generate economic development. Currulao connects the past to an emerging future as the identification and role of race in Colombia has changed across multiple generations of musicians. Produced by Nathan

Nov 01,2022 23:22

19. Sam Mangwana - Le Pigeon Voyageur

They call Sam Mangwana "Le Pigeon Voyageur" - a roaming pigeon. He could also be called a rolling stone because wherever he lays his microphone is his home. In this episode, we behold the amazing return of rumba's living legend - Sam Mangwana. Produced by Georges Collinet.APWW #863

Oct 27,2022 59:00

20. Remembering Papa Wemba

Papa Wemba, one of the greatest singers of the past African century, died on stage at age 66 in 2016. But his body of work, both in advancing Congolese rumba and innovating new African pop sounds, as well as influencing style, fashion and music production throughout Africa, is immense. In this episode we look back on an iconic career, drawing on some 20 years of interviews with the artist, and insights from Congolese music aficionado and African Art Historian Lubangi Muniania. And, of course, th

Oct 20,2022 59:00

21. Bacardi Beats Of Pretoria

Bacardi Beats Of Pretoria by Afropop Worldwide

Oct 18,2022 27:40

22. The Fertile Crescent of Music: Haiti, Cuba, and New Orleans

In 1809, the population of New Orleans doubled almost overnight because of French-speaking refugees from Cuba. You read that right-- French-speaking refugees from Cuba -- part of a wave of music and culture that emigrated from east to west in the wake of the Haitian Revolution. We'll look at the distinct African roots of these three regions, and compare what their musics sound like today. This Hip Deep program, originally broadcast in 2005, is being repeated in memoriam the pathbreaking historia

Oct 11,2022 59:00

23. Reissued - African Vinyl In The 21st Century

The golden age of vinyl records is long past in Africa, but the market for rare and reissued African vinyl outside the continent has been growing steadily since the early 2000s. DJs and collectors have turned an obsession with rare records and forgotten gems from Cape Town to Tangiers into an international reissue and compilation industry, led by record labels such as Soundway, Strut and Analog Africa. This program explores some of the complex and shifting dynamics of neocolonialism, cultural ow

Oct 06,2022 59:00

24. Suso: Gambia's Global Griots

Suso: Gambia's Global Griots by Afropop Worldwide

Oct 05,2022 19:53

25. Never Grow Old - A Salute to Toots and the Maytals

Toots Hibbert was a titan of Jamaican popular music. With his harmony group the Maytals he indelibly changed the island’s music scene in the early 1960s by infusing ska with gospel and went on to captivate overseas audiences by blending blues and funk with reggae, becoming one of Jamaica’s best-known performers. Never Grow Old: A Salute To Toots And The Maytals is an homage to Toots, whose incredible career only ended when he tragically died of Covid-19 in September 2020, aged 77. On this show,

Sep 29,2022 59:00

26. South African Roots in the 21st Century

Yes, it’s the age of South African House, Afrobeats, Afro R&B and the likes, but roots music lives on in South Africa. This show updates the Zulu pop music known as maskanda, with a look back at its history and a survey of the current scene--rich musically, but troubled by fan rivalry that can lead to violence and even deaths. We’ll hear nimble ukapika guitar playing, heavy Zulu beats and bracing vocal harmonies. We’ll meet maskanda legend Phuzekhemisi and veteran South African radio broadcaster

Sep 22,2022 59:00

27. Mauritius’s Sega Roots

The Indian Ocean island of Mauritius is perhaps best known for sandy beaches and, recently, a catastrophic oil spill. It is also home to a unique folkloric pop music called sega. Sega is a product of an unusual history on an island that has been populated by humans for less than five centuries. In this episode we meet three musicians traveling the world to highlight environmental issues through music as part of the Small Island Big Song project. They take us deep into the history and current sta

Sep 08,2022 20:31

28. Quelbe - Hidden Treasure Of The Caribbean

On a visit to the U.S. Virgin Islands in winter 2018, we took the pulse of the national music of St. Croix – quelbe. Rarely recorded, rarely exported, quelbe is an energetic form, led by sax or flute with percussion and banjo, and it fuels the traditional dance style, quadrille. St Croix is the largest of the U.S. Virgin Islands, and sits alone 42 miles south of St. Thomas and St. John. That’s part of why traditional music and dance forms have remained strong on St. Croix. Meet bandleaders Stanl

Sep 08,2022 59:00

29. The Gqom Generation of Durban, South Africa

The latest music craze to hit South African dance floors is a dark, pulsating and energetic sound called gqom. For the past seven years, a young and technologically skilled generation in Durban, KwaZulu Natal, has created and finessed a sound that has the world hooked and wanting more. It is an entire cultural movement complete with distinctive dance moves and styles. We talk to some of the deejays and young producers of this genre, like DJ Lag, Citizen Boy and Distruction Boyz, as well as Gqom

Sep 01,2022 59:00

30. The Story Of Gumbe

The square gumbe frame drum was created centuries ago by enslaved Africans in Jamaica. It traveled to Sierra Leone with freed Maroons from Jamaica’s highlands in 1800. From there, the drum and its evolving, pan-ethnic music spread to 17 African nations. In this program we trace the history and legacy of this joyous and surprising music with field work in Jamaica, Sierra Leone, Ghana and Mali. Produced by Banning Eyre in 2020.APWW #817

Aug 25,2022 59:00

31. Afrobeats By The Bay

When Ugandan American writer and producer Jessica Kariisa moved to the San Francisco Bay Area early in 2022, she did not expect to find a thriving African music club scene where DJs spin the latest hits, be they Afrobeats from Nigeria or Amapiano from South Africa. In this episode, she goes deep to tell the story of how this scene emerged. Narrated and produced by Jessica Kariisa

Aug 23,2022 19:19

32. Nuits D'Afrique 2022

In its 36th year, the Nuits d’Afrique festival in Montreal pulled out all the stops to meet the expectations of an audience that was hungry to see and hear some of the world’s biggest stars. The Afropop team was there recording two nights of kora mastery, plus Gnawa roost from Moktar Gania, Haitian pop from Wesli, Femi Kuti & The Positive Force and more. The program is a deep dive and a solid salute to North America’s best African music festival. Produced by Banning Eyre. APWW #859

Aug 18,2022 59:00

33. Changui!

Changüí is a little understood, loose and lively, community-based music of eastern Cuba. In this program we sample recordings from the 2021 box set Changüí: The Sound of Guantánamo, and hear from Gianluca Tramontana, the man who made the recordings. Rooted in Afro-Haitian music, pan-Caribbean styles, Spanish poetic traditions and more, Changüí emerged in the mid 19th century in plantations, not unlike the blues. We also hear from musician and scholar Ben Lapidus, author of the only English langu

Aug 10,2022 59:00

34. Making Waves: A Congolese Guitarist Tests His Range

When Siama Matazungidi first heard soukous music on the radio in Kinshasa, Congo, it was as if the keys to a technicolor world of sound had landed in his lap. Though Siama’s father wanted him to pursue the pious (and stable) life of priesthood, it was the guitar that became his place of prayer, and the dream of soukous stardom his calling. Of course, the pathway to manifesting a dream is never without detours and diversions. This is the story of Siama reaching beyond himself to create African mu

Aug 10,2022 24:53

35. The Zim Dancehall Story

Inspired by Jamaica’s dancehall music from the 90s and early 2000s, Zimbabwean dancehall music (Zimdancehall) started out as an underground subculture in the ghettos of Zimbabwe and is now the country’s most popular genre. In this episode we’ll trace the subgenre’s rocky rise to the top and meet some of its founding pioneers: the likes of producer, Jusa Dementor, and recording artist, Sniper Storm. We’ll also explore the hidden layers behind the upbeat party tunes to reveal questions about: soci

Aug 05,2022 59:00

36. 858 Oromo Music: Historical Memory and Competing Visions in Ethiopia

858 Oromo Music: Historical Memory and Competing Visions in Ethiopia by Afropop Worldwide

Jul 28,2022 59:00

37. The Cavemen: Highlife in the Age of Afrobeats

In the age of slick, international Afrobeats music, and especially its epicenter, Lagos, Nigeria, one would not expect to find a group of 20-somethings composing and performing classic highlife music. But that is exactly what the two brothers known as The Cavemen do. And they’re finding success with the formula as well. Produced and narrated by Fay Fay.

Jul 26,2022 19:43

38. Black To The Future

Sometimes music can take you to places you've never imagined! That’s what Afrofuturism does.… Afrofuturism is a cultural aesthetic that explores the intersection of African culture with science fiction, technology and the future, fusing magical realism with the beauty of Africa, beyond the clichés. The term was originally coined by Mark Dery (an American journalist working for The Washington Post & Rolling Stone). From the start, Afrofuturism was a child of music, born in the ‘60’s in the boundl

Jul 20,2022 59:00

39. The Rise of Hip-Hop in Malawi

As in so many African countries, Malawian hip-hop evolved from a marginalized and often disparaged form of music, to an underground sensation, to a mainstream phenomenon. In Malawi, it has also come to play a role in the nation’s quickly evolving politics, serving as the voice of a burgeoning youth population. Ethnomusicologist Kenneth Lipanga unpacks the story, which he has studied deeply and experienced first-hand. Narrated and produced by Banning Eyre

Jul 12,2022 22:54

40. Toronto's African Scene

Toronto is Canada’s most cosmopolitan city--“like New York but mellower” in the words of Kofi Akah, son of the Ghanaian highlife legend Jewel Akah. Kofi is one of many superb African artists who have made Toronto their home over the years. That list is long, and it has included highlife star Pat Thomas, South Sudanese rapper Emanuel Jal, rising Congolese star Blandine, Malagasy guitarist Donné Roberts, and a hidden treasure of Ethiopian music, Fantahun Shewankochew. In this program, we take the

Jul 08,2022 59:00

41. Dakar Muse

"Dakar Muse" takes us to one of the most exciting musical cities in Africa. We'll meet young stars on the Mbalax scene, Senegal's national music, including Tarba Mbaye, Sidy Diop, Sidy Samb and Pape Diouf. And we'll hear rappers making their mark in the huge Hip Hop scene including Dip Doundou Guiss and Ngaaka Blinde. Finally, we pay tribute to the brilliant Mbalax pioneer Thione Seck, who recently died of Covid-19.APWW #832Produced by Sean Barlow

Jun 30,2022 59:00

42. The New York Sound of Latin Music

"The New York Sound of Latin Music" demonstrates how the metropolis transformed the music. Guest Ben Lapidus, author of New York and the International Sound of Latin Music 1940-1990, talks to Georges Collinet and Ned Sublette about how innovations in rhythm and instrument design joined with folklore, jazz, New York's education system, and urban multiculturalism to make a new, world-changing music. We'll hear Eddie Palmieri, Sonny Bravo, Larry Harlow, Jerry González and Fort Apache, Eydie Gormé,

Jun 24,2022 59:00

43. Botswana, Dumelang

Botswana is a large, landlocked country in Southern Africa, a vast stretch of desert and savannah between South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia with a population of only 2.2 million. While widely overlooked internationally for their music, over the past 20 years Batswana have steadily built a diverse and fruitful local scene that includes traditional choirs, hip hop and kwaito, R&B and jazz and even heavy metal. While the biggest star in the country, Franco, packs stadiums with his Congolese-derive

Jun 16,2022 59:00

44. The Nyege Nyege Villa - East African Hub of the Electronic Music Underground

In 2018, the renowned music journal Fact boldly claimed that “the world’s best electronic music festival is in Uganda.” In only a few years, Nyege Nyege has indeed become one of the hottest artistic hubs in East Africa, birthing two music labels that propelled local scenes, such as Ugandan acholitronix or Tanzanian singeli, across the globe. At the heart of this explosive universe lies a big house, known as “the Villa,” that almost constantly vibrates with sounds as musicians from the region and

Jun 09,2022 59:00

45. 856 Calypso, Reggae and Jab-Jab Soca: Musical Resistance in Grenada

Calypso and reggae have been mainstays of Grenada’s musical culture, until the emergence of the distinctive Carnival-based offshoot known as jab-jab soca, and more recent hybrid forms embraced by a younger generation of musical practitioners. On this program, we explore how the island’s tempestuous history has influenced its dynamic music scene, with testimony from leading Grenadian music figures, including calypso kings Ajamu and Black Wizard, members of the innovative group Moss International,

Jun 02,2022 59:00

46. Africa in Melbourne

Known as Australia’s music and cultural capital, Melbourne is a hub of creativity boasting a diverse arts scene. The African community in Melbourne has been growing with Africans from all parts of the continent bringing their fashion, food and music to the city. In this episode we’ll explore African musicians and music curators who are making their mark in Melbourne. Expect to hear a blend of traditional African instruments by the Melbourne African Traditional Ensemble (MATE); funky jazz fusion

May 26,2022 59:00

47. Afro-Roots Fest 2022 With Daymé Arocena and Sinkane

The Afro-Roots Fest is Florida’s state-wide celebration of Africa’s global musical heritage. The 2022 edition featured a diva of Afro-Cuban jazz, Daymé Arocena, Sudanese American indie rock band Sinkane, Miami’s own Latin music champions Cortadito celebrating their tenth anniversary, and more. We’ll hear live highlights and interviews with the principles. Produced by Banning Eyre and Sean Barlow.

May 19,2022 59:00

48. Bomba, Plena and Puerto Rican Protest Music

On this program, we look at Puerto Rican protest songs over the past two centuries, including Paracumbé's subversive bomba dances from the time of slavery, Las Barrileras 8M, an all-women drumming group demanding an end to violence against women and a new plena from Hector Tito Matos about the death of George Floyd.The past three years have been incredibly traumatic for Puerto Rico: two hurricanes followed by slow recovery efforts that led to the death of 3,057 on the island, a text message scan

May 13,2022 59:00

49. GCs DJ Road Show: Beco's Brazil

When it comes to popular music, it's hard to top Brazil for variety, excellence and sheer volume. On this program, Georges Collinet welcomes co-host Béco Dranoff in Brazil. Béco is a producer, broadcaster and lifelong connoisseur of Brazilian music. He recently returned to Sao Paulo after some three decades in New York City. He takes us on a whirlwind tour of music produced during the pandemic, from funk to hip-hop, to mangue beat and cool singer-songwriters, it's a feast of new talent for Brazi

May 06,2022 59:00

50. Hip Deep Madagascar: Songs of the North

Salegy may be the most popular dance music of Madagascar. It’s a churning, harmonious groove with spine-stiffening vocal harmonies that emerged from towns and cities of northern Madagascar in the mid-20th century. On a trip to Diego Suarez, we learn that salegy’s older origins are both fascinating and mysterious. We meet young salegy stars Ali Mourad and Jacs, and speak with the genre’s reigning legend, Jaojoby, on the roof of his nightclub in Antananarivo. Along the way we visit a music school

Apr 29,2022 59:00

51. Afropop Cover Songs

In today’s pop music, everybody is a composer. But what about the classics? The songs that last? In this program we survey African musicians reinterpreting each other’s songs, as well as songs from far outside their traditions. And we hear foreign takes on African diaspora music. From Louis Armstrong’s “Skokiaan” to Alpha Blondy’s “Whole Lotta Love,” it’s a journey of discovery and rediscovery. Produced by Banning Eyre.APWW #854

Apr 22,2022 59:00

52. Ring the Alarm: A History of Sound System Culture

In Jamaica, sound systems are more than just a stack of speakers blasting the latest tunes to an eager crowd. Over the last 70 years, they have come to represent the most common way that Jamaicans experience music. Sound systems have touched all levels of society in Jamaica, determining the island’s popular taste and profoundly influencing the daily lives of its citizenry. This program explores the evolution of sound system culture, from the Jamaican genesis of the 1940s to its gradual impact on

Apr 14,2022 59:00

53. Ebo Taylor And The Pioneers Of Afro - Funk

This Hip Deep edition, based on field work in Ghana, tells the story of how highlife turned into Afro-funk. Guitarist/composer/bandleader Ebo Taylor, at 77, is our principle guide, taking us to his hometown Saltpond to explore the roots of his complex sound, and recounting his highlife years, and his deep study of American jazz in London in the early 60s—all part of a remarkable mix. We also hear from Ghanaian Afro-funk pioneer Gyedu Blay Ambolley and other observers and veterans of this history

Apr 07,2022 59:00

54. From Nashville to Nairobi: The History of Country Music in Kenya

In this episode, we trace the history of country music in Kenya, dating back to the 1920s and 30s when local populations first heard Jimmie Rodgers on early country western 78 records, to the current day, where the clubs of Nairobi are filled with rising stars bringing their own unique sounds to country music. Hear their takes on the hits of Don Williams, Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton and more. Tune in for an interview and performance from Kenyan country singer Steve Rogers, radio and tv presente

Mar 31,2022 59:00

55. Abidjan: A New Musical El Dorado

In the 70s and 80s Ivory Coast’s capital Abidjan was a major musical hub in West Africa. After a series of political crises, Abidjan is back. The Zouglou sound of the 1990s and the coupé decalé rage that followed are being reinvented in the era of Afrobeats and African hip-hop. The group Magic System is now invited to play major events in France—including President Macron’s election victory party! The group’s front man Asalfo has launched an annual music festival in Abidjan, FEMUA. On this progr

Mar 24,2022 59:00

56. Afropop's Women Warriors

The Covid-19 pandemic forced musicians everywhere to step off the stage and stay home, reflecting. Now, as the world gradually opens up, they are reemerging with powerful new music, and lots of it. This program focuses on four female artists whose 2021 music is full of challenging messages for a challenged world. Climate change, womens’ empowerment, police brutality, official corruption… All that and more in new work from Angelique Kidjo, Dobet Gnaore, Fatoumata Diaouara and Shungudzo, plus a di

Mar 10,2022 59:00

57. Afropop Women Of Note

In celebration of Women’s Month, DJ Kix returns by taking us on a musical journey across Africa, showcasing some of the continent’s formidable women who are quickly rising in the industry and making their presence known. In this episode we’ll hear from: top Namibian MC, Lioness; Zimbabwean Afro-fusion artist, Gemma Griffiths; as well as Kaleo Sansaa from Zambia with her “sun-drunk” sounds and “solar-based” hip-hop; alongside Hibotep’s experimental East African electro vibes and Rhita Nattah’s Ai

Mar 10,2022 59:00

58. La Bamba - The Afro-Mexican Story

Much has been made of Mexico's rich Spanish and indigenous heritage, but until recently, there's been little talk of Mexico's so-called "Third Root": Africa. Africans came to Mexico with the Spanish as soldiers and slaves - so many that by 1810, the black population of Mexico was equal to that of the United States. Today, African heritage persists throughout Mexico, yet for a variety of reasons, black history has long been silenced. In this Hip Deep episode, we use music to explore that history

Mar 03,2022 59:00

59. The Black History Of Tap

Foundational for Broadway and the movies, intertwined with jazz, tap dancing is a Great American Art. Strap on your shoes and shuffle along as we trace the history of tap and celebrate the Black artists and innovators who built--and continue to build this art form. From its murky origins melding African percussion and Anglo-Irish step dancing to tap's golden age and its ongoing evolution.Produced by Ben Richmond.APWW #851Photo: "Talladega College Women's Tap" via the National Archives.

Feb 24,2022 59:00

60. The S Factor

What is Afrobeat … what is Afrobeats? Maybe that’s a question for the ages! Is Afrobeats a new strain of Afrobeat? Is Afrobeats just a Lagos thing? From a hub of intense creative activity, Afrobeat (without the “s”) exploded out of The Shrine in Lagos, Nigeria - Fela Kuti’s shamanic musical church and political soapbox. The funky music and radical message spread and gained an audience worldwide. It was deliciously exciting for fans, while viewed as threatening to those in power in Nigeria. After

Feb 17,2022 59:00

61. Remembering Tony Allen

Tony Allen is among the greatest drummers of the past century. His sudden death at 79 in April, 2020, was a shock felt around the world. In addition to his seminal work with the king of Afrobeat Fela Kuti, Allen had a prolific solo career and performed and recorded with artists from Angelique Kidjo, Ray Lema, Ernest Ranglin and Oumou Sangare to Damon Albarn, Brian Eno and Jeff Mills. In this program we salute a towering career in global music, with insights from Michael Veal, co-author of Allen’

Feb 10,2022 59:00

62. Egypt's Living Traditions

As Egyptians struggle to forge a new, post-revolution identity, some will look to traditions. The country is rich in indigenous culture from the amorous odes of desert Bedouins to the keening boom and blare of a Zeffa wedding procession. New Cairo venues now present Nubian music, ancient sounds from the Delta and Suez regions, and even the music of the zar healing ritual—elevating these forms above touristic fare found on Nile Cruises and in old Cairo. This Hip Deep edition, rich with recordi

Feb 03,2022 59:00

63. WOMEX - The Lusophone Connection

WOMEX 2021 in Porto, Portugal, delivered the event’s trademark extravaganza of live showcases from around the world. But given the location, there was a special focus on Lusophone acts from Brazil, Angola, Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau. This program features highlights and interviews from Pongo (Angola), Neuza (Cape Verde), Lucas Santana (Brazil), Bandé Gamboa (Guinea-Bissau/Cape Verde), Ayom (Spain) and more. Produced by Banning Eyre and Sean BarlowAPWW #849

Jan 27,2022 59:00

64. I Am The Upsetter: The Sonic Innovation of Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry

Jamaican record producer Lee 'Scratch' Perry is widely celebrated as one of the most important creative figures to emerge in the late-20th Century. In 'I Am The Upsetter: The Sonic Innovation of Lee 'Scratch' Perry,' producer David Katz, who is Perry's authorized biographer, draws on archive interviews to explore his incredible career, which began in the early 1960s and continued until August 2021, only ending when Perry died, aged 85. One of Bob Marley's most important mentors, Perry's Black Ar

Jan 20,2022 59:00

65. Off the Beaten Track - Burkina Faso, Malawi, and Beyond

Off the Beaten Track - Burkina Faso, Malawi, and BeyondThis program ventures into corners of Africa we hear from rarely, guided by adventurous field recordists and crate diggers. The Zomba Prison Project is a set of recordings by inmates at a maximum security prison in Malawi, currently the poorest nation on earth. The project’s debut CD was nominated for a Grammy Award. Here, we speak with the producer, Ian Brennan, and hear tracks from a new volume of soulful, even heartbreaking, songs from th

Jan 13,2022 59:00

66. A Tango with Robert Farris Thompson

One of the spiritual fathers of Afropop Worldwide has joined the ancestors. After an extraordinarily rich and full life, Dr. Robert Farris Thompson -- or, as he preferred to be called, "T" -- passed on November 29, 2021, at the age of 88. Through his books, lectures and mentorship, T revolutionized the study of African art and culture beginning in the 1950s, and he inspired generations of students and scholars. While his academic discipline was art hisotry, music was central to his conception. T

Jan 06,2022 59:00

67. Afropop Wildcards 2021 Edition

Georges Collinet and Banning Eyre close out 2021 with a wide ranging tour through music that touched them in 2021, and a look ahead at 2022. No top ten lists or “best of the year” lists, but rather a taste of things overlooked, and a few surprises. Featured is Georges’s and Banning’s interview with American music icon Herb Alpert, and a sneak preview of Georges’s upcoming salute to a giant of Congolese music, Sam Mangwana. Expect a few laughs, and plenty of fantastic music to savor as 2021 winds

Dec 30,2021 59:00

68. Afropop Jam

On today’s edition, “Afropop Jam,” we’ll groove on cool new releases by artists from Congo, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Martinique, Cuba and more.APWW #835

Dec 23,2021 59:00

69. WOMEX Rises in 2021

After the pandemic forced it to go virtual for a year, the WOMEX world music expo was back in 2021 for its 27th edition in Porto, Portugal. In this program we hear live performances and interviews from key showcase artists, including Gnawa innovations from Bab l’Bluz, Uganda’s Nakibembe Xylophone Troupe, brassy Ghanaian gospel from Algote Oho & His Sounds of Joy, Afro-funk bass virtuoso Manou Gallo, Egypt’s Mazahar, and Sudan’s Ebo Krdum, plus the world’s hottest fusion of Afro-Cuban music and f

Dec 16,2021 59:00

70. Remembering Oliver Mtukudzi

Zimbabwe’s Oliver Mtukudzi, one of the most beloved singer/composer/bandleaders out of Africa in the last century, died in Harare on Jan. 23 2019 after a long battle with diabetes. Tuku, as his fans knew him, composed countless songs that cut to the heart of life in Zimbabwe, from its struggle for freedom in the 1970s through the rocky road of independence ever since. In this program, we look back at our conversations with Tuku going back to our first visit to Zimbabwe in 1988, and hear his wond

Dec 09,2021 59:00

71. Jamaica - Big A Yard, Big Abroad!

Since the 1960s in Jamaica, iconic figures such as Bob Marley have gathered in backyards to write reggae anthems that conquered world charts. The yard remains a cornerstone in Jamaican culture. Musicians withdraw from the violence of the city to create and play songs in their yards. In Jamaican patois, “mi yard” means “my home,” and many songs, proverbs and colloquialisms hinge on the word “yard.” More even than the music itself, the yard evokes a state of mind and a physical space wherein artis

Dec 02,2021 59:00

72. The Sound of New York Latin Music

THE SOUND OF NEW YORK LATIN MUSIC takes a deep sonic dive into the great New York Latin discography, with host Georges Collinet and guest host Ned Sublette, who produced and megamixed. Special guest Dr. Ben Lapidus, author of New York and the International Sound of Latin Music 1940-1990, tells us stories of the musicians and the conditions that made the city's music unique. With nonstop music by Ray Barretto, Jerry González and the Fort Apache Band, Markolino Diamond, a snippet of Joe Quijano's

Nov 25,2021 59:00

73. The Zimdancehall Story

Inspired by Jamaica’s dancehall music from the 90s and early 2000s, Zimbabwean dancehall music (Zimdancehall) started out as an underground subculture in the ghettos of Zimbabwe and is now the country’s most popular genre.In this episode we’ll trace the subgenre’s rocky rise to the top and meet some of its founding pioneers: the likes of producer, Jusa Dementor, and recording artist, Sniper Storm. We’ll also explore the hidden layers behind the upbeat party tunes to reveal questions about: socia

Nov 18,2021 59:00

74. The Kwaito Generation

Producer Brandi Howell speaks with DJ Lynneé Denise, an artist and scholar of underground cultural movements and the electronic music of the African diaspora. This podcast explores “DJ Scholarship” and the evolving music and cultural conversation of the Black Atlantic.

Nov 16,2021 27:19

75. The Hidden Blackness Of Flamenco

Flamenco as we know it was “born” in Spain in the mid-19th century. But for centuries before that, Roma (Gitanos, Gypsies) had been living in Spanish cities, often rubbing shoulders with the descendants of Africans (Moors), who had been there as both citizens and slaves going back to Medieval times and earlier. This overlooked pre-history of flamenco is explored in Miguel Angel Rosales’s groundbreaking film Gurumbé. In this program, we meet Rosales and learn to hear flamenco in a new way. We als

Nov 11,2021 59:00

76. New Sounds From Nigeria

Nigeria is today the undisputed powerhouse of African pop music. Call it Naija Pop, Afrobeats, Afropop or what have you. The likes of Burna Boy, Wizkid, Yemi Alade and Tiwa Savage are giants on the scene. In this program we hear the latest from these and others, and sample action on the Afrobeat and Alté scene. We also speak with key artists in Nigeria and the U.S. about the rising social activism among Nigerian artists in the era of the EndSARS movement against police violence. Produced by Bann

Nov 04,2021 59:00

77. Closeup: Echoes of Yaa Amponsah

"Yaa Amponsah" is a song from Africa's earliest guitar tradition, palmwine music. Dating to the late 19th or early 20th century this style developed in port cities across the continent's western coast as Africans traveled to trade goods and music. Yaa Amponsah is also what Ghanaian musicians call a "rhythm"—a blueprint of harmonies, rhythms, and melodies that has informed thousands of songs from its first recording in 1928 through to contemporary music. In this Afropop Closeup, guitarist Natha

Nov 02,2021 19:03

78. The Nyege Nyege Villa - East African Hub of the Electronic Music Underground

In 2018, the renowned music journal Fact boldly claimed that “the world’s best electronic music festival is in Uganda.” In only a few years, Nyege Nyege has indeed become one of the hottest artistic hubs in East Africa, birthing two music labels that propelled local scenes, such as Ugandan acholitronix or Tanzanian singeli, across the globe. At the heart of this explosive universe lies a big house, known as “the Villa,” that almost constantly vibrates with sounds as musicians from the region and

Oct 28,2021 59:00

79. The Enigma Of Baba Sora

Foutanga Babani Sissoko, known also as Baba Sora, was one of the most generous patrons of Malian musicians, particularly griots, in modern times. His gifts of cash, gold, cars and houses are legendary, and the amount of music he inspired was voluminous. But the source of all those riches turned out to be dubious, to say the least. And when he died in March 2021, he had spent his latter years a poor man. In this episode we hear the man, the music and the remembrances of those whose lives were cha

Oct 21,2021 59:00

80. Closeup: Learning Congolese Guitar

Congolese guitar is one of the pearls of African music. Intricate, joyful and seriously challenging, it’s long been a passion of producer/guitarist Banning Eyre. Through an innovative new online learning website—the World Music Method—he met guitarist Niwel Tsumbu, a brilliant guitarist and teacher, who delves here into Congo guitar history. Produced by Banning Eyre.

Oct 20,2021 19:44

81. The Black History Of The Banjo

We trace the history of this most American of instruments from its ancestors in West Africa through the Caribbean and American South and into the present, as a new generation of Black women artists reclaim the banjo as their own. Rhiannon Giddens, Bassekou Kouyate, Bela Fleck and more talk claw-hammers, trad jazz, Appalachian folk, African ancestors and the on-going story of American music, which would be woefully incomplete without a Black history of the banjo.Produced by Ben Richmond

Oct 14,2021 59:00

82. Toronto's African Scene

Toronto is Canada’s most cosmopolitan city--“like New York but mellower” in the words of Kofi Akah, son of the Ghanaian highlife legend Jewel Akah. Kofi is one of many superb African artists who have made Toronto their home over the years. That list is long, and it has included highlife star Pat Thomas, South Sudanese rapper Emanuel Jal, rising Congolese star Blandine, Malagasy guitarist Donné Roberts, and a hidden treasure of Ethiopian music, Fantahun Shewankochew. In this program, we take the

Oct 07,2021 59:00

83. Closeup: Franco Speaks (1985)

In 1985, Sean Barlow made his first trip to Africa to check out musical life there. Afropop Worldwide was still a dream at that point, but the experiences he had on that trip put wind in his sails. One highlight was the afternoon he spent interviewing Luambo Makiadi a.k.a. Franco at the bandleader's home in the Limité neighborhood of Kinshasa. Franco had recently played his first concerts in the United States. Although few outside the African diaspora community had any idea who he was, Franco wa

Oct 06,2021 24:22

84. The Gorgon, The Originator, and The Dub Master

During the last 60 years, Jamaican music has constantly reinvented itself, a handful of innovators pioneering distinct musical genres such as ska, rock steady, reggae and dancehall, as well shorter-lived subgenres.But Jamaica's musical trendsetters did much more than just shake up the island's music scene. At crucial intervals, their inventiveness has dramatically changed or even spawned a range of popular forms overseas—sewing seeds for rap via the deejay style and stimulating remix culture thr

Sep 30,2021 59:00

85. Closeup: Kakuma Sounds

Kenya’s Kakuma Refugee Camp is a virtual city of people displaced by three decades of war in East and Central Africa. Kenyan music producer Treynor Tumwa and American musician/scholar Mark LeVine founded Kakuma Sound to provide traditional instruments to the camp’s talented artists. Hosted by Banning Eyre.

Sep 23,2021 15:48

86. Changui!

Changüí is a little understood, loose and lively, community-based music of eastern Cuba. In this program we sample recordings from the 2021 box set Changüí: The Sound of Guantánamo, and hear from Gianluca Tramontana, the man who made the recordings. Rooted in Afro-Haitian music, pan-Caribbean styles, Spanish poetic traditions and more, Changüí emerged in the mid 19th century in plantations, not unlike the blues. We also hear from musician and scholar Ben Lapidus, author of the only English langu

Sep 23,2021 59:00

87. The Mighty Orchestra Baobab

Fifty years ago, the president of Senegal’s nephew was putting together a band for his new, upscale Dakar nightclub, and he recruited a handful of musicians who are still together today. Bringing together elements from their homes across West Africa to the Afro-Cuban style of the time, the Orchestra Baobab became one of Dakar’s top bands. From the rough recordings made in Club Baobab, to their 21st century revival, their music ranges from slow folk ballads to wah-pedal heavy psychedelia. We’ll t

Sep 16,2021 59:00

88. Closeup: Yasmin Williams—Guitar Hero To Guitar Hero

With a style all her own, Yasmin Williams has gone from video game virtuoso to one of the freshest and most original solo acoustic guitarists today. She talks to producer Ben Richmond about her influences, her unique instrumentation, and forging her own path as a young Black woman artist in a genre dominated by white dudes.Afropop Closeup Season 6

Sep 10,2021 23:28

89. Nairobi Roars

The Kenyan capital is roaring into the 2020s. On this program singer/songwriter/producer Eric Wainaina introduces us to a rising cadre of artists rocking the Nairobi scene. From hip-hop and dancehall to r&b and Gengetone, the city’s cultural melting pot is coming to a boil at a time of political change when artists are finding their voices to speak out against government corruption and champion social justice movements. We meet artists on the front line--Juliani, Karun and Blinky Bill—and take

Sep 09,2021 58:59

90. Soul To Soul At 50

On March 6, 1971, a group of some of the top musicians from the United States – Ike & Tina Turner, Wilson Pickett, The Staples Singers, and more – boarded a plane bound for Ghana to perform in a musical celebration that was dubbed the “Soul to Soul Festival”. Thousands of audience members filled Accra’s Black Star Square for a continuous 15 hours of music. The festival was planned in part for the annual celebration of Ghana’s independence, but also an invitation for a “homecoming” for these no

Sep 02,2021 59:00

91. The Cameroon-Cuba Connection

Special guest Dr. Ivor Miller, back from a 2021 research trip to Cameroon, takes us into the complexities of south Cameroonian spiritual tradition and its connection to the Cuban Abakuá secret society for men. Featuring Abakuá-themed music from Cuba, ceremonial music from Cameroon, and Batanga pop by Chief Eko Roosevelt, Pablo Gabbana, and Emily Sadey.Produced by Ned Sublette.

Aug 25,2021 59:00

92. Lyres Of East Africa

Known by names like krar, kisara, tambur, simsimiyya and masinkob, the lyres of East Africa represent some of the world’s oldest string instruments. The Otaak Band is dedicated to uplifting and advancing these traditions. Otaak founder Miguel Merino tells the story with audio from his work in Egypt during the pandemic.Produced by Miguel Merino.Afropop Closeup Season Six.

Aug 24,2021 21:49

93. GC's DJ Road Show - Beco's Brazil

When it comes to popular music, it's hard to top Brazil for variety, excellence and sheer volume. On this program, Georges Collinet welcomes co-host Béco Dranoff in Brazil. Béco is a producer, broadcaster and lifelong connoisseur of Brazilian music. He recently returned to Sao Paulo after some three decades in New York City. He takes us on a whirlwind tour of music produced during the pandemic, from funk to hip-hop, to mangue beat and cool singer-songwriters, it's a feast of new talent for Brazi

Aug 19,2021 59:00

94. New Moves In African Jazz

It’s a truism that jazz has roots in Africa, but compared with other forms of Black American music, it doesn’t have a large audience there. Just the same, African musicians have long been smitten with jazz, and have always found inventive ways to incorporate jazz elements into their sounds. On this program we meet young artists forging new paths in Afro-Jazz: Etuk Ubong from Nigeria, Awale Jant Band from Senegal by way of London, Afrikan Protokol form Burkina Faso by way of Belgium. It’s a freew

Aug 12,2021 59:00

95. CloseUp: Simphy

Producer Matthew Key—AKA DJ M-Point goes deep with a rising South African artist/producer on the evolution of kwaito and hip-hop in one of Africa’s most exciting contemporary music scenes.Afropop Closeup Season Six

Aug 10,2021 22:02

96. Reggaetón and Race

The dembow, the beat behind reggaetón, is much more than just a backdrop for a night of partying and dancing. The style of music, widely associated with Puerto Rico and forged from a mixture of Jamaican dancehall, Panamanian reggae en español, and American hip hop, has always existed as a form of social and political resistance, and continues to do so in 2020. And as such, it has endured constant attempts to criminalize, censor, and police both the music and those who consume it, from the early

Aug 05,2021 59:00

97. Rap, Reggae and Cultural Resistance in Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Belo Horizonte is Brazil’s sixth largest city and including its surrounding districts, the country’s third largest metropolitan area. The capital of Minas Gerais, a state built on mining, dairy products and coffee production, Belo Horizonte is often seen as a parochial, conservative backwater, yet its thriving alternative arts scene provides robust forms of musical and cultural resistance to the exclusionary policies of reactionary president, Jair Bolsonaro, especially through local variants of

Jul 29,2021 59:00

98. Jazz ReFreshed in London

Prior to the pandemic, London’s jazz scene was blooming and gaining a worldwide reputation for innovation. The folks at Jazz Refreshed had everything to do with that. Jazz singer and producer Tess Hirst tells the story.Afropop Closeup Season 6

Jul 27,2021 22:48

99. 837 Afropop's Women Warriors

The Covid-19 pandemic forced musicians everywhere to step off the stage and stay home, reflecting. Now, as the world gradually opens up, they are reemerging with powerful new music, and lots of it. This program focuses on four female artists whose 2021 music is full of challenging messages for a challenged world. Climate change, womens’ empowerment, police brutality, official corruption… All that and more in new work from Angelique Kidjo, Dobet Gnaore, Fatoumata Diaouara and Shungudzo, plus a di

Jul 22,2021 59:00

100. Live From The Archive

Live from the Archive When Afropop Worldwide launched back in 1988, a key goal was to capture the live energy of incredible artists emerging from Africa, the Caribbean and beyond. Most of those recordings were preserved on reel-to-reel tapes. The coronavirus lockdown has given us a chance to start revisiting and preserving. And we have been amazed to rediscover the energy of that thrilling era. On this music-rich program, we hear live music from Congo’s Papa Wemba, South African township heroes

Jul 15,2021 59:00

101. Afropop Closeup: Miss Pat Chin

Pat and Vincent Chin founded VP Records, one of the world’s biggest and most consequential reggae record labels. At 80, Miss Pat looks back on a legendary life. This Afropop Closeup Season 6 premiere is hosted by Banning Eyre.

Jul 13,2021 23:33

102. Africa In Melbourne

Known as Australia’s music and cultural capital, Melbourne is a hub of creativity boasting a diverse arts scene. The African community in Melbourne has been growing with Africans from all parts of the continent bringing their fashion, food and music to the city. In this episode we’ll explore African musicians and music curators who are making their mark in Melbourne. Expect to hear a blend of traditional African instruments by the Melbourne African Traditional Ensemble (MATE); funky jazz fusion

Jun 24,2021 59:00

103. 835 AfroJam

We jam to cool new releases by Jupiter & Okwess, Toots (RIP) & the Maytals, Dobet Gnahore, Khaira Arby (RIP), Adekunle Gold, Tiwa Savage, WizKid, Angelique Kidjo & Burna Boy, Delgres and others.

Jun 17,2021 59:00

104. Hip Deep Angola Part 4: The Cuban Intervention In Angola

The 27 year-long Angolan civil war was also an international crossroads of the Cold War as well as a regional resource war, involving Cuba, the Soviet Union, Zaire, South Africa, and the U.S. When it was over, Namibia was independent, apartheid had fallen, Angola was a nation, and the Soviet Union had ceased to exist. Through music, interviews, and historical radio clips, producer Ned Sublette, author of Cuba and Its Music, tells the story of Cuba’s massive commitment in Africa, from the Cuban R

Jun 10,2021 59:00

105. Encounter With The Ancestors

For over 10 years, Eric Nelson Efa and members of his association, the Azania Way Culture, have crisscrossed almost half of Cameroon's 10 regions: the deep North, around Lake Chad, the central region, the Adamawa and the south, to record traditional musicians who are getting very old and are the last repository of traditional music in Cameroon. In this episode of Afropop Worldwide, Georges Collinet takes us to Eric's village in the deep forest of southern Cameroon to listen to his story. We als

Jun 03,2021 59:00

106. The Panama Beat

Central America, a narrow, mountainous, and largely impoverished stretch of land spanning seven countries, is a surprising and underexposed Latin American musical hot zone. The region’s bizarre and tumultuous history has led to a fascinating mix of cultural influences – Spanish conquistadors, British pirates, and American banana companies have at one time or another vied for power. Add to this mix the presence of large indigenous enclaves, Anglo-Caribbean migrants, the Afro-Arawak Garifuna and M

May 27,2021 59:00

107. 833 Afro Roots Fest 2021

Miami’s Afro Roots Fest is back on stage at the North Miami Beach Bandshell. Mostly. The 2021 edition featured live performances by Afro-Nicaraguan singer/songwriter Philip Montabán and by sacred steel guitar master Roosevelt Collier, with special guests Richard Bona and Weedie Braimah. There were also remote concert sets from Vieux Farka Toure in Mali and Fulu Miziki in Uganda. The Afropop team was there to capture the excitement of socially distanced live music under the stars. The program fea

May 20,2021 59:00

108. Hip Deep Angola, Part 3: A Spiritual Journey to Mbanza-Kongo

To make this unprecedented program, producer Ned Sublette traveled to Mbanza-Kongo, the ancient seat of the Kongo empire located in present-day northern Angola, where he spoke to Dr. Bárbaro Martínez Ruiz, professor of art and art history at Stanford. We’ll learn about the simbi, the spirits that Martínez Ruiz describes as “the multiple power of god”; hear Antonio Madiata play the lungoyi-ngoyi, the two-stringed viola of the Kongo court; attend a session of the lumbu, the traditional tribunal of

May 13,2021 59:00

109. The Money Show

The Money ShowEvery day, money changes hands in Ghanaian cedi, South African rand, and Brazilian real as music is created, traded, performed, purchased and pirated. In this episode we look at the business side of African music, through a series of vignettes from around the continent and diaspora that illuminate the deep connections between musical creation and the economies that sustain it. We start with the story of how cellphones are transforming Africa's music industries. Then, we see how eco

May 06,2021 59:00

110. Dakar Muse

"Dakar Muse" takes us to one of the most exciting musical cities in Africa. We'll meet young stars on the Mbalax scene, Senegal's national music, including Tarba Mbaye, Sidy Diop, Sidy Samb and Pape Diouf. And we'll hear rappers making their mark in the huge Hip Hop scene including Dip Doundou Guiss and Ngaaka Blinde. Finally, we pay tribute to the brilliant Mbalax pioneer Thione Seck, who recently died of Covid-19.APWW #832Produced by Sean Barlow

Apr 29,2021 59:00

111. Punk In Africa

When you think punk, a few locations tend to come to mind- New York, London, LA. But Durban? Jo’Burg? South Africa? In this program, we are taking a trip to a time and a place where punk had a very different meaning, exploring the music and the legacy of the mixed race bands that challenged apartheid. Little known to the outside world, and often overlooked even within South Africa, groups like National Wake, The Genuines, and The Kalahari Surfers used music to articulate their disgust with the

Apr 15,2021 59:00

112. Toronto's African Scene

Toronto is Canada’s most cosmopolitan city--“like New York but mellower” in the words of Kofi Akah, son of the Ghanaian highlife legend Jewel Akah. Kofi is one of many superb African artists who have made Toronto their home over the years. That list is long, and it has included highlife star Pat Thomas, South Sudanese rapper Emanuel Jal, rising Congolese star Blandine, Malagasy guitarist Donné Roberts, and a hidden treasure of Ethiopian music, Fantahun Shewankochew. In this program, we take the

Mar 25,2021 59:00

113. Two Lions: Bunny Wailer and Hakim

On this program we survey the careers of two giants within their genres. Bunny Wailer is the last surviving member of the original Bob Marley and the Wailers trio. Right up to his 2016 tour, where we met him, this architect of reggae music has continued to carry the banner with new concerts and recordings. And he tells his story with bracing poetic candor. Meanwhile in Egypt, Hakim, the lion of shaabi music, remains a superstar and a player in that country’s turbulent pop scene. On a rare visit

Mar 18,2021 59:00

114. 829 Soul To Soul At 50

On March 6, 1971, a group of some of the top musicians from the United States -– Ike and Tina Turner, Wilson Pickett, the Staple Singers, and more -– boarded a plane bound for Ghana to perform in a musical celebration that was dubbed the “Soul to Soul Festival.” Thousands of audience members filled Accra’s Black Star Square for a continuous 15 hours of music. The festival was planned in part for the annual celebration of Ghana’s independence, but also as an invitation to a “homecoming” for these

Feb 25,2021 59:00

115. The Black History Of The Banjo

We trace the history of this most American of instruments from its ancestors in West Africa through the Caribbean and American South and into the present, as a new generation of Black women artists reclaim the banjo as their own. Rhiannon Giddens, Bassekou Kouyate, Bela Fleck and more talk claw-hammers, trad jazz, Appalachian folk, African ancestors and the on-going story of American music, which would be woefully incomplete without a Black history of the banjo. Produced by Ben Richmond.[APWW #8

Feb 18,2021 59:00

116. The Soul Of Black Brazil

We explore the rich period in the 1970s when soul flourished in Brazil. We’ll hear standard bearers of the movement such as Tim Maia, Ed Motta, Toni Tomado, Sandra de Sá and others. Tales by participants from back in the day plus commentary by author Christopher Dunn.[APWW #436] [Originally aired 2004]

Feb 11,2021 59:00

117. A Tale Of Two Rebellions

Our Hip Deep edition “A Tale of Two Rebellions,” recounts the stories of two remarkable military campaigns in early Islamic history. Both uprisings take place in the late 9th century, both involve Africans as key players, and both set the scene for the crystallization of the Sunni-Shi’ite divide in Islam, which of course continues to this day. By Joseph Browdy and Banning Eyre. [APWW #535]

Feb 04,2021 59:00

118. New Moves In Afro - Jazz

It’s a truism that jazz has roots in Africa, but compared with other forms of Black American music, it doesn’t have a large audience there. Just the same, African musicians have long been smitten with jazz, and have always found inventive ways to incorporate jazz elements into their sounds. On this program we meet young artists forging new paths in Afro-Jazz: Etuk Ubong from Nigeria, Awale Jant Band from Senegal by way of London, Afrikan Protokol form Burkina Faso by way of Belgium. It’s a freew

Jan 28,2021 59:00

119. Crate Diggers And Remixers

A vast, new world of DJs, record collectors and producers are going to far reaches of the Earth to find forgotten records and new styles of music. Their discoveries are then brought back home, remixed, repackaged and re-released to be heard by an entirely new audience. We speak to some of these globetrotting DJ and producers Chief Boima and Geko Jones to hear about their experiences, the music they’ve discovered and how they go about remixing some of these styles in order to create a new and upd

Jan 21,2021 59:00

120. The Other Afro-Latino: Hidden Sounds from Ecuador, Bolivia and Uruguay

Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian musical giants have long enjoyed the spotlight, yet throughout Latin America there are other black enclaves producing some of the New World's most vibrant music. Their stories have gone untold for far too long. In this episode, Afropop explores these lost sounds, starting in an Ecuadorian desert valley where African and Andean traditions have mixed seamlessly into fiery dance music. Then we're off to mangrove-studded Esmeraldas to search out the last marimba legends

Jan 14,2021 59:00

121. Umm Kulthum - The Voice Of Egypt

Umm Kulthum has been called the greatest singer in the Arabic speaking world in the 20th century. Born in 1904 the humble daughter of an Egyptian village imam, she went on to become a glamorous Cairo celebrity in her 20s, and soon after that, a cultural icon whose monthly live radio broadcasts brought much of Egypt to a standstill. She turned high poetry into popular culture. She extended musical forms with her virtuoso, extended vocal improvisations. Combining historical, religious, literary an

Jan 07,2021 59:00

122. 2020 Highlights

2020 has been a year like no other. Tours and concerts have been cancelled, and future plans remain up in the air. Just the same, a great deal of fantastic music has emerged from Africa and the diaspora. In their annual tradition, Georges Collinet and Banning Eyre take stock of the year’s offerings, covering an ever-growing array of styles and artistic movements. Not exactly a “best of the year” show, but you can be sure to hear artists and sounds you won’t find anywhere else! Produced by Bannin

Dec 24,2020 59:00

123. Sao Paulo Migrations: Hybrid Musical Resistance in Brazil’s Alpha City

Brazil’s economic and artistic powerhouse, São Paulo is a true megapolis, being the largest city in Latin America and fourth largest city in the world. Built on successive waves of immigration, it’s a melting pot of cultures, viewpoints and musical beats with a flourishing alternate arts scene that includes vibrant poetry slams, renowned street art and an incredible array of music forms that push against established hierarchies of race, class, gender and sexual orientation. In this dramatically

Nov 19,2020 59:00

124. The Mighty Amazon

The Amazon River basin has long been a mystery to Brazil. Located far from the centers of business and power in the nation's southeast, the jungle provinces of the Brazilian north have long been ignored by the nation at large. But recently, Brazilians have discovered that the cities and waterways of the Amazon are home to some of the nation's hottest music. In this Hip Deep episode—a musical history of Pará state, where Afro-Caribbean influences have created a unique local flavor that connects t

Nov 05,2020 59:00

125. 822 The Story Of Baobab

Fifty years ago, the president of Senegal’s nephew was putting together a band for his new, upscale Dakar nightclub, and he recruited a handful of musicians who are still together today. Combining elements from their homes across West Africa into lush Afro-Cuban arrangements, the Orchestra Baobab became one of the continent's top bands.Follow the group from the rough recordings made in Club Baobab, through their breakup and verdant 21st century revival, enjoying their mastery of everything from

Oct 29,2020 59:00

126. GC's DJ Roadshow - From Kwaito To Amapiano

In this episode, Georges Collinet inaugurates a traveling talent search introducing guest deejays and producers with unique perspectives on global African music. First up is Matthew Key—a.k.a. DJ M-Point—host of "The Loxion Music Mix Show" on WESU FM in Middletown, CT. Key has been absorbed in South Africa’s post-apartheid pop music for 22 years, and he takes us on a tour through a succession of genres, starting with kwaito, the country’s joyous, jazzy response to long awaited freedom, and leadi

Oct 22,2020 59:00

127. Quelbe - Hidden Treasure Of The Caribbean

On a visit to the U.S. Virgin Islands in winter 2018, we took the pulse of the national music of St. Croix – quelbe. Rarely recorded, rarely exported, quelbe is an energetic form, led by sax or flute with percussion and banjo, and it fuels the traditional dance style, quadrille. St Croix is the largest of the U.S. Virgin Islands, and sits alone 42 miles south of St. Thomas and St. John. That’s part of why traditional music and dance forms have remained strong on St. Croix. Meet bandleaders Stanl

Oct 15,2020 59:00

128. The Afro Roots Virtual Fest 2020 in Miami

Miami is still in lockdown mode for large gatherings but we don't let that stop us as we travel, virtually, to Miami's beautiful open air, art deco North Beach Bandshell right across from the Atlantic Ocean. Enjoy highlights from the just completed Afro Roots Virtual Fest featuring the city's leading globally grooving artists. Crank it up! Johnny Dread of Cuban/Rasta heritage opens up with his original mix of classic reggae, rock and international sounds. Cortadito, called the best Latin act by

Sep 24,2020 59:00

129. 819 Live from the Archive

When Afropop Worldwide launched back in 1988, a key goal was to capture the live energy of incredible artists emerging from Africa, the Caribbean and beyond. Most of those recordings were preserved on reel-to-reel tapes. The coronavirus lockdown has given us a chance to start revisiting and preserving. And we have been amazed to rediscover the energy of that thrilling era. On this music-rich program of concerts recorded live at S.O.Bs in New York City, we hear from Congo’s Papa Wemba, South Afri

Sep 17,2020 59:00

130. Baaba Maal Acoustic Live In NYC

Baaba Maal has toured the world, backed by his electric group, Daande Lenol. Sometimes he has performed as an acoustic duo with his longtime musical partner, Mansour Seck, on guitars and vocals. And rarely, Baaba has assembled a large acoustic group featuring guitars and traditional instruments. We caught such a moment at one of our all time favorite live recordings, Baaba and his acoustic big band performing at Joe's Pub in New York City. Beautiful![APWW #383][Originally aired in 2014]

Sep 10,2020 59:00

131. Thomas Mapfumo Live in NYC at SOB's

In 1991, Thomas Mapfumo and the Blacks Unlimited made their second tour of the United States. It was a fascinating transitional moment in the band’s history. Mapfumo had recently added two musicians playing the metal-pronged, Shona mbira, enriching the band’s lineup of guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, brass and percussion. The band had now evolved into a kind of folk orchestra in which everyone sang, allowing for beautifully layered vocal arrangements. This recording, made by Afropop Worldwide at

Sep 03,2020 59:00

132. Afropop Closeup: Pana-Soul Crooner Ralph Weeks’s Enduring Classic “Something Deep Inside”

Soul singer and multi-instrumentalist Ralph Weeks left Panama for Brooklyn, New York, when he was 17. Today he's a hearty 77, and still takes the stage with his finely honed falsetto to offer the enduring classic of a song he wrote more than 50 years ago, "Something Deep Inside." The song has passed through various renditions over the years and, in this podcast, Weeks lifts the hood on the creative process that led to a classic, with enthusiasm and an easy laugh. Produced by Steve Burkholder.

Sep 01,2020 30:50

133. 818 Lockdown Serenade

For all those stuck at home or stressed out during these uncertain times, here’s an hour of uplifting music from Mali, Cuba and South Africa. Vusi Mahlasela, Alex Cuba, Afel Bocoum and Oumou Sangare have all known the travails of personal pain and political turmoil. And yet all find the strength and vision to create music that soothes and reassures even as it moves dancing feet. On this program, we hear fresh music and words from all four.Produced by Banning Eyre and Sean Barlow.

Aug 27,2020 59:00

134. Abidjan: A New Musical El Dorado

In the 70s and 80s Ivory Coast’s capital Abidjan was a major musical hub in West Africa. After a series of political crises, Abidjan is back. The Zouglou sound of the 1990s and the coupé decalé rage that followed are being reinvented in the era of Afrobeats and African hip-hop. The group Magic System is now invited to play major events in France—including President Macron’s election victory party! The group’s front man Asalfo has launched an annual music festival in Abidjan, FEMUA. On this progr

Aug 20,2020 59:00

135. Afropop Closeup: Everything Transforms

Two new bands, one from Morocco and one from Tunisia, are mixing jazz, funk, and rock with centuries-old ritual music with roots in the trans-Saharan slave trade. It rocks, but what does it mean for the tradition? Afropop talks with both bands about the divergent ways that they negotiate innovation and conservation. Produced by Sebastian Bouknight and Lauren Shenkman.

Aug 18,2020 22:57

136. Ancient Text Messages - Batá Drums In A Changing World

In Africa, drums don't only play rhythms, they send messages. “Ancient Text Messages: Batá Drums in a Changing World” explores an endangered tradition of drum speech in Nigeria, and how that tradition changed and thrived in Cuba, where large numbers of enslaved Yoruba arrived in the 19th century. Producer Ned Sublette speaks with ethnomusicologist Amanda Villepastour, language technician Tunde Adegbola, and drummer Kenneth Schweitzer about how language and music overlap. Produced by Ned Sublette

Aug 13,2020 59:00

137. Borderless Sounds - The New North Africa

North African music receives very little coverage in the United States. There are no high-profile mixes of recent Tunisian underground dance music from hip DJs, and no young Algerian musicians with major distribution deals in the U.S. So we decided to explore what exactly is going on today in this part of the world. We trace the origins of some of the region’s most interesting current music to the banlieues of Paris, like raï ’n’b--a new autotuned and synth-heavy offshoot of raï. We also explore

Aug 06,2020 59:00

138. Closeup: Art Is Freedom - A Conversation With Criolo

One of the most important performing artists to emerge on the Brazilian music scene in the new millennium, Criolo has crafted a diverse and eclectic body of work. Moving between rap, reggae, Afrobeat, samba, electronic music and other genres, Criolo has constantly used his music to address the dramatic issues of race, social inequality and governmental corruption that have blighted contemporary Brazil. In this podcast, Criolo tells producer David Katz about his early struggles in the peripheral

Aug 05,2020 30:00

139. 817 The Story Of Gumbe

The square gumbe frame drum was created centuries ago by enslaved Africans in Jamaica. It traveled to Sierra Leone with freed Maroons from Jamaica’s highlands in 1800. From there, the drum and its evolving, pan-ethnic music spread to 17 African nations. In this program we trace the history and legacy of this joyous and surprising music with field work in Jamaica, Sierra Leone, Ghana and Mali. Produced by Banning Eyre.

Jul 30,2020 59:00

140. 816 Bomba, Plena And Puerto Rican Protest Music

On this program, we look at Puerto Rican protest songs over the past two centuries, including Paracumbé's subversive bomba dances from the time of slavery, Las Barrileras 8M, an all-women drumming group demanding an end to violence against women and a new plena from Hector Tito Matos about the death of George Floyd.The past three years have been incredibly traumatic for Puerto Rico: two hurricanes followed by slow recovery efforts that led to the death of 3,057 on the island, a text message scan

Jul 23,2020 59:00

141. Johnny And Sipho: A Friendship Made On Earth

Johnny Clegg and Sipho Mchunu formed the South African crossover band Juluka in the mid-1970s. But by then, the two had been palling around apartheid South Africa, playing music, dancing and getting into trouble with the police for years. And even though Juluka disbanded in 1985, the two remained close friends until Clegg died in 2019. In this podcast we hear both artists reflecting on a remarkable friendship. Produced by Banning Eyre.

Jul 21,2020 27:27

142. Hip Deep In The Niger Delta

The massive Niger River Delta is a fantastically rich cultural region and ecosystem. Unfortunately, it has been laid low by the brutal Biafran War (1967-70) and by decades of destructive and mismanaged oil exploration. This program offers a portrait of the region in two stories. First, we chronicle the Biafran War through the timeless highlife music of Cardinal Rex Jim Lawson, perhaps the most popular musician in Nigeria at the time. Then we spend time with contemporary musical activists in Port

Jul 16,2020 59:00

143. Africa And The Blues

When this episode first aired, the recent death of Malian guitar legend Ali Farka Touré inspired a new round of speculation about the roots of the blues in Africa. Touré famously argued that the beloved American genre was "nothing but African," a bold assertion. Among scholars, Gerhard Kubik's book Africa and the Blues has gained recognition as the most serious and penetrating examination of the subject. This program in our Hip Deep series was produced in collaboration with Kubik, allowing a rar

Jul 09,2020 59:00

144. Closeup: Drumming as A Resistance Movement

Brazil’s Grupo Didá, is an extraordinary ensemble of Afro-Brazilian women who use music to fight against injustice and racial inequality. Producer Dan Rosenberg speaks with the group's founder, percussionist Adriana Portela, about how Didá is working to redefine gender roles in Salvador da Bahia, and anthropology professor Andrea Allen (University of Toronto) on the history of slavery in Brazil, and the horrific violence inflicted upon enslaved women.

Jul 07,2020 21:36

145. Youssou's Egypt

In 2004, Youssou N'Dour joined forces with Egyptian master-musician Fathy Salama for a sonic adventure, Egypt (2004, Nonesuch). Through the differing forms of expression from east and west of the Sahara, Youssou and Fathy explore the shared spiritual bonds that unite Muslims across the continent. The result is a soulful retracing of their common roots.[APWW #437]

Jul 02,2020 59:00

146. 815 Remembering Tony Allen

Tony Allen is among the greatest drummers of the past century. His sudden death at 79 in April, 2020, was a shock felt around the world. In addition to his seminal work with the king of Afrobeat Fela Kuti, Allen had a prolific solo career and performed and recorded with artists from Angelique Kidjo, Ray Lema, Ernest Ranglin and Oumou Sangare to Damon Albarn, Brian Eno and Jeff Mills. In this program we salute a towering career in global music, with insights from Michael Veal, co-author of Allen’

Jun 25,2020 59:00

147. 814 My Friend Manu

Cameroonian musician and composer Manu Dibango passed away on March 24 at his home in France, an early victim of Covid 19. “My Friend Manu” is a tribute to the exceptional man who, by chance, as he says, gave us the famous Soul Makossa, a tune that opened the Disco era.In this episode of Afropop Worldwide, Georges Collinet goes back in time to recollect his friendship with his fellow Cameroonian. He explores the many ways their lives paralleled and intersected after they were sent to France by

Jun 18,2020 59:00

148. The Musical Legacy Of Al - Andalus Part 2

Even before the expulsion of Jews (1492) and converted Muslims, or Moriscos, (1610) from Al Andalus, many Andalusians crossed the Straight of Gibraltar to resettle in North Africa, and as far east as Syria. All these centuries later, Andalusian art forms and communities persist, especially in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Syria. This Hip Deep program examines the intriguing variety of Muslim "Andalusian" music traditions, especially in Morocco, Algeria, and Syria. Once again, our guide i

Jun 11,2020 59:00

149. The Musical Legacy Of Al - Andalus, Part 1 - Europe

The 700-year period of Muslim courts and conquerors in Medieval Spain (711-1492) leaves behind many mysteries. In the first of a three-part look at the musical legacy of Andalusia, this program presents period recreations of medieval Spanish music and considers the lasting influences the era would have on Europe. This program takes a provocative look at instruments--the lute and the violin--at the tradition of troubadours, European poetry and vocal styles, and much more, all informed by the insi

Jun 04,2020 59:00

150. Botswana, Dumelang

Botswana is a large, landlocked country in Southern Africa, a vast stretch of desert and savannah between South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia with a population of only 2.2 million. While widely overlooked internationally for their music, over the past 20 years Batswana have steadily built a diverse and fruitful local scene that includes traditional choirs, hip hop and kwaito, R&B and jazz and even heavy metal. While the biggest star in the country, Franco, packs stadiums with his Congolese-derive

May 28,2020 59:43

151. Rhythm Nations

Some countries are embedded in our collective memory for their trademark rhythms--samba for Brazil, rumba for Cuba, Afrobeat for Nigeria, mbalax for Senegal. We'll celebrate these beats with some of their seminal practitioners. Produced by Sean Barlow.APWW #787Originally broadcast in 2018

May 21,2020 59:00

152. Madagascar Medley

On a return trip to Madagascar, we catch up with and hear new music from tsapiky maestro Damily, the “King of Salegy” Jaojoby, an exciting new duo starring Sammy of Tarika Sammy, Toko Telo and more. This music-rich edition is filled with entrancing and hard-to-find roots pop. In the wake of 2018’s hard-fought presidential election, Madagascar faces a new era with former DJ Andry Rajoelina at the helm. Word is his theme song was a major boost. We’ll hear it. We’ll also sample rare field recording

May 14,2020 59:00

153. South African Roots In The 21st Century

CenturyYes, it’s the age of South African House, Afrobeats, Afro R&B and the likes, but roots music lives on in South Africa. This show updates the Zulu pop music known as maskanda, with a look back at its history and a survey of the current scene--rich musically, but troubled by fan rivalry that can lead to violence and even deaths. We’ll hear nimble ukapika guitar playing, heavy Zulu beats and bracing vocal harmonies. We’ll meet maskanda legend Phuzukhemisi and veteran South African radio broa

May 07,2020 59:00

154. Rap, Reggae and Cultural Resistance in Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Belo Horizonte is Brazil’s sixth largest city and including its surrounding districts, the country’s third largest metropolitan area. The capital of Minas Gerais, a state built on mining, dairy products and coffee production, Belo Horizonte is often seen as a parochial, conservative backwater, yet its thriving alternative arts scene provides robust forms of musical and cultural resistance to the exclusionary policies of reactionary president, Jair Bolsonaro, especially through local variants of

Apr 30,2020 59:00

155. Accounting for Taste: Dire Straits, Jim Reeves, and Death Metal in Africa

When we talk about the influence of American performers on African music, we usually think about a few obvious examples, legends like Michael Jackson, Jimi Hendrix or James Brown. In this episode, we go beyond these stars to explore the legacy of some lesser-known inspirations. We’ll learn how the fluid guitar playing of ’70s rock band Dire Straits became massively popular in the Sahel, influencing Tuareg rockers like Tinariwen and Tamikrest. We’ll hear about the American country superstar Jim R

Apr 23,2020 59:00

156. Edo Highlife: Culture, Politics And Progressive Traditionalism

Highlife—West Africa’s pioneer popular music of the late colonial and independence periods—has mostly faded from popularity in 21st century Nigeria. However, highlife is alive and well in Edo State, 300 kilometers east of Lagos, and the center of the former Benin Kingdom. Edo highlife musicians fill the role of traditional musicians by animating community ceremonies such as weddings and funerals, and praising prominent members of the community, in exchange for “financial love.” This traditionali

Apr 16,2020 59:00

157. SxSW Virtual Showcase

The cancellation of South by Southwest was one of the early shocks in the global coronavirus pandemic. Countless artists, fans, vendors, nightclub owners and festival staff were devastated. Afropop Worldwide had been scheduled to host 12 bands at an SXSW showcase. We decided to reach out to some of these artists and make a radio show with their music just the same. This program features Skype interviews and music from RAM (Haiti), Blaya (Portugal) and BLK JKS (South Africa), and music from Ghana

Apr 09,2020 59:00

158. With Feet In Many Worlds

more of the musical artists who are making a difference cannot be pinned down to any one national identity.Migration, intermarriage, and the hurly burly of our globalized planet are creating new and growing generations of change-makers with hyphenated identities. In this program we hear from Ayo (Nigerian/Roma/German), Meklit Hadero (Ethiopian-American), Weedie Braimah (Ghanaian-American), La Dame Blanche (Cuban-French), Pascal Danai of the band Delgres (Guadeloupean-French) and others, as we sa

Apr 01,2020 59:00

159. 810 GlobalFEST 2020

New York City's globalFEST is a landmark musical event every January, a sonic feast featuring 12 artists on three stages in a single winter night. In this program, we hear extended live tracks from Senegal's Cheikh Lo, also Meklit, Les Amazones D'Afrique and dynamic new sounds from Turkey and South Korea. Rising star in Algerian rai music Sofiane Saidi makes his U.S. debut. In a season when we are being denied live music experiences, a virtual soiree at 2020's globalFEST edition may just be the

Mar 26,2020 59:00

160. A History Of Puerto Rican Salsa

The first time Puerto Rican bandleader Willie Rosario heard the word salsa applied to the Cuban-style music he played was in Venezuela, where DJ Phidias Danilo first popularized it. Subsequently applied as a marketing tool by Fania Records in New York, the word quickly became a marker of Puerto Rican identity. This 1995 production talks to the founding bandleaders of the genre -- Rafael Ithier (El Gran Combo), Quique Lucca (Sonora Ponceña), and Willie Rosario -- and presents immortal hits of ear

Mar 19,2020 59:00

161. 801 Afropop At SxSW 2019

In 2019, Afropop Worldwide hosted a stage at South by Southwest in Austin, TX, for the first time. Our lineup featured innovative new sounds out of Africa, including Jojo Abot from Ghana, Adekunle Gold from Nigeria, groundbreaking DJ AfrotroniX, Sauti Sol from Kenya and more. In this episode, we meet the artists, sample their sets, and take in the growing presence of African music at America’s most essential pop music expo. The start of a fine tradition! Produced by Banning Eyre.[APWW #801][Orig

Mar 12,2020 59:00

162. Voodoo To Go Festival

Producer Morgan Greenstreet follows the trail of West African Vaudou spiritual music to a very unlikely place–Utrecht, Netherlands–for the first edition of the Voodoo To Go Festival. The three-day festival, pioneered by Togolese entrepreneur Leopold Ekué Messan, set out to demystify Vaudou/Vodun/Voodoo spiritual practices by featuring music and dance from Togo, Benin, Haiti, Cuba and Suriname and bringing people together for films, food and a panel discussion about “Good and Evil in Voodoo.” Fro

Mar 05,2020 59:00

163. 809 Remembering Johnny Clegg

Johnny Clegg holds a unique place in South Africa’s musical pantheon. From his childhood immersion in Zulu culture, his mastery of Zulu language, dance and guitar playing, some 20 albums with three different bands, his tireless world touring and, finally, his brave public battle with cancer, Clegg was an inspired witness to tumultuous history in South Africa and around the world. Afropop was fortunate to conduct many interviews with the maestro and raconteur over 30 years. In this program, we sa

Feb 27,2020 01:15:14

164. Diaspora Encounters: The Indo-Caribbean World

Competition between communities of Indian and African descent has been a mainstay of politics and culture in the former British colonies of Trinidad and Tobago, and Guyana. This rivalry plays out in institutions from the University of the West Indies to the West Indies cricket team, and of course, popular music. At the time of Trinidad's Independence, the Afro-Caribbean political elite of the day sought to enshrine calypso as the country's national music, but new genres have emerged, from the st

Feb 20,2020 59:00

165. Aurelio Badian Damily And The Kid From Timbuktu

This guitar-focused program presents a series of mostly acoustic sessions with Garifuna star Aurelio Martinez, griot guitar master Aboubacar "Badian" Diabate, Malagasy tsapika phenom Damily, and Abdramane Toure, the 17-year-old guitarist for Khaira Arby of Timbuktu. These four uniquely talented players talk about their careers, their learning process, and their highly personal guitar styles. Along the way we catch up with a rich selection of beautifully guitar-filigreed music, from Honduran soul

Feb 13,2020 59:00

166. Afro - Tech: Stories Of Synths In African Music

Technology is one of the great drivers of musical change, and often one of its least understood. In this episode, we explore the synthesizer, looking closely at the history of this ubiquitous (and often debated) piece of musical technology, and investigating how and why it was first used in a variety of African musics. Enabled by groundbreaking record reissues by synth pioneers like William Onyeabor (Nigeria) and Hailu Mergia (Ethiopia), disco stars like Kris Okotie, and South African superstar

Feb 06,2020 59:00

167. Discover and Record: The Field Recordings of Hugh Tracey

In this Hip Deep edition, Afropop producer Wills Glasspeigel heads to South Africa to reveal the story of the inimitable Hugh Tracey, a field recordist born at the turn of the 20th century in England. A wayward youth, Tracey found himself in Africa in the 1920s where he became fascinated with music from Zimbabwe. Tracey became a pioneer field recordist, making over 250 LPs of traditional African music for the Gallo label in South Africa. Like John and Alan Lomax in the US, Tracey was instrumenta

Jan 30,2020 59:00

168. Cape Verde Sounds - Heard And Unheard

On a 2018 return visit to the archipelago of Cape Verde, we find all sorts of fresh musical activity, global and local. We hear some spectacular young female vocalists in this program, including Fatou Diakite, descended from a Malian family, but raised in Cape Verde and Guinea Bissau, and a master of styles from morna to gumbe. We also meet Lucibela, now based in Lisbon, and one of the most talked about Cape Verdean singers today. And we hear new work from Nancy Vieira, Jenifer Solidade and Elid

Jan 23,2020 59:00

169. Reissued - African Vinyl In The 21st Century

The golden age of vinyl records is long past in Africa, but the market for rare and reissued African vinyl outside the continent has been growing steadily since the early 2000s. DJs and collectors have turned an obsession with rare records and forgotten gems from Cape Town to Tangiers into an international reissue and compilation industry, led by record labels such as Soundway, Strut and Analog Africa. This program explores some of the complex and shifting dynamics of neocolonialism, cultural ow

Jan 09,2020 59:00

170. The Afro Roots Festival in Miami

We go to Miami to enjoy highlights from the 21st annual Afro Roots Fest at the North Beach Bandshell. Co-headliners are the sublime griot singer Noura Mint Seymali from Mauritania and the Grammy nominated diva Fatoumata Diawara from Mali. Noura graces us with special backstage performance of the ancient harp, ardine. And Fatoumata sings a capella, showing us what she says is her voice as a traditional instrument. We also hear local artists Jose Elias of Cortadito and the Grammy nominated Danay S

Jan 02,2020 59:00

171. Here Comes 2020

While others look back on 2019 and the decade of the 2010s, Georges Collinet and Banning Eyre choose instead to look ahead to the 2020s in their annual year-end conversation. It's an hour of African music that points to the future: new styles, new hybrids, artists to watch, and glimpses of upcoming Afropop Worldwide projects and productions. Georges and Banning take a moment to acknowledge some greats who have left us, but whose music will surely live on. And they put out a challenge to listener

Dec 19,2019 01:12:01

172. Luiz Gonzaga The King of Baiao

Sweet accordion riffs, the steady twang of the triangle, and the off-beat pounding of the zabumba drum make forro a favorite for all Brazilians. The infectious tunes and syncopated beats have been described as "a mixture of ska with polka in overdrive." This edition of Afropop Worldwide's Hip Deep will profile forro creator Luiz Gonzaga--from the wanderlust that led him from his rural birthplace in northeastern Brazil to a pumping career in the capital, Rio de Janeiro, in the 1940s. Conversation

Oct 03,2019 59:00

173. Carnival in Brooklyn

On this program, we follow Caribbean steel-pan bands and Haitian rara groups through their preparations for Brooklyn's West Indian Day Parade and Carnival, into the special jouvert celebration that kicks off carnival with revelers and performing groups dancing through the pre-dawn streets of Brooklyn; to the intense Panorama steel-pan competition, the daylight parade and beyond. We also hear how members of these Caribbean communities keep their cultural activities alive and thriving despite the

Sep 19,2019 59:00

174. Off the Beaten Track - Burkina Faso, Malawi, and Beyond

This program ventures into corners of Africa we rarely hear from, guided by adventurous field recordists and crate diggers. The Zomba Prison Project is a set of recordings by inmates at a maximum security prison in Malawi, currently the poorest nation on earth. The project’s debut CD was nominated for a Grammy Award. Here, we speak with the producer, Ian Brennan, and hear tracks from a new volume of soulful, even heartbreaking, songs from the prison. We then go back to the 1960s and ‘70s in the

Sep 12,2019 59:00

175. Bolsonaro Is and Isn't

If Americans hear about Brazil's president Jair Bolsonaro at all, he's usually described as a "Brazilian Donald Trump." But on this week's CloseUp, we step out of the American bubble, and look at who Bolsonaro is, who his targets are, and how he rose to power. We also hear the first round of songs written to protest his hard, right-wing politics.

Sep 10,2019 24:05

176. Randy Weston, A Jazz Life with the African Ancestors

Jazz legend, Randy Weston left us on September 1, 2018. He, more than any contemporary jazz artist, understood, honored and explored the roots of American music in Africa. He lived there, traveled there often, and spoke of his connections to his African ancestors in every interview during his 92 years. In this program, we revisit our musical conversation with Weston in 1998, and sample some of his late solo piano recordings.APWW #789Produced by Banning Eyre

Sep 05,2019 59:00

177. Ring the Alarm: A History of Sound System Culture

In Jamaica, sound systems are more than just a stack of speakers blasting the latest tunes to an eager crowd. Over the last 70 years, they have come to represent the most common way that Jamaicans experience music. Sound systems have touched all levels of society in Jamaica, determining the island’s popular taste and profoundly influencing the daily lives of its citizenry. This program explores the evolution of sound system culture, from the Jamaican genesis of the 1940s to its gradual impact on

Aug 22,2019 59:00

178. French Afro-Colonial Memory and Music

France has a pretty unique relationship to its former colonies, sharing a strong common history and a common language, but also painful episodes not really taught at school—neither in France nor in Africa.In France and in French-speaking African countries today, there is a new generation of artists and promotors who are ready to tell history with music. They are unearthing unknown periods of French colonial history. In this show, we'll hear about dark times of Franco-African history, specificall

Aug 20,2019 25:52

179. Afropop Worldwide - The Origin Story

As Afropop Worldwide marks the week of its 30th anniversary on the public airwaves, we take a look at the story that led up to the program’s creation. We hear excerpts from the podcast A Show of Hearts profiling the program’s founders Sean Barlow and Banning Eyre. And host Georges Collinet recalls his audition for the job that has shaped three decades of his storied life. And of course, we will hear highlights from the music that has made Afropop Worldwide one of the longest running music progra

Aug 15,2019 59:00

180. Barrio Colón to Brooklyn

The clave cuts the air, the drums triangulate in endless conversation, the singers push their voices over the rhythm, competing with daring improvisations, while a pair of dancers tease and provoke, shifting across the small space between singers and drummers: This is an Afro-Cuban rumba, a communal form of Afro-Cuban folkloric music that continues to be a crucial part of the musical life of New York City. From the inclusive to the exclusive, we also experience an original group interpreting Afr

Aug 06,2019 18:15

181. Doing It For the Art: Manolo Raps in Cape Verde

At the 2019 Atlantic Music Expo in Cape Verde, Afropop's Sebastian Bouknight met Manolo, a longtime rapper who is trying to find a foothold in the country's overcrowded music scene.

Jul 23,2019 26:29

182. The Cumbia Diaspora - From Colombia to the World

Move over salsa and merengue–cumbia is the most popular music in Latin America. Today, cumbia is played from the borderlands of Texas down the spine of the Andes to the tip of Tierra del Fuego. In this Hip Deep edition, we find out how cumbia left Colombia in the ‘60s and ‘70s and traveled to other countries. Everywhere it went, it transformed itself, adapting to its new environment. In Peru, it mixed with psychedelic guitar effects and Andean sounds to become chicha. In Argentina, it became the

Jul 11,2019 59:00

183. Afropop Goes to the Grammys

Reporter Dan Rosenberg takes us to the Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles and speaks to the nominees in the World Music category, Fatoumata Diawara, Bombino, The Soweto Gospel Choir, Seun Kuti and Yiddish Glory, about how they are using their voices to combat human rights abuses, political corruption, genocide and violence against women.

Jul 09,2019 24:05

184. More African Guitars

The guitar music of Africa is eternal! Despite the rise of Afrobeats, Afro-house, hip-hop and techno, the continent still turns out inventive and thrilling string pickers. This music-rich program features shredding desert-rock axemen and filigree griot guitarists from Niger and Mali, as well as new sounds from the Congo, Zimbabwe and Madagascar. We’ll also travel to rural Botswana to meet itinerant guitarists who have gained a worldwide following through eye- and ear-popping YouTube videos. Some

Jul 04,2019 59:00

185. Lazarus - Messenger of Hope

The plight of albinos in Africa is a sad story. Occult beliefs make them the targets of kidnapping, killing and mutilation. But in Malawi, an exceptionally talented street musician named Lazarus is making a stand in defence of fellow albinos, and he's doing it with music. Lazarus's debut album Stomp the Devil will be released in August, 2019. Producer Banning Eyre takes us inside Lazarus's life and music and explores his surprising tale of survival and activism.This is the season premiere of Afr

Jun 26,2019 24:46

186. What's New at WOMEX

The annual WOMEX gathering is a feast for the eyes and ears. At the 2018 edition in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, over 300 artists performed in 60 official showcases. Afropop Worldwide recorded both intimate exclusive sessions and official showcases. We also interviewed globetrotting artists: Moonlight Benjamin (Haiti/France), Dawda Jobarteh(Gambia/Denmark), Tita Nzebi (Gabon/France) and Serge Ananou (Benin/France). And, we collected a load of new releases from artists you know, like Salif Keita, an

Jun 13,2019 59:00

187. From Haiti to the World

From Paris to New Orleans and Boston, Haitian musicians are shaking up the music scene. The island’s powerful Africa-rooted culture—from celebratory rara and sensuous kompa to the deep well of vodun songs—has become a global force. In this program, we spend time with racine music veteran Lolo Beaubrun of Boukman Eksperyans, and his rising star son, Paul Beaubrun, both on a swing through New England. We also meet Paris-based Moonlight Benjamin, and hear recent New Orleans-tinged music from Lakou

Jun 06,2019 59:00

188. Pedras, Melos, and Radiola - Brazilian Reggae in Sao Luis do Maranhao

São Luís do Maranhão is one of the poorest and most ethnically-diverse cities in Brazil. In this old slave port, located in the far northeast of the country, a thriving reggae scene has wielded disproportionate influence since the 1970s, based on an overarching taste for obscure roots reggae from the Jamaican countryside and vintage lover’s rock from the urban spaces of black Britain. The music spread through the local sound systems, known as radiolas, fueling a bolero-like dance style which has

May 23,2019 59:00

189. Afro-Roots Fest in Miami

We go to Miami to enjoy highlights from the 21st annual Afro Roots Fest at the the North Beach Bandshell. Co-headliners are the sublime griot singer Noura Mint Seymali from Mauritania and the Grammy-nominated diva Fatoumata Diawara from Mali. Noura graces us with special backstage performance of the ancient harp, ardine. And Fatoumata sings a capella, showing us what she says is "her voice as a traditional instrument." We also hear local artists Jose Elias of Cortadito and the Grammy-nominated D

May 16,2019 59:00

190. A Visit to Afro-Sweden

Afro-Sweden? Who knew? Over the past 60 years, a number of musicians from Africa and its diaspora have come to base themselves, or have been born, in Sweden. And recently, they have emerged as a collective voice in Swedish society. From the acoustic Mande folk of Sousou and Maher Cissoko, to the kaleidoscopic hip-hop of Timbuktu, and the smooth soul-pop of Swedish-born, Gambian-descended Seinabo Sey, there’s definitely something happening in Scandinavia. On this program we speak with and hear re

May 09,2019 59:00

191. South African Roots in the 21st Century

Yes, it’s the age of South African House, Afrobeats, Afro R&B and the likes, but roots music lives on in South Africa. This show updates the Zulu pop music known as maskanda, with a look back at its history and a survey of the current scene--rich musically, but troubled by fan rivalry that can lead to violence and even deaths. We’ll hear nimble ukapika guitar playing, heavy Zulu beats and bracing vocal harmonies. We’ll meet maskanda legend Phuzukhemisi and veteran South African radio broadcaster

May 02,2019 59:00

192. Zimbabwe After Mugabe

A lot has happened since Afropop last visited Zimbabwe. The 37-year regime of Robert Mugabe has ended, and Thomas Mapfumo, the Lion of Zimbabwe, has staged a triumphant return concert after a 14-year absence. Meanwhile, the country’s youth now moves to the groove of Zim-Dancehall from the likes of reigning star Winky D, and gospel-trad roots music from Jah Prayzah. On this program, we catch up with all these new sounds, hear the latest from Oliver Mtukudzi, and meet one of the most creative sing

Apr 25,2019 59:00

193. Congolese Music - The 5th Generation

In the early 2000s, Afropop told the story of “Four Generations” in Congolese music—from rumba and rumba-rock to soukous and ndombolo. Now time has marched on, and once again, thrilling new sounds are emerging from Kinshasa and its global diaspora. We’ll hear hyperkinetic roots-rock from Jupiter and Okwess, Fally Ipupa’s embrace of the current Afrobeats trend, experimental innovations from Pierre Kwenders in Montreal, and more. We’ll also speak with Congolese music connoisseur Lubangi Muniania f

Apr 18,2019 59:00

194. WOMEX Radio Live!

The 2018 edition of the world music exposition WOMEX went down in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands with 300 artists and 2700 delegates from 92 countries. There was a lot to chew on. But one of the hidden wonders of WOMEX is the intimate European Broadcast Union radio studio. That’s where Afropop Worldwide and KEXP, Seattle, hosted four of the showcase acts up close and personal. On this program we hear radio sessions with Bakolo Music International, the oldest Congolese Rumba band

Apr 04,2019 59:00

195. The Gqom Generation of Durban, South Africa

The latest music craze to hit South African dance floors is a dark, pulsating and energetic sound called gqom. For the past seven years, a young and technologically skilled generation in Durban, KwaZulu Natal, has created and finessed a sound that has the world hooked and wanting more. It is an entire cultural movement complete with distinctive dance moves and styles. We talk to some of the deejays and young producers of this genre, like DJ Lag, Citizen Boy and Distruction Boyz, as well as Gqom

Mar 21,2019 59:00

196. Plenty Bacchanal - Carnival in Flux

Trinidadians call their annual Carnival "the greatest show on earth," and with good reason. The Carnival season brims over with art and music: steelpan, calypso, soca and extravagant masquerade costumes. In this program, we take a look at how these Carnival arts are kept alive in today's Trinidad. At this moment in time, Carnival is in flux. Commercialism is in tension with creativity; global outlooks conflict with local identity. But, through it all, life goes on and excellent music flows. Open

Feb 28,2019 59:00

197. globalFEST 2019 at the Copacabana

With Mardi Gras Indians straight out of New Orleans, Afro-Futurism coming from Mozambique via Dusseldorf, dub-inflected Colombian cumbia , gritty psychedelic South African punk and a grand Cuban mambo band, New York’s annual celebration of cultural music was back with a vengeance at the Copacabana. Sit down with Gato Preto, Orquesta Akokan and BCUC and stand up to dance with the rest. Produced by Ben Richmond.799 globalFEST 2019

Feb 21,2019 59:00

198. Mande Meets Mbalax in Dakar

Afropop returns to Dakar, Senegal to catch up with the latest in that country's dominant music style, the bracing, dynamic genre known as mbalax. We'll hear the latest from Youssou N'Dour, Wally Seck, Pape Diouf and others, and meet lesser known artists working the Dakar scene. We'll also meet a remarkable artist from Senegal's southern Cassamance region, where Mande culture akin to that in Gambia, Mali and Guinea prevails. Noumoucounda Cissoko is a brilliant kora player and singer who now makes

Feb 07,2019 59:00

199. Cuts From the Crypt 4 - Zona Libre

The DJ crew Zona Libre take a break from throwing genre-defying parties and producing their own live events and podcasts to team up with Afropop for another edition of Cuts from the Crypt. Frequent Afropop producer Morgan Greenstreet (modrums) and Brooklyn-based Puerto Rican DJ Ricardo Luiggi (tres dos) dig through Afropop's extensive vinyl archives, selecting Afro-diasporic music that defies borders and boundaries and sharing their digging experiences along the way.Zona Libre is a #NoBorders tr

Jan 31,2019 59:00

200. Time Travel Through Afro-Paris

Since at least the 1980s, when this program first aired, Paris has been one of the most important incubators of African music on the planet. That’s why we’ve visited there to take the pulse so often. On this program, we look back on 30 years of adventures with African music in Paris. We’ll hear studio sessions with Congolese guitar ace Diblo Dibala and zouk stars Kassav, interviews, live concerts, and that special ambiance that only Paris can provide.APWW #770

Jan 24,2019 59:00

201. Crate Diggers and Remixers

APWW #636A vast, new world of DJs, record collectors and producers are going to far reaches of the Earth to find forgotten records and new styles of music. Their discoveries are then brought back home, remixed, repackaged and re-released to be heard by an entirely new audience. We speak to some globetrotting DJ and producers Chief Boima and Geko Jones to hear about their experiences, the music they've discovered and how they go about remixing some of these styles in order to create a new and upd

Jan 17,2019 59:00

202. What's New at WOMEX?

The annual WOMEX gathering is a feast for the eyes and ears. At the 2018 edition in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, over 300 artists performed in 60 official showcases. Afropop Worldwide recorded both intimate exclusive sessions and official showcases. We also interviewed globetrotting artists: Moonlight Benjamin (Haiti/France), Dawda Jobarteh (Gambia/Denmark), Tita Nzebi (Gabon/France) and Serge Ananou (Benin/France). And, we collected a load of new releases from artists you know, like Salif Keita, a

Jan 10,2019 59:00

203. Hip Deep in Lebanon, Part 2 -

As the Ottoman Empire waned in the late 19th century, there was scarcity, economic stress, and political oppression in Lebanon. The once lucrative silk industry died. Factories closed. Families in search of better lives emigrated, or sent children abroad. Today, diaspora communities of Lebanese and Lebanese descendants far outnumber the 4-million people who actually live in the country. This program surveys the legacy of Lebanese diaspora in two surprising location: Brazil and Ghana. Brazil, hom

Dec 27,2018 59:00

204. WOMEX Radio 2018

The 2018 edition of the world music exposition WOMEX went down in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands with 300 artists and 2700 delegates from 92 countries. There was a lot to chew on. But one of the hidden wonders of WOMEX is the intimate European Broadcast Union radio studio. That’s where Afropop Worldwide and KEXP, Seattle, hosted four of the showcase acts up close and personal. On this program we hear radio sessions with Bakolo Music International, the oldest Congolese Rumba band

Dec 13,2018 59:00

205. Stocking Stuffers 2018

APWW #794We’re hopeless at making Top-10 lists--or even top-40s—so you’ll have to settle for this: a whole hour of some of our favorite tunes of 2018. Casting the net deep and wide, Banning and Georges spin new records by our old favorites, the freshest cuts from new artists and reissues that have gone unheard for years. If you’re looking for gifts for the African-music lover in your life—even if that’s you!—you’ll find something to love here. From Parisian Afro-trap to Angelique Kidjo’s reimagi

Dec 06,2018 59:00

206. The Best of Afropop Closeup Season 3

We just wrapped up our third season of our podcast series Afropop Closeups, and it may have been the best season yet. Afropop producers traveled from watching reggae artists in chilly Berlin to Thomas Mapfumo’s triumphant return concert in Harare, Zimbabwe. They witnessed how digital technology is changing carnival in Haiti and how--for centuries--the cutting edge in long-distance communication was Asante drumming in what is now Ghana.For this week’s program, we picked three shows from season 3

Nov 29,2018 59:00

207. Sounds Like Brooklyn

712 Sounds Like BrooklynAt Afropop, we have gone far and wide, from Brazil to England to Madagascar to Egypt, tracking down incredible music to bring back home to our headquarters in Brooklyn. For this program, "Sounds Like Brooklyn," we stay closer to home, tracing a hidden music economy of CD vendors in bodegas, copy shops and food markets around the five New York boroughs. Accompanying us on our travels is poet and "Bodega Pop" WFMU radio host Gary Sullivan. Along the way, we check out a Cari

Nov 08,2018 59:00

208. Shake It Fo Ya Hood New Orleans Bounce

New Orleans, Louisiana is home to some of America's greatest musical traditions, and plays an outsized influence on the evolution of everything from jazz through to r&b, rock and funk. Today, the city is still legendary for its second line brass bands and brightly costumed Mardi Gras Indians. But if you've rolled through New Orleans on pretty much any night in the last 30 years, you've probably heard another sound—the clattering, booming, hip-shaking, chant-heavy roll of bounce, a form of hip-ho

Nov 01,2018 59:00

209. Afropop Worldwide - The Origin Story

As Afropop Worldwide marks the week of its 30th anniversary on the public airwaves, we take a look at the story that led up to the program’s creation. We hear excerpts from the podcast A Show of Hearts profiling the program’s founders Sean Barlow and Banning Eyre. And host Georges Collinet recalls his audition for the job that has shaped three decades of his storied life. And of course, we will hear highlights from the music that has made Afropop Worldwide one of the longest running music progra

Oct 25,2018 59:00

210. Remembering Fela

Fela Anikulapo-Kuti would be 79 years old this month, had he not died from complications of AIDS in 1997. By the time of his death, Fela was the inventor of the enduring and influential Afrobeat music style, the composer of an enormous body of music, and one of the bravest political voices in 20th century African music. It is fair to say that no African musician before or since has sacrificed more for the principles he believed in. Nigerian history and music have barreled forth during the two de

Oct 11,2018 59:00

211. Gael Faye & the New Generation of Afropean Artists

Gael Faye is a musician and best-selling author, born in Burundi and living in France. In this podcast, Elodie Maillot introduces Faye’s music and breakthrough book Petit Pays (Small Country). Faye speaks about his precarious life as an exile, and about the growing community of Afropean artists in France. Faye now spends a lot of time in Rwanda, and reports on the growing impact of diaspora artists like himself, Congolese rapper Baloji and the Belgian-Rwandan singer Stromae and others are having

Oct 09,2018 21:26

212. Africa in Matanzas El Almacén is Walking

Matanzas, Cuba has long been regarded as the source (la fuente) of many rich Afro-Cuban folkloric traditions. These ceremonial and secular Afro-Cuban musics are, for the most part, alive and well, and being documented for the first time by Matanceros themselves, rather than exclusively by Havana-based or non-Cuban imprints. The Matanzas record label and artist collective, Sendero Music/El Almacén, faces several challenges: oversight from the state, limited access to resources, curating which gro

Sep 28,2018 59:00

213. Randy Weston: Jazz Life with the African Ancestors

Jazz legend, Randy Weston left us on September 1, 2018. He more than any contemporary jazz artist understood, honored and explored the roots of American music in Africa. He lived there, traveled there often, and spoke of his connections to his African ancestors in every interview during his 92 years. In this program, we revisit our musical conversation with Weston in 1998, and sample some of his late solo piano recordings. [APWW #789]

Sep 27,2018 59:00

214. Music and History in the Two Sudans

In 2008, before Sudan became two separate countries, Afropop explored the country’s troubled history through music. After all, Sudan was once a musical powerhouse in East Africa, producing richly swinging orchestral pop. In recent years, much has changed. Sudan is now two countries, still troubled, but still inheritors of great musical traditions. In this program we revisit and update Sudan’s musical history, including recently released gems from a remarkable musical past, and new sounds from th

Sep 20,2018 59:00

215. Kidnapped! Ambassador Osayomore Joseph

Ambassador Osayomore Joseph is a living legend of Edo highlife music, well known and respected in Benin City for a long career of creative music and activism, so his kidnapping in October 2017 was particularly shocking to his fans. Producer Morgan Greenstreet brings us the story of Osayomore's ordeal, in the Ambassador's own words.

Sep 18,2018 15:08

216. Hip Deep in Northern Nigeria

Kano State in northwest Nigeria is a land of paradox. The ancient home of the Hausa people, it has ties back to the oldest civilizations in West Africa. Muslim since around the 12th century, the region remained largely self-administered during the era of British colonialism, and never significantly adapted Christianity or Western culture and values as in other parts of Nigeria. In 2000, Kano instituted Shariah law. But by that time, the city of Kano was also the center of a large and active film

Sep 13,2018 59:00

217. Hip Deep in the Niger Delta

The massive Niger River Delta is a fantastically rich cultural region and ecosystem. Unfortunately, it has been laid low by the brutal Biafran War (1967-70) and by decades of destructive and mismanaged oil exploration. This program offers a portrait of the region in two stories. First, we chronicle the Biafran War through the timeless highlife music of Cardinal Rex Jim Lawson, perhaps the most popular musician in Nigeria at the time. Then we spend time with contemporary musical activists in Port

Sep 06,2018 59:00

218. More African Guitars

The guitar music of Africa is eternal! Despite the rise of Afrobeats, Afro-house, hip-hop and techno, the continent still turns out inventive and thrilling string pickers. This music-rich program features shredding desert-rock axemen and filigree griot guitarists from Niger and Mali, as well as new sounds from the Congo, Zimbabwe and Madagascar. We’ll also travel to rural Botswana to meet itinerant guitarists who have gained a worldwide following through eye- and ear-popping YouTube videos. Some

Aug 23,2018 59:00

219. The Festival in Fes, Revisited

This spring, Afropop returned to Fes, Morocco, for the 23rd annual World Sacred Music Festival, a sumptuous spread of music from across the globe that blurs the boundaries of what is sacred. Interwoven with Morocco’s ornate history and fertile fabric of daily life is a mosaic of many musics: Gnawa, Arabic pop, Amazigh ahwach, classical Andalusian, Issaoua, raï, rap, chaabi, jazz, metal and so much more. At the World Sacred Music Festival, we heard many of these sounds, as well as those of intern

Aug 16,2018 59:00

220. Skippy White: A Vinyl Life

Vinyl is back! But there’s a difference between the world of glossy reissues and the format’s golden age. Skippy White’s record store in Boston has been selling records since 1961, and he’s seen it all—er, heard it all, maybe. Brian Coleman and Noah Schaffer produced this check in with a music lifer.

Aug 14,2018 22:03

221. Brazil at the Crossroads

Brazil has seen its ups and downs since it became an independent empire in 1822: strongman leaders, military rule, populist democracy and more. In 2018, a politically weary nation faces a stark electoral choice between radically different futures. But whatever was happening in the halls of power, Brazil has always produced powerful, beautiful and ecstatic music, and always known how to party. On Afropop’s 2018 return trip to Brazil, We take a deep dive into the music and evolution of Carnaval in

Aug 09,2018 59:00

222. Cuban Counterpoint of Tobacco and Sugar

Borrowing the title from Cuban polymath Fernando Ortiz, producer Ned Sublette takes a group of travelers, including you, to multiple sites in western Cuba to analyze the musical impact of what Ortiz called the "Cuban counterpoint" of tobacco and sugar. We'll hear endangered species of drums in mountain farms and sugar towns, drilling down into the deep culture of the Afro-Cuban world. We'll hear sacred drumming as handed down from Kongo sources, from Yorubaland, from Dahomey, and more, in sites

Aug 02,2018 59:00

223. Nha Mundo - The Sound of Cova da Moura

On a hill in the northern suburbs of Lisbon, Portugal sits the neighborhood of Cova da Moura. Only a highway and a forest park separates it from the city center, but it could be an ocean away. Built in the 1970s by immigrants from former Portuguese colonies in Africa (namely Cape Verde and Angola) Kova M, as locals call it, is a community brimming with life. Cape Verdean Kriolu, not Portuguese, is the lingua franca, and funana, Kriolu rap and afro-house dominate the streets. We take a walk throu

Jul 31,2018 25:30

224. Women of the West

In West Africa, women are on the cutting edge of musical and cultural progress. This program looks at four singer/composers with roots in tradition and unique ideas about how to keep them current in the fast-changing milieu of today’s African music. Mali’s Fatoumata Diawara keeps her focus on messages, mixing traditional sounds and rock idioms to reach young audiences. Senegal’s Aida Samb is finding new avenues for that country’s trademark mbalax sound, including collaborations with Afrobeats st

Jul 26,2018 59:00

225. Cuts From The Crypt II - Banning's Picks

As work continues on the vast Afropop archive, producer Banning Eyre takes a deep dive and comes up with some gems. On the vinyl front, the focus is on South African and Zimbabwe, where the Afropop team collected a good deal of rare vinyl in the 1980s. Then Banning samples some his favorite field recordings from Zanzibar to Mali. In the age of YouTube, Pandora and Spotify, you might have the impression that all the music ever recorded is there at your finger tips. Here's proof that's not so. You

Jul 12,2018 59:00

226. A Remembrance of Leo Sarkisian

For some 50 years, Leo Sarkisian was a worldwide staple on the overseas radio broadcast of Voice of America. A talented musician, raised in the Armenian community around Boston, Leo began traveling the world with his Nagra tape recorder and microphones for Tempo International, a Hollywood record label. His intrepid work in remote corners of Afghanistan and in newly independent Ghana and Guinea won him the attention of Edward R. Murrow, then at VOA. So began Leo’s epic career as a documenter, arc

Jul 05,2018 59:00

227. Reggae Takes Root in Germany

Reggae’s rock steady beats have long been admired by international audiences. Beyond the established markets of the U.K. and the U.S., reggae’s newest innovators are springing forth from surprising new territories. In Germany, homegrown musicians are developing their own signature styles of the music and the German reggae artist Uwe Banton was one of the musicians who helped to kickstart this movement. Ann-Marie Weaver reports on the evolution of reggae in Germany and explores how German reggae

Jul 03,2018 22:52

228. Quelbe - From The Island Of St Croix

#782Uplink:6/28/2018On a visit to the U.S. Virgin Islands in winter 2018, we took the pulse of the national music of St. Croix – quelbe. Rarely recorded, rarely exported, quelbe is an energetic form, led by sax or flute with percussion and banjo, and it fuels the traditional dance style, quadrille. St Croix is the largest of the U.S. Virgin Islands, and sits alone 42 miles south of St. Thomas and St. John. That’s part of why traditional music and dance forms have remained strong on St. Croix. Me

Jun 28,2018 59:00

229. Zimbabwe After Mugabe

A lot has happened since Afropop last visited Zimbabwe. The 37-year regime of Robert Mugabe has ended, and Thomas Mapfumo, the Lion of Zimbabwe, has staged a triumphant return concert after a 14-year absence. Meanwhile, the country’s youth now moves to the groove of Zim-Dancehall from the likes of reigning star Winky D, and roots gospel from Jah Prayzah. On this program, we catch up with all these new sounds, hear the latest from Oliver Mtukudzi, and meet one of the most creative singer/songwrit

Jun 21,2018 59:00

230. Thomas Mapfumo: The Enigma of Return

Singer and bandleader Thomas Mapfumo is an icon in his home country, Zimbabwe. But he last performed there in 2004. He moved his family into exile in Oregon to escape the turmoil, scarcity and harassment they faced in the late years of President Robert Mugabe’s regime. But in April , 2018, with Mugabe out of power since November, Mapfumo returned to Harare to perform an all-night stadium concert for an estimated 20,000 people. Banning Eyre, author of Lion Songs, Thomas Mapfumo and the Music that

Jun 19,2018 23:02

231. African Music at the Crossroads

Afropop producer Banning Eyre takes us on a surprise-filled tour of his 30-some years of covering African music. Through conversations with Georges Collinet and producer/agent/DJ Rab Bakari, the program reflects on how the world, the music, the culture and the media have changed and keep on changing throughout Africa and the diaspora. Along the way we hear some of the tunes that have most inspired Banning and Georges, sample the latest Afrobeats and Naija pop, and speculate on where African musi

Jun 07,2018 59:00

232. Carnival Goes Digital

Afropop Closeup Season 3 - Episode 2Produced by Ian Coss

Jun 05,2018 11:13

233. All That Brass

DO YOU LOVE BRASS? WELL, WE HAVE A SHOW FOR YOU… GANGBE BRASS BAND, REBIRTH BRASS BAND, FELA, FRANCO AND T.P.O.K. JAZZ. JOIN GEORGES COLLINET FOR “ALL THAT BRASS” - PART OF AFROPOP’S CELEBRATION OF OUR 30TH ANNIVERSARY![APWW #780]

May 31,2018 59:00

234. Cape Verde Sounds Heard And Unheard

Show#779Producers: Banning Eyre and Sebastian BouknightAirdate: May 24th 2018In this program we meet Fatou Diakite, descended from a Malian family, but raised in Cape Verde and Guinea Bissau, and a master of styles from morna to Gumbe. We also meet Lucibela, now based in Lisbon, and one of the most talked about Cape Verdean singers today. We also hear new work from Nancy Viera, Jenifer Solidade and Elida Almeida. We’ll also catch up with a few male artists, and visit instrument builder and virtu

May 24,2018 59:00

235. Tobago's #MeToo Trailblazer: Calypso Rose

For six decades Calypso Rose has been one of the Caribbean’s leading feminists and human rights advocates. Now, at the age of 78, she's touring the world with songs about sexual assault, workplace discrimination, and some thoughts on Donald Trump. In this report, Afropop correspondent Dan Rosenberg talks with Calypso Rose about using music as a weapon for social change, and how Rose collaborated with fashion designer Anya Ayoung Chee to transform "Leave Me Alone" into a political movement. We w

May 22,2018 20:39

236. Afropop Divas - Live

In honor of Afropop's 30th anniversary on public radio, we are proud to present "Afropop Divas - Live." These are artists of extraordinary artistic talent and larger than life personalities - recorded by Afropop Worldwide. Featured artists include Oumou Sangare from Mali, Cesaria Evora from Cabo Verde, Uum Kulthum from Egypt, and Marie Daulne born in Congo. Produced by Sean Barlow.[APWW #778]

May 17,2018 59:00

237. Lagos and the Rise of Nigerian Afrobeats

Lagos and the Rise of Nigerian AfrobeatsHeavy, percussive club beats with irresistible hooks and street-wise raps in Yoruba, Igbo or pidgin English—Nigerian pop music, increasingly known by the much-debated term Afrobeats, is the sound that moves Lagos and the sound of Lagos that moves the world. But it wasn’t always this way! Starting in the early 1990s, a new musical movement was born in Nigeria. Ten years into a series of military dictatorships that almost completely destroyed the Nigerian mu

May 10,2018 01:07:42

238. Lagos Roots: Fuji, Juju and Apala

Beneath the gloss of Nigeria’s contemporary pop, older roots styles, mostly derived from Yoruba tradition, still thrive. In this program, we meet four top stars of fuji music, the percussion-driven, message-heavy, and occasionally profane trance music that animates weddings and parties on a daily basis in hidden corners of Lagos. Rival “kings” K1 da Ultimate and Saheed Osupa, and a rare woman of fuji, Salawa Abeni, take us inside the rough and tumble of an exciting musical subculture little know

May 03,2018 59:00

239. Congolese Music - The Fifth Generation

In the early 2000s, Afropop told the story of “Four Generations” in Congolese music—from rumba and rumba-rock to soukous and ndombolo. Now time has marched on, and once again, thrilling new sounds are emerging from Kinshasa and its global diaspora. We’ll hear hyperkinetic roots-rock from Jupiter and Okwess, Fally Ipupa’s embrace of the current Afrobeats trend, experimental innovations from Pierre Kwenders in Montreal, and more. We’ll also speak with Congolese music connoisseur Lubangi Muniania f

Apr 26,2018 59:00

240. Cooking with Georges Revisited

One of the glories of Afropop’s 30-year run has been joining our host Georges Collinet in the kitchen as he creates delicious concoctions, while grooving to his favorite tunes. This episode looks back on two classic “Cooking with Georges” episodes: Yassa Chicken from Senegal, and Yoruba soul food with guest chef Baba John Mason—all accompanied music to make you move, from wherever George’s insatiable culinary curiosity takes him. Get your apron and your dancing shoes ready!Produced by Banning Ey

Apr 19,2018 59:00

241. Barbados at 50: From Soca to Spouge

Barbados recently celebrated its 50th anniversary of independence. We look into the rise and mysterious fall of the funky Bajan spouge beat which ruled the island in the ’70s, and discover a few underground musicians who are trying to keep it alive. Calypsonians Mighty Grynner and Red Plastic Bag detail their contributions to the lyrically potent kaiso scene. Soca stars Alison Hinds and Edwin Yearwood talk about the pros and cons of the island's competition circuit, and we learn about the hot ne

Apr 12,2018 59:00

242. Crabs with Brains

Crabs with BrainsIn the early 1990s, mangueboys and manguegirls stimulated fertility in the veins of Recife, Brazil. They were interested in hip-hop, the collapse of modernity, chaos and marine predator attacks (mainly sharks). Armed with boundless creativity, they turned one of the world’s most poverty-stricken cities into one of Brazil’s greatest centers of culture. Mangue artists mixed hip-hop, Jamaican raggamuffin and punk rock with traditions from Brazil’s northeast like maracatu and embola

Apr 05,2018 59:00

243. Roots and Future: A History of UK Dance

Look around today’s musical mainstream, and you’ll quickly realize that dance styles are everywhere, filling stadiums, topping charts, and gathering tens of thousands in festivals around the country. Yet few know their full history. Building on prior Hip Deep explorations of the origins of house and techno in the American Midwest, “Roots and Future” explores how a community of (primarily) black British musicians, fans, DJs and radio pirates recreated dance music in the United Kingdom during the

Mar 15,2018 59:00

244. Plenty Bacchanal: Carnival in Flux

Trinidadians call their annual Carnival festivities "the greatest show on earth" and with good reason. The Carnival season is overflowing with art and music: steelpan, calypso, soca and extravagant masquerade costumes. On this Afropop program, we take a look at how the Carnival arts are kept alive in today's Trinidad, in an untidy, evolving cultural, economic and political landscape at home and abroad. Open your ears to some life-giving music and conversations about Trinidad and its brilliant b

Mar 08,2018 59:00

245. Highlights From Afropop Closeup: Season Two

Since the launch of the second Afropop Closeup season in the summer of 2017, we’ve taken you through the stories of producers, lovers, activists, poets and musicians from Africa and the diaspora finding their respective ways in the world and connecting through music. Since this series is only available online, we are bringing you highlights of some of the most captivating stories in this season. You will hear the voices of our regular Afropop producers and some newcomers narrating these stories

Feb 22,2018 59:00

246. Africa and the Blues

When this episode first aired, the recent death of Malian guitar legend Ali Farka Touré inspired a new round of speculation about the roots of the blues in Africa. Touré famously argued that the beloved American genre was "nothing but African", a bold assertion. Among scholars, Gerhard Kubik's book Africa and the Blues has gained recognition as the most serious and penetrating examination of the subject. This program in our Hip Deep series will be produced in collaboration with Kubik, allowing a

Feb 15,2018 59:00

247. With Feet in Many Worlds

As the 21st century rolls on, more and more of the musical artists who are making a difference cannot be pinned down to any one national identity. Migration, inter-marriage, and the hurly burly of our globalized planet are creating a new and growing generations change-makers with hyphenated identities. In this program we hear from Ayo (Nigerian-Roma-German), Meklit Hadero (Ethiopian-American), Weedie Braimah (Ghanaian-American), La Dame Blanche (Cuban-French), Pascal Danai of the band Delgres (G

Feb 08,2018 59:00

248. What's in a Nigerian Name?

Musicians everywhere adapt stage names. They can be profound, grandiose or simply humorous, but they always represent a way of distinguishing the artist from the person. In Nigeria, there’s something special going on with stage names. For one thing, they are nearly universal. They can also change over the course of an artist’s career. And they reflect the realities of Nigeria’s complex history, under British colonialism, military rule and the recent democratic period. Stage names riff on the dom

Feb 06,2018 25:54

249. Reimagining Jazz in Africa: Cape Town Cosmopolitans and Beyond

In recognition of the recent death of South African maestro Hugh Masekela, we revisit a program that touches on one of his earliest musical landmarks, The Jazz Epistles. It’s no secret that the distant roots of American jazz lay in Africa. But how did Afro-America’s revolutionary sound reshape African music? On this Hip Deep edition, we examine how African artists found a modern, global voice using jazz as inspiration. Author Carol Muller tells the story of Abdullah Ibrahim, whose prolific caree

Feb 01,2018 59:00

250. Afropop at 30: Live in the '90s

As we begin our year of celebrating Afropop Worldwide's 30th anniversary on the air, we take a special look back at some highlights of our long run on public radio. We return to our past visits to South Africa, Congo, Senegal, Mali, Cuba, and check in with the hippest hip-hop artists we caught performing at Nuits d'Afrique and Mawazine. Produced by Sean Barlow and Banning Eyre.Follow Afropop Worldwide on Facebook at www.facebook.com/afropop, on Instagram @afropopworldwide and on Twitter @afropop

Jan 25,2018 59:00

251. The Voice of Protest: Betsayda Machado Sings Against Hunger in Venezuela

The songs of Betsayda Machado, the leading voice of Afro-Venezuelan music, address many of the most painful topics of daily life of her country: hunger, poverty, shortages of basic medicine, and deadly street riots – stemming from the current economic and political crisis in Venezuela. They talk about its consequences on a gut level: empty store shelves, and the devastation of parents unable to feed their children. Some in Venezuela who have spoken out have faced retribution, but that hasn’t det

Jan 23,2018 23:50

252. “For My Ayeeyo:” Learning Somali Poetry From a Distance

Amal Hussein and Hamdi Mohamed have a lot in common. Both were born in Kenya, where their parents fled as refugees during the Somali Civil War, and both came to Boston when they were just a few years old. They’re both poets — and equally important for this story — both their grandmothers are poets. But there’s one crucial difference in the two women's stories. Hamdi grew up with her grandmother ("ayeeyo" in Somali") in the house, whispering poems in her ears. Amal has only known her grandmother

Jan 12,2018 24:00

253. Hip Deep in Mali: Growing Into Music in 21st Century Bamako

This program presents a musical portrait of Bamako in the wake of crisis. In 2012-13, Islamists occupied the north and a coup d’etat threatened a recent history of functioning democracy. With borders restored and a new elected government in place, we find musical life returning with festivals, nightclub shows and street weddings. But that picture hides darker realities. Ethnomusicologist Lucy Durán has been studying the oral transmission of music in various countries, notably among griot familie

Jan 11,2018 59:00

254. Ghana: Celebration Sounds

In hard times and boom times, people in Ghana know how to party. In this program, we hear the regional pop and neotraditional music that animates festivals, funerals and community celebrations across the county. We travel to the lush Volta region in the east to hear Ewe borborbor, agbadza and brass band music. In the northern city of Tamale, we hear Dagbani traditional music, hip-hop and pop, and visit the vibrant Damba chieftaincy festival in nearby Yendi. Back in the bustling metropolis, Accra

Dec 28,2017 59:00

255. Underground

Underneath the streets of New York City, in the tunnels and stations of the busiest subway system in the country, there is a thriving music scene. Amidst the noise of passing trains, we meet Papa Fara, a Cameroonian xylophonist and singer, who plays for tips and captures the love of strangers and makes friends with his quick, warm smile. But, behind the smile and beautiful melodies, something is troubling Papa Fara. There’s a reason he’d rather be underground. Produced by Morgan Greenstreet.Foll

Dec 26,2017 16:05

256. The (New) Sound Of Afro Paris

Paris has been a thriving capital for African music for decades. Since the 1980s, many major musicians such as Mory Kanté, Khaled and Amadou and Mariam launched their international careers there. Today, as migration patterns evolve, borders tighten and the world becomes increasingly connected via the Internet, Paris remains more than ever a city of encounters and innovations for artists of African origin. With new generations experimenting and new audiences emerging, the term “world music” has l

Dec 21,2017 59:00

257. Thomas Mapfumo 2: The Mugabe Years

In recognition of the end of Robert Mugabe's 37-year rule in Zimbabwe, we are rebroadcasting our program on the career of Thomas Mapfumo during the Mugabe years.Part two of the story of Zimbabwe’s most consequential singer and bandleader picks up at the dawn of the country’s independence in 1980. The program focuses on key songs from Thomas Mapfumo’s vast post-independence catalogue, beginning with his celebration of victory, and his warnings about “dissidents” out to destabilize a young nation

Dec 14,2017 59:00

258. Biafra at 50: A Wound That Does Not Heal

During the 2016 U.S. presidential election, some foreign observers were puzzled by groups of Nigerians who showed support for Donald Trump’s campaign. The most prominent supporters were the IPOB (Indigenous People of Biafra), a controversial, fervently Christian, mostly Igbo, nationalist organization that is still fighting for independence from Nigeria. On Jan. 20, 2017 a rally in Port Harcourt celebrating the inauguration of Donald Trump turned violent, and a number of people were shot dead by

Dec 12,2017 31:22

259. Stocking Stuffers 2017

It's time once again for Georges Collinet and Banning Eyre to spin through our favorite African and African diaspora releases of the year. 2017 has been a knockout, with spectacular new albums, including a collaboration between Mali's Trio da Kali and Kronos Quartet (Ladilikan), the debut of Madagascar's super trio Toko Telo (Toy Raha Toy), Oumou Sangare's comeback (Mogoya), a killer live set of Garifuna pop from Aurelio (Darandi) and the long-awaited second album from Zimbabwe's hottest young b

Dec 07,2017 59:00

260. Cuts from the Crypt III

Back in the day, host Georges Collinet and producer Sean Barlow (A.K.A. Prince Segue Segue) dragged stacks of vinyl all over the country to deejay for station-produced Afropop Dance Parties. We'll dig into the past to retrieve some of our favorite gems from the Congo, Zimbabwe, Colombia, Brazil and Cote d'Ivoire. Produced by Sean Barlow.Follow Afropop Worldwide on Facebook at www.facebook.com/afropop, on Instagram @afropopworldwide and on Twitter @afropopww.Subscribe to the Afropop Worldwide new

Nov 30,2017 59:00

261. Kizito Mihigo and the Politics of Music in Post-Genocide Rwanda

Kizito Mihigo is one of Rwanda’s most beloved singers, yet he is currently imprisoned, serving a 10-year sentence for treason. In 2014, Mihigo released a song which criticized the wartime actions of Rwanda’s governing political party. The song went viral, sparking a nationwide dialogue around the genocide, and weeks later, Mihigo was arrested on charges of conspiracy to assassinate the president of Rwanda, Paul Kagame. Is Mihigo truly guilty of conspiracy, or only of speaking (and singing) truth

Nov 28,2017 19:57

262. A Brief History of Funk

Funk is a perennial favorite. In this panoramic history of the grooviest of genres, we hear track after track of absolute boogie-down classics. Everything from Sly and the Family Stone to James Brown, with a few stops to hear legends like the Meters, Kool and the Gang, and Parliament. We’ll also hear the great Bobby Byrd explain the rhythmic motor behind the JB’s, and Georges Clinton talk about the roots of his funk. Produced by Ned Sublette.Follow Afropop Worldwide on Facebook at www.facebook.c

Nov 23,2017 59:00

263. Night at the Clash

Sound clashes have been a mainstay of reggae culture for decades. Mobile sound system teams face off to see who can best move the crowd with their selections of records and exclusive "dub plate" jingles. On a recent late night in Queens, seven sounds competed for the U.S. champion title, and many were surprised by the winner. We meet the sound-system operators and talk to fans about why they love the clash scene. About the producer:Noah Schaffer is an award-winning music journalist based in Bost

Nov 15,2017 24:32

264. Hip Deep Angola Part 2: Kuduro and Beyond

Join producer Ned Sublette on the streets of Angola’s big, smoggy, oil-booming capital city of Luanda. Peace came to Angola in 2002 after 42 years of war, and now everything is different, with construction under way everywhere. The post-war generation of the last 10 years communicates via text messaging and electronic music: The biggest of which is the techno-meets-rap-meets-African-dance style known as kuduro (literally, “hard-ass”). But there’s also the zouk-like couple dance of kizomba, a phe

Nov 09,2017 59:00

265. Hip Deep Angola part 1: Music and Nation in Luanda

We explore the role music played in the creation of a uniquely Angolan consciousness as the country struggled toward independence in the 1960s and ‘70s after centuries of colonialism. Our guides will be producer Ned Sublette, on the ground in Angola, and Dr. Marissa Moorman, historian of southern Africa, and author of Intonations: A Social History of Music in Luanda, Angola from 1945 to Recent Times. We’ll hear the pathbreaking group Ngola Ritmos, who dared sing songs in Kimbundu publicly when i

Nov 02,2017 59:00

266. Shackled Love: LGBT Asylum Seekers in the U.K.

Sibo Dube and Maureen Nabisere met inside the U.K.’s most notorious immigrant detention centre, Yarl’s Wood. In the midst of captivity and uncertainty, the two women bonded in the detention center choir group; they had come to the U.K. seeking liberation from the emotional imprisonment they had faced in Zimbabwe and Uganda respectively, where their sexuality is illegal. Their relationship would be their emotional salvation, and potentially, their ticket to freedom in the U.K., which places a hea

Oct 31,2017 21:57

267. Lagos and the Rise of Nigerian Afrobeats

Heavy, percussive club beats with irresistible hooks and street-wise raps in Yoruba, Igbo or pidgin English—Nigerian pop music, increasingly known by the much-debated term Afrobeats, is the sound that moves Lagos and the sound of Lagos that moves the world. But it wasn’t always this way! Starting in the early 1990s, a new musical movement was born in Nigeria. Ten years into a series of military dictatorships that almost completely destroyed the Nigerian music industry, artists including Junior &

Oct 26,2017 01:07:42

268. Riqueza del Barrio: Puerto Rican Music in the United States

For almost a month, the fate of Puerto Rico and its inhabitants has remained unknown due to the devastating effects of Hurricane Maria during the unusually active hurricane season of 2017. There are still many people on the island living without electricity or potable water and in desperate need of assistance. This week we are airing a special Hip Deep encore presentation of “Riqueza del Barrio: Puerto Rican Music in the United States” produced by Ned Sublette to help raise awareness and celebra

Oct 19,2017 59:00

269. Black, Greek and Proud: Negros Tou Moria

As Europe closes Greece’s borders in an attempt to stem the seemingly never-ending flow of refugees, immigrant artists are finding it tough to survive in an increasingly xenophobic environment. Ghanaian-Greek rapper Negros Tou Moria is carving out new territory and challenging stereotypes with rap music that is deeply rooted in Greek language and culture. Produced by Heidi Fuller-love. About the producer:Heidi Fuller-love is an award-winning freelance travel writer and radio producer based in Sp

Oct 17,2017 17:39

270. Remembering Fela

Fela Anikulapo-Kuti would be 79 years old this month, had he not died from complications of AIDS in 1997. By the time of his death, Fela was the inventor of the enduring and influential Afrobeat music style, the composer of an enormous body of music, and one of the bravest political voices in 20th century African music. It is fair to say that no African musician before or since has sacrificed more for the principles he believed in. Nigerian history and music have barreled forth during the two de

Oct 12,2017 59:00

271. Accounting for Taste: Dire Straits, Jim Reeves and Death Metal in Africa

When we talk about the influence of American performers on African music, we usually think about a few obvious examples, legends like Michael Jackson, Jimi Hendrix or James Brown. In this episode, we go beyond these stars to explore the legacy of some lesser-known inspirations. We’ll learn how the fluid guitar playing of ’70s rock band Dire Straits became massively popular in the Sahel, influencing Tuareg rockers like Tinariwen and Tamikrest. We’ll hear about the American country superstar Jim R

Oct 05,2017 59:00

272. Afro-Symphonic Folk: From the Coasts of Africa to the San Francisco Bay

The San Francisco Bay Area is a unique cultural space that has given birth to some of the most iconic countercultural American music. It is a place where identities can be fluid and hyphenated, where new voices emerge to speak to their times. Two very different Bay Area artists, Meklit Hadero and Zena Carlota, use their music to explore what it means to live on two sides of a hyphen: African-American, black-artist, Ethiopian-American, female-musician, to name a few. Produced by Lisa BartfaiAbout

Oct 03,2017 17:35

273. Lagos Roots: Fuji, Juju and Apala

Beneath the gloss of Nigeria’s contemporary pop, older roots styles, mostly derived from Yoruba tradition, still thrive. In this program, we meet four top stars of fuji music, the percussion-driven, message-heavy, and occasionally profane trance music that animates weddings and parties on a daily basis in hidden corners of Lagos. Rival “kings” K1 da Ultimate and Saheed Osupa, and a rare woman of fuji, Salawa Abeni, take us inside the rough and tumble of an exciting musical subculture little know

Sep 28,2017 59:00

274. San Francisco: Afropop by the Bay

It turns out that the first American city to host a roster of local African bands was not New York, Miami or Chicago, but the San Francisco Bay Area of northern California. Hugh Masekela brought Hedzoleh Soundz from Ghana, and they settled in Santa Cruz. Nigerian maestros O.J. Ekemode and Joni Haastrup lived in Oakland in the 1970s. South African musicians from the touring stage show Ipitombi also settled in the Bay Area and started the band Zulu Spear. By the early ‘80s, the Bay Area “worldbeat

Sep 21,2017 59:00

275. Rushin’ to Bacchanal: When Caribbean Festivals Collide

Junkanoo, an annual communal parade held in the Bahamas, is a labor of love for the Bahamian people that dates back centuries. The parade, which has Akan cultural roots, emerged in the time of slavery, but it has since moved from the margins to the very center of society, becoming the bedrock of national culture. When the government wanted to invest millions into the development of a major cultural festival designed to attract tourists, Junkanoo seemed like the obvious choice. In this podcast, w

Sep 19,2017 20:23

276. Fania Records at 50

New York City is home to the earthshaking Latin dance music known as salsa. From the mid-1960s through the 1980s, Fania Records released many of the landmark albums of the era, creating a salsa boom that reverberated around the world. In 2014, Fania celebrated 50 years in the business; and to celebrate, we dug into the label’s history. We’ll hear from some of the principal players, including Aurora Flores, Nicky Marrero and Larry “El Judio Maravilloso” Harlow, and tell a few Afropop-centric stor

Sep 14,2017 59:00

277. Podcast Special: Closeup #1

To celebrate the launch of the second season of the Afropop Closeup podcast, this special radio program features some of the stories from the inaugural season. We’ll hear about the plight of Haitian radio stations in New York; the story of Mabiisi, a unique transnational collaboration be-tween a Burkinabe rapper and a Ghanaian roots musician; and the surprising popular resurgence of U.K. grime music. Subscribe to our podcast and follow the second season of the Afropop Closeup podcast to hear int

Sep 07,2017 59:00

278. Haiti's Fight for Copyright

Life in the music business has its ups and downs—especially in Haiti—and Serge Turnier (A.K.A. Powersurge) has lived both extremes. As a producer he makes his living from recorded music, not from concerts, and so many of those ups and downs have revolved around the question of copyright: a legal system for controlling who can copy, record and perform a piece of music. The concept can seem abstract, but in Ternier’s story it makes all the difference as he decides whether to give up on the Haitian

Sep 05,2017 33:13

279. Shake It Fo Ya Hood: Bounce, New Orleans Hip-Hop

*Music in this show contains some explicit language*New Orleans, Louisiana is home to some of America's greatest musical traditions, and plays an outsized influence on the evolution of everything from jazz through to r&b, rock and funk. Today, the city is still legendary for its second line brass bands and brightly costumed Mardi Gras Indians. But if you've rolled through New Orleans on pretty much any night in the last 30 years, you've probably heard another sound—the clattering, booming, hip-s

Aug 31,2017 59:00

280. An Island, Divided

The island of Hispaniola, located in the western Caribbean, is divided in two by an invisible line that snakes down its central mountain range. On one side is Haiti, the other the Dominican Republic: one colonized by the French, the other by Spain. The island was the first place in the Americas colonized by Europeans, and was the place where trans-Atlantic slavery was first implemented. It was also home to the first--and only--successful slave revolt when Haiti rebelled against France in 1791. Y

Aug 24,2017 59:00

281. Sahel Sounds: Modern Music from Mali

Working closely with Christopher Kirkley, the writer and recordist behind the Sahel Sounds blog and label, we will meet the newest generation of musicians from Mali. With their possibilities transformed by technology and their musical tastes reshaped by an exposure to sounds drawn from across the world, these young musicians are radically rethinking centuries-old traditions. Get ready for the fast-paced guitar bands of the north; the MP3 markets in which digital music passes from cellphone to ce

Aug 17,2017 59:00

282. Afro-Dominicana: The Other Dominican Republic

In the 1930s, infamous Dominican dictator Rafael Truillo ordered the burning of the country’s palos drums, hoping to erase the powerful vestiges of African culture in the Dominican Republic. Luckily for us, the breakneck, trance-inducing sound of palos still reverberates at Afro-syncretic religious parties across the Caribbean nation almost a century later. This week, Afropop revisits the home of styles such as merengue and bachata, but this time we’ll be looking towards the most deeply African

Aug 10,2017 59:00

283. Off the Beaten Track: Burkina Faso, Malawi, and Beyond

This program ventures into corners of Africa we rarely hear from, guided by adventurous field recordists and crate diggers. The Zomba Prison Project is a set of recordings by inmates at a maximum security prison in Malawi, currently the poorest nation on earth. The project’s debut CD was nominated for a Grammy Award. Here, we speak with the producer, Ian Brennan, and hear tracks from a new volume of soulful, even heartbreaking, songs from the prison. We then go back to the 1960s and ‘70s in the

Aug 03,2017 59:00

284. The Festival In Fes: World Sacred Music Festival, Revisited

This spring, Afropop returned to Fes, Morocco, for the 23rd annual World Sacred Music Festival, a sumptuous spread of music from across the globe that blurs the boundaries of what is sacred. Interwoven with Morocco’s ornate history and fertile fabric of daily life is a mosaic of many musics: Gnawa, Arabic pop, Amazigh ahwach, classical Andalusian, Issaoua, raï, rap, chaabi, jazz, metal and so much more. At the World Sacred Music Festival, we heard many of these sounds, as well as those of intern

Jul 27,2017 59:00

285. Proving the Bubu Myth: Janka Nabay, War and Witchcraft in Sierra Leone

Every year on Sierra Leone’s Independence Day in late April, musicians and revelers descend upon Freetown from throughout the country. Parades and celebrations traverse the city, joining diverse neighborhoods with processional music, including one particular local style called bubu, a trance-inducing sound played by groups of young men blowing interlocking hocketed breath patterns into bamboo tubes. Bubu resonates with other African diasporic horn traditions, rara and gaga especially. It has lon

Jul 20,2017 59:00

286. Seize the Dance: The BaAka of Central Africa

Louis Sarno, an American original who lived for 30 years among Bayaka Pygmies in the Central African rainforest and recorded their polyphonic music more completely than any audio adventurer or ethnomusicologist could dream of, died where he was born, in New Jersey, on April 1, 2017. In his memory, we bring you this encore Hip Deep program. Read more of Banning Eyre's tribute to Louis Sarno at http://www.afropop.org/37016/remembering-louis-sarno/A new season of Hip Deep kicks off with a remarkabl

Jul 13,2017 59:00

287. Afro-Tech: Stories of Synths in African Music

Technology is one of the great drivers of musical change, and often one of its least understood. In this episode, we explore the synthesizer, looking closely at the history of this ubiquitous (and often debated) piece of musical technology, and investigating how and why it was first used in a variety African musics. Enabled by groundbreaking record reissues by synth pioneers like William Onyeabor (Nigeria) and Hailu Mergia (Ethiopia), disco stars like Kris Okotie, and South African superstar Bre

Jul 06,2017 59:00

288. Ring The Alarm: A History Of Sound System Culture

In Jamaica, sound systems are more than just a stack of speakers blasting the latest tunes to an eager crowd. Over the last 70 years, they have touched all levels of society in Jamaica, determining the island’s popular taste and profoundly influencing the daily lives of its citizenry. This program explores the evolution of sound system culture, from the Jamaican genesis of the 1940s to its gradual impact on diaspora communities, and ultimately, its undeniable influence on the popular culture of

Jun 29,2017 59:00

289. Bugalú

We honor the late Joe Cuba with this encore portrait of "Bugalú," produced for Afropop Worldwide by Ned Sublette. Bugalú is the Spanish spelling of boogaloo, and was also known as “Latin soul.” It hit the scene in 1966 with the original and organic concept of combining black and Puerto Rican music. The dance club crowd went crazy and then the fad quickly faded. But what a ride along the way! Joe Cuba was one of bugalú’s most popular artists, best known for the major hit “Bang Bang” that his band

Jun 22,2017 59:00

290. African Music at the Crossroads

Afropop producer Banning Eyre takes us on a surprise-filled tour of his 30-some years of covering African music. Through conversations with Georges Collinet and producer/agent/DJ Rab Bakari, the program reflects on how the world, the music, the culture and the media have changed and keep on changing throughout Africa and the diaspora. Along the way we hear some of the tunes that have most inspired Banning and Georges, sample the latest Afrobeats and Naija pop, and speculate on where African musi

Jun 15,2017 59:00

291. Cuts From The Crypt, Part II

As work continues on the vast Afropop archive, producer Banning Eyre takes a deep dive and comes up with some gems. On the vinyl front, the focus is on South Africa and Zimbabwe, where the Afropop team collected a good deal of rare vinyl in the 1980s. Then Banning samples some his favorite field recordings from Zanzibar to Mali. In the age of YouTube, Pandora and Spotify, you might have the impression that all the music ever recorded is there at your finger tips. Here's proof that's not so. You'

Jun 08,2017 59:00

292. Hip Deep in Northern Nigeria

[Extended Online Version] Kano State in northwest Nigeria is a land of paradox. The ancient home of the Hausa people, it has ties back to the oldest civilizations in West Africa. Muslim since at least the 12th century, the region remained largely self-administered during the era of British colonialism, and never significantly adapted Christianity or Western culture and values as in other parts of Nigeria. In 1999, Kano instituted Sharia law. But by that time, the city of Kano was also the center

Jun 01,2017 01:04:14

293. Summer 2017 Concert Preview

Summer is always the most active season for African and diaspora touring artists. We’ll clue you in to what we think are the best. So wherever you are, enjoy the fun fun fun free open-air concerts at Central Park SummerStage, Celebrate Brooklyn, Nuits d’Afrique in Montreal, Concert of Colors in Detroit, Grand Performances in L.A. and more. Artists we’re looking forward to seeing perform in New York City this summer include Youssou N’Dour, Toto La Momposina, Seun Kuti and Mulatu Astake. Check th

May 25,2017 59:00

294. "We Are All Creole": The Atlantic Sound of Cape Verde

Cape Verde, land of the the playful coladeira, the entrancing batuque, the high-energy funaná, and of course the sensual morna that Cesaria Évora helped bring to the world. At the intersection of Africa, Europe, and the Americas, Cape Verde's creole identity is reflected in the richness of its musical output, one which continues to uphold traditions while maintaining a youthful energy and demonstrating an open-mindedness fitting for an archipelago whose diaspora outnumbers its inhabitants. In th

May 18,2017 59:00

295. La Bamba: The Afro-Mexican Story

Much has been made of Mexico’s rich Spanish and indigenous heritage, but until recently, there’s been little talk of Mexico’s so-called “third root”: Africa. Africans came to Mexico with the Spanish as soldiers and slaves – so many that by 1810, the black population of Mexico was equal to that of the United States. Today, African heritage persists throughout Mexico, yet for a variety of reasons, black history has long been silenced. In this Hip Deep episode, we use music to explore that history

May 11,2017 59:00

296. Hip Deep in the Niger Delta

The massive Niger River Delta is a fantastically rich cultural region and ecosystem. Unfortunately, it has been laid low by the brutal Biafran War (1967-70) and by decades of destructive and mismanaged oil exploration. This program offers a portrait of the region in two stories. First, we chronicle the Biafran War through the timeless highlife music of Cardinal Rex Jim Lawson, perhaps the most popular musician in Nigeria at the time. Then we spend time with contemporary musical activists in Port

May 04,2017 01:06:31

297. The Live Pop-Up Radio Experience

Live from Brooklyn, it’s Afropop Worldwide! In collaboration with Brooklyn Internet radio station Stewart Avenue, Afropop invited New York-based artists from Africa and the diaspora to our office for a unique live broadcast on Sat., Feb. 11. In case you missed it, we have highlights from the six-hour broadcast which featured interviews with singer and keyboardist Jean Gnonlonfoun of Beninois band Jomion and the Uklos; urban dancer, teacher and choreographer Kim D. Holmes from New York; bandleade

Apr 20,2017 59:00

298. The Ring and the Shout

This Hip Deep episode presents the stunning radio premiere of “Oh, David,” the traditional song of the annual Easter Rock in Winnsboro, Louisiana. The Easter Rock is in fact a surviving ringshout—the oldest known form of African American music—but it’s about 600 miles west of the ringshout’s heartland in Georgia. It’s located across the Mississippi River from Vicksburg in the Louisiana Delta, where they don’t call it a “ringshout,” but a “rock.” And it totally rocks. Producer Ned Sublette attend

Apr 13,2017 59:00

299. A History of Puerto Rican Salsa

The music being made in Puerto Rico before and during the salsa years had its own sabor, even while the salsa boom was exploding out of New York. We talk to three of Puerto Rico’s all-time most important bandleaders: Rafael Ithier, founder of El Gran Combo; Quique Lucca, founder of Sonora Ponceña; and Willie Rosario, and hear key tracks from the island. Produced by Ned Sublette with José Mandry.Follow Afropop Worldwide on Facebook at www.facebook.com/afropop, on Instagram @afropopworldwide and o

Apr 06,2017 59:01

300. Edo Highlife: Culture, Politics and Progressive Traditionalism

Highlife—West Africa’s pioneer popular music of the late colonial and independence periods—has mostly faded from popularity in 21st century Nigeria. However, highlife is alive and well in Edo State, 300 kilometers east of Lagos, and the center of the former Benin Empire. Edo highlife musicians fill the role of traditional musicians by animating community ceremonies such as weddings and funerals, and praising prominent members of the community, in exchange for “financial love.” This traditionalis

Mar 30,2017 59:00

301. A Visit to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

In our visit to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, we go beyond the handful of artists who have achieved international careers and dive into the local scene. We visit azmaribets, down-home music clubs featuring vivacious women artists and their ensembles of traditional players. We catch Mimi and Besat live. Competition between the leading music producers in Addis is fierce: We visit the recording studio of Abegasu Shiote, who breaks down the Ethiopian pop sound track by track, and for the finale, we attend

Mar 23,2017 59:00

302. Hip Deep in Nigeria Preview

In recent months, three Afropop Worldwide producers--Sean Barlow, Banning Eyre and Morgan Greenstreet--have been working in four different regions of Nigeria to gather material for the upcoming five-part Hip Deep in Nigeria series. In this program, the producers sit down to talk about their experiences, share favorite stories and tracks, and preview Afropop Worldwide’s most ambitious field project in our 30-year history. We’ll hear Naija pop, fuji, nanaye film songs and Hausa hip-hop from the no

Mar 16,2017 59:00

303. The Music of Black Peru: Cultural Identity in the Black Pacific

The “Black Pacific” is a term coined by our guide, ethnomusicologist Heidi Carolyn Feldman. She describes the circumstance of African descendants displaced not only from their ancestral homes in Africa, but also from the Atlantic coast nations where their enslaved ancestors were originally brought.This Hip Deep edition explores the sonically vibrant realm of Afro-Peruvian music, a young genre identification that has flourished since the 1950s and has now produced artists of international renown,

Mar 09,2017 59:00

304. Getting Down in the Guyanas

We visit one of the world's last untamed natural and musical wildernesses: The Guyanas. Riding along bumpy jungle roads and in dugout canoes, Afropop producer Marlon Bishop travels from Suriname to French Guiana for the Transamazoniennes Festival, located in the remote border town of Saint-Laurent-Du-Maroni. We enjoy the region's fascinating cultural stew, where French Creole, Maroon, Amerindian, Hindu, Javanese, and Dutch elements all mingle together on the outer fringes of the Amazon and hear

Mar 02,2017 59:00

305. Reissued: African Vinyl in the 21st Century

The golden age of vinyl records is long past in Africa, but the market for rare and reissued African vinyl outside the continent has been growing steadily since the early 2000s. DJs and collectors have turned an obsession with rare records and forgotten gems from Capetown to Tangiers into an international reissue and compilation industry, led by record labels such as Soundway, Strut and Analog Africa. This program explores some of the complex and shifting dynamics of neocolonialism, cultural own

Feb 23,2017 59:00

306. Carnival In Brooklyn

Every September, millions of people celebrate Carnival in Brooklyn. From the pre-dawn J’ouvert bacchanal in the streets, to the intense Panorama steel pan competition, to the massive Labor Day Parade on Eastern Parkway, central Brooklyn is transformed into a Caribbean cultural haven. But before the fun comes months of preparation and centuries of history. We follow Caribbean steel pan groups, masquerade bands and Haitian rara groups through their preparations and celebrations and we hear how mem

Feb 16,2017 59:00

307. New York City's globalFEST 2017

Every January, New York's Webster Hall jams to the music of 12 bands on three stages in one wild night. globalFEST has become an annual kick-off ritual for music-minded New Yorkers. This program samples the 2017 lineup with dynamic live recordings from Cuba (Septeto Santiguero), Congo (L'Orchestre Afrisa International), Ghana (Jojo Abot), Sudan (Alsarah and the Nubatones), Morocco (Hoba Hoba Spirit), and more. We also speak with Modero Mekanisi about the revival of Afrisa International, and with

Feb 09,2017 59:00

308. Two Lions: Bunny Wailer and Hakim

On this program we survey the careers of two giants within their genres. Bunny Wailer is the last surviving member of the original Bob Marley and the Wailers trio. Right up to his 2016 tour, where we met him, this architect of reggae music has continued to carry the banner with new concerts and recordings. And he tells his story with bracing poetic candor. Meanwhile in Egypt, Hakim, the lion of shaabi music, remains a superstar and a player in that country’s turbulent pop scene. On a rare visit

Feb 02,2017 59:00

309. Cuban Counterpoint of Tobacco and Sugar: Sacred Musical Spaces in Western Cuba

Borrowing the title from Cuban polymath Fernando Ortiz, producer Ned Sublette takes a group of travelers, including you, to multiple sites in western Cuba to analyze the musical impact of what Ortiz called the "Cuban counterpoint" of tobacco and sugar. We'll hear endangered species of drums in mountain farms and sugar towns, drilling down into the deep culture of the Afro-Cuban world. We'll hear sacred drumming as handed down from Kongo sources, from Yorubaland, from Dahomey, and more, in sites

Jan 26,2017 59:00

310. Barbados at 50: Spouge to Soca

Barbados recently celebrated its 50th anniversary of independence. We look into the rise and mysterious fall of the funky Bajan spouge beat which ruled the island in the ’70s, and discover a few underground musicians who are trying to keep it alive. Calypsonians Mighty Grynner and Red Plastic Bag detail their contributions to the lyrically potent kaiso scene. Soca stars Alison Hinds and Edwin Yearwood talk about the pros and cons of the island's competition circuit, and we learn about the hot ne

Jan 19,2017 59:00

311. Colombia in NYC

New York City is home to a diverse community of Colombian musicians and groups who create in a wide range of traditional, popular and experimental music styles for diasporic communities and beyond. Our “Colombia in NYC” program takes us from independence day celebrations in a chic Manhattan club with accordion virtuoso Gregorio Uribe, to vallenato parties and outdoor festivals. We’ll hear from experimental groups Combo Chimbita and Delsonido; traditional Afro-Colombian bullerengue group Bulla en

Jan 12,2017 59:00

312. Hip Deep in Mali: The Tuareg Predicament

The confederations and clans collectively known as the Tuareg descend from the oldest inhabitants of North Africa. They lead a mostly nomadic existence across the Sahara Desert, in the lands we now know as Algeria, Libya, Niger and Mali. Tuareg communities have long felt neglected by independent African governments, especially in Mali, which has endured a succession of rebellions. In 2012, a Tuareg uprising led to a year-long crisis in which the Malian north separated from the country and fell u

Jan 05,2017 59:00

313. Ethiopia Part I: Empire and Revolution

Ethiopia was the first Christian nation in Africa, and the only African country never to be colonized. With ethnomusicologist Kay Kaufman Shelemay and Ethiopian music scholar and compiler Francis Falceto as guests, this Hip Deep program explores the role of the Ethiopian church and monarchy in building the country's unique brassy pop music. We sample the hot sounds of "swinging Addis" on the eve of the 1974 revolution.Produced by Banning Eyre.Follow Afropop Worldwide on Facebook at www.facebook.

Dec 29,2016 59:00

314. Ghana: Celebration Sounds

In hard times and boom times, people in Ghana know how to party. In this program, we hear the regional pop and neotraditional music that animates festivals, funerals and community celebrations across the county. We travel to the lush Volta region in the east to hear Ewe borborbor, agbadza and brass band music. In the northern city of Tamale, we hear Dagbani traditional music, hip-hop and pop, and visit the vibrant Damba chieftaincy festival in nearby Yendi. Back in the bustling metropolis, Accra

Dec 22,2016 59:00

315. Political Fiction: Music and Partisan Violence in Jamaica

An Afropop Closeup Encore. Originally distributed on 11/08/2016. The Caribbean island of Jamaica has long been blighted by unacceptably high levels of politically motivated violence, a nightmarish by-product of its firmly entrenched two-party political system. This podcast reveals the early beginnings of Jamaica’s dramatic partisan divisions, and highlights the role that the island’s music has played in commenting on and challenging such divides.Produced and hosted by David Katz and Saxon Baird.

Dec 20,2016 17:33

316. Africa Now! 2016

Every year, the world-famous Apollo Theater and New York’s World Music Institute pack the house for a stellar lineup of established and emerging artists from the African continent. This year was especially impressive. We bring you concert highlights and interviews with artists from Ghana, Sudan, Niger and Zimbabwe. You’ll hear Alsarah and the Nubatones, inspired by the rich cultures of Nubia, Jojo Abot’s arty, dancehall-meets-Afrobeat grooves, Bombino’s joyous Tuareg rock, and the discovery of t

Dec 15,2016 59:00

317. Stocking Stuffers 2016

Georges Collinet and Banning Eyre survey the best African and African diaspora music of 2016: from desert blues to Afrobeats and neo-cumbia, vintage reissues, and groundbreaking experiments. This fast-moving conversation interweaves juicy clips from over two dozen albums. Lots of musical ideas for your holiday shopping list. Produced by Banning Eyre.Follow Afropop Worldwide on Facebook at www.facebook.com/afropop, on Instagram @afropopworldwide and on Twitter @afropopww.Subscribe to the Afropop

Dec 08,2016 59:00

318. Soundin' Like Weself - The Trinidadian Raspo Tradition

Producer Jake Hochberger brings us to the southernmost island in the Caribbean, Trinidad. Trinidad is the birthplace of the steel drum, calypso and soca music, and is home to the largest Carnival celebration in the world. Here we encounter the musical and philosophical movement called rapso--an infectiously danceable rhythmic oration style that comes with a philosophy championing a Trinidadian identity in the face of a colonial history and a globalized present. We meet three generations of artis

Dec 06,2016 30:01

319. Afrobeats Comes To America

Afrobeats is the new urban music of Africa. Not to be confused with the funky sound of the ‘70s in Nigeria (Afrobeat), Afrobeats (with an "s") is 21st century dance pop, with a wide variety of programmed beats, rapping and singing, stylistic use of autotuned vocals, and catchy pop hooks. The music is part of a brave new media world where Nigeria is listening to South Africa, Kenya is listening to Angola, Ghana is listening to Tanzania, and Africans in the diaspora are listening to all of it. In

Nov 24,2016 59:00

320. Salaam, Amani, Peace: Festivals in Goma, DR Congo

In a context of ongoing violence and N.G.O. intervention in Eastern Congo, a festival culture is emerging based on the concept of “peace-building” through the arts. With the guidance of professor Chérie Ndaliko and local artists, we explore the ways in which these festivals can negatively or positively affect the local arts community. (Note: Salaam Kivu International Film Festival is now Congo International Film Festival.)Produced and hosted by Morgan Greenstreet.Follow Afropop Worldwide on Face

Nov 22,2016 27:56

321. Afropop Live! 2016

The crowd grows restless until finally the lights go down and the artist takes the stage, and that's when things come alive. It's “Afropop Live! 2016”--an anthology of some of the best performances we had the honor to see and record this year. From our home base in New York to the Festival on the Niger in Mali, this show goes global, bringing you music from across Africa and the diaspora: Kenyan pop, traditional Colombian bullerengue, Haitian compas and more. We'll get intimate performances by N

Nov 17,2016 59:00

322. The Cumbia Diaspora: From Colombia to the World

Move over salsa and merengue–cumbia is the most popular music in Latin America. Today, cumbia is played from the borderlands of Texas down the spine of the Andes to the tip of Tierra del Fuego. In this Hip Deep edition, we find out how cumbia left Colombia in the ‘60s and ‘70s and traveled to other countries. Everywhere it went, it transformed itself, adapting to its new environment. In Peru, it mixed with psychedelic guitar effects and Andean sounds to become chicha. In Argentina, it became the

Nov 10,2016 59:00

323. Political Fiction: Music and Partisan Violence in Jamaica

The Caribbean island of Jamaica has long been blighted by unacceptably high levels of politically motivated violence, a nightmarish by-product of its firmly entrenched two-party political system. This podcast reveals the early beginnings of Jamaica’s dramatic partisan divisions, and highlights the role that the island’s music has played in commenting on and challenging such divides.Produced and hosted by David Katz and Saxon Baird. Follow Afropop Worldwide on Facebook at www.facebook.com/afropop

Nov 08,2016 17:33

324. Growing Into Music in 21st Century Bamako

This program presents a musical portrait of Bamako in the wake of crisis. In 2012-13, Islamists occupied the north and a coup d’etat threatened a recent history of functioning democracy. With borders restored and a new elected government in place, we find musical life returning with festivals, nightclub shows and street weddings. But that picture hides darker realities. Ethnomusicologist Lucy Duràn has been studying the oral transmission of music in various countries, notably among griot familie

Nov 03,2016 59:00

325. Moroccan Music Today: Re-Examined Past, Innovative Future

In Morocco today, artists draw from a huge variety of styles and traditions, creating music that takes from previously neglected history in order to create new and innovative sounds. In Agadir and Casablanca, two of Morocco's most vibrantly musical cities, musicians have embraced Morocco's Amazigh and sub-Saharan roots. On this program, we explore how artists are preserving styles like Gnawa, brought to Morocco by slaves from West Africa, and rwayes, Amazigh troubadour music of southern Morocco.

Oct 27,2016 59:00

326. A Beginner’s Guide to Lusophone Atlantic Music

While the musical networks that connect English, French and Spanish-speaking nations together are well known, far less attention is paid to the links between the Afro-Lusophone world—from Cape Verde to Angola to Brazil. This podcast offers a lightning tour of some of the most important groups that helped pull together this often-overlooked sonic universe. Produced and hosted by Sam Backer. [Distributed 10/25/2016]

Oct 25,2016 21:34

327. African Music at the Crossroads

African Music at the Crossroads: Afropop producer Banning Eyre takes us on a surprise filled tour of his 30-some years of covering African music. Through conversations with Georges Collinet and producer/agent/DJ Rab Bakari, the program reflects on how the world, the music, the culture and the media have changed and keep on changing throughout Africa and the diaspora. Along the way we hear some of the tunes that have most inspired Banning and Georges, sample the latest Afrobeats and Naija pop, an

Oct 20,2016 59:00

328. Africa in Matanzas, Cuba: El Almacen is Walking

Africa in Matanzas, Cuba: El Almacén is WalkingMatanzas, Cuba has long been regarded as the source (la fuente) of many rich Afro-Cuban folkloric traditions. These ceremonial and secular Afro-Cuban musics are, for the most part, alive and well, and being documented for the first time by Matanceros themselves, rather than exclusively by Havana-based or non-Cuban imprints. The Matanzas record label and artist collective, Sendero Music/El Almacén, faces several challenges: oversight from the state,

Oct 13,2016 59:00

329. Mali: Politics Behind The Music

The music of Mali is a powerful force in the international music market. It has been critically shaped by the changing role of the griot class in Malian society and Mali's politics in general. Columbia University historian Gregory Mann shares insights into Malian politics—from the French colonial era to the present— providing fascinating context for musical developments from traditional griot songs to the latest hip-hop. Produced and hosted by Banning Eyre. [Distributed 10/11/2016]

Oct 11,2016 21:37

330. State of Emergency: Reggae Reflections of Jamaica’s Partisan Politics

Show # 723Airdate: 10/06/2016Produced by Saxon Baird and David KatzMusic is a powerful means of expression in Jamaica--a platform for fierce commentary, and a bellwether for the social and political climate on the island. In Jamaica, when local newspapers, broadcast media and elected representatives don’t tell the whole story, you've got to listen to the music! With the help of scholars and artists like Max Romeo and King Jammy, this program delves into the way that Jamaican popular music has al

Oct 06,2016 59:00

331. Carnival In Brooklyn

Every September, millions of people celebrate Carnival in Brooklyn. From the pre-dawn J'ouvert bacchanal in the streets, to the intense Panorama steel pan competition, to the massive Labor Day Parade on Eastern Parkway, Central Brooklyn is transformed into a Caribbean cultural haven. But before the fun comes months of preparation and centuries of history. We follow Caribbean steel pan groups, masquerade bands and Haitian rara groups through their preparations and celebrations and we hear how mem

Sep 29,2016 59:00

332. Congolese Rumba: Surviving the Pop Apocalypse

All over the world, the music business as we know it is crumbling. But in the Democratic Republic of Congo, musicians have found a new (and very old) method of survival. Through a system of shout-outs called libanga, Congolese pop musicians call on rich people to sponsor their music. Singers use the metaphoric language of love to discuss power, politics and money in one of the world's poorest countries. Produced and hosted by Morgan Greenstreet in conversation with John Nimis, linguist and schol

Sep 27,2016 23:44

333. Off the Beaten Track in Malawi and Burkina Faso

[APWW #738] [Airs Sept. 22 2016]This program ventures into corners of Africa we hear from rarely, guided by adventurous field recordists and crate diggers. The Zomba Prison Project is a set of recordings by inmates at a maximum security prison in Malawi, currently the poorest nation on earth. The project’s debut CD was nominated for a 2016 Grammy Award. Here, we speak with the producer, Ian Brennan, and hear tracks from a brand new volume of soulful, even heartbreaking, songs from the prison. Th

Sep 22,2016 59:00

334. Hip Deep: The French Caribbean–Cosmopolitan, Colonial, Complicated

[APWW #570] [Originally aired 2009]In the music of the French Antilles—the islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe—you can hear influences that range from the traditional béle and gwo ka drumming of the islands’ rural communities, to European additions like polka and French chanson. But when these islands produced a pop genre that took much of the Caribbean and African world by storm—the smooth and sexy dance music known as zouk, which exploded in the 1980s—it was an entirely new blend that uniquel

Sep 15,2016 59:00

335. A Conversation with Pedrito Martínez: Part Two

Cuban master musician Pedrito Martínez talks about his career playing jazz, pop, original music and sacred Regla De Ocha ceremonies in New York City. Produced and hosted by Ned Sublette with Kenneth Schweitzer [Distributed 9/13/2016]Listen to Part One here: http://bit.ly/2bQXRFT

Sep 13,2016 24:29

336. Hip Deep: Afro-Lisbon and the Lusophone Atlantic: Dancing Toward The Future

Show #722Producer: Sam BackerDistributed Sept. 8 2016:Hip Deep: Afro-Lisbon and the Lusophone Atlantic: Dancing Toward The FutureIn the last few years, a small network of DJs in the suburbs of Lisbon, Portugal has been consistently producing some of the world’s best dance music. The children of African immigrants, these young musicians have combined a hemisphere of musical influences and distilled them down into a single astonishing style. But how did Lisbon start to make such great African musi

Sep 08,2016 59:00

337. A Conversation with Pedrito Martínez: Part One

Martínez, the superstar New York-based percussionist and vocalist, talks with Ned Sublette and drum scholar Kenneth Schweitzer about how he got started in sacred and popular music in Havana, Cuba. Produced and hosted by Ned Sublette [Distributed 9/06/2016] Listen to Part Two here: http://bit.ly/2cTjtma(photo by Petra Richterova)

Sep 06,2016 21:26

338. Sounds Like Brooklyn

[APWW #712] [Originally aired in 2015]At Afropop, we have gone far and wide, from Brazil to England to Madagascar to Egypt, tracking down incredible music to bring back home to our headquarters in Brooklyn. For this program, “Sounds Like Brooklyn,” we stay closer to home, tracing a hidden music economy of CD vendors in bodegas, copy shops and food markets around the five New York boroughs. Accompanying us on our travels is poet and “Bodega Pop” WFMU radio host Gary Sullivan. Along the way, we ch

Sep 01,2016 59:00

339. Two Lions: Bunny Wailer and Hakim

[APWW # 737] Two Lions: Bunny Wailer and HakimOn this program we survey the careers of two legends and giants within their genres. Bunny Wailer is the last surviving member of the original Bob Marley and the Wailers. Right up to his 2016 tour, where we met him, this architect of reggae music has continued to carry the banner with new concerts and recordings. And he tells his story with bracing poetic candor. Meanwhile in Egypt, the lion of shaabi music, Hakim, remains a superstar and a player in

Aug 25,2016 59:00

340. Grimewave

Grime, the hard-edged, M.C.-led U.K. dance style that flourished in the early 2000s, seemed long gone. Its best rappers had moved on, and its fans increasingly abandoned hope. But then… something astounding happened: 2016 became grime’s biggest year ever. Produced and hosted by Sam Backer. [Distributed 8/23/2016]

Aug 23,2016 18:12

341. Colombia in NYC

New York City is home to a diverse community of Colombian musicians and groups who create in a wide range of traditional, popular and experimental music styles for diasporic communities and beyond. Colombia in NYC takes us from independence day celebrations in a chic Manhattan club with accordion virtuoso Gregorio Uribe, to vallenato parties and outdoor festivals. We'll hear from experimental groups Combo Chimbita and Delsonido; traditional Afro-Colombian bullerengue group Bulla En El Barrio; sa

Aug 18,2016 59:00

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From new to old From old to new