Afropop Worldwide

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.

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 scandal mocking women’s rights that eventually brought down a governor, the deaths of more unarmed Black men, women and children across the United States and of course the coronavirus pandemic. Producer Dan Rosenberg looks at how artists across Puerto Rico including Plena Libre helped in the healing process after Hurricane Maria by performing for those who lost their homes in the storm. We’ll hear music from marches that led to the resignation of Governor Ricardo Rosello. “We’ve been under attack from nature and bad governments and so many things since 2017, and from before, but 2017 made us more aware,” explains Nelie Lebron-Robles. “Here we are. One nation with a very distinct Latin American identity, very proud of who we are. We’ve discovered we can do anything that we propose ourselves to do.”

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.

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 Harcourt’s waterfront communities and in oil-ravaged Ogoniland to hear how music is providing hope for these profoundly challenged communities. The program features new and classic music, the words of Nigerian scholars, musicians, activists and veterans of the Biafran War, concluding with an inspiring live highlife concert on the Port Harcourt waterfront in which rappers and highlife graybeards come together to imagine a better road ahead. Produced by Banning Eyre. [APWW #754] [Originally aired in 2017]

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 rare opportunity to delve into his vast collection of recordings. We listen to Ali Farka Touré and John Lee Hooker through Kubik's ears, and hear from many lesser-known artists on both sides of the Atlantic. Even though the blues is a central component of American music, it is one of the most mysterious, and least understood aspects of our popular music culture. This program gives us new insight. Produced by Banning Eyre. (Originally aired 2007)

​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.​

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]

​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 their parents for an education. This musical journey is enhanced by the wisdom and sonorous laughter of Manu Dibango and by the mesmerizing music culled from over 200 records that Manu produced over a 60 year career. In “My Friend Manu” you will not only sample some Maxi Voom Voom, as Georges Collinet’s show on the Voice Of America was called, but also have a taste of Andouillette and Suya in Yaoundé, Cameroon. And you will finally know how to correctly say Ma Ma Ko, Ma Massa, Ma Ma Makossa. “My Friend Manu” is definitely a multi-sensory delight! Photos by Pierre René-Worms​, used with permission.

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 is Andalusian scholar Dwight Reynolds. We'll also hear from Moroccan musicians, a specialist on Syrian Andalusian traditions, and of course, we'll hear lots of music, including the Orchestra of Fes, Ensemble Essoundoussia of Tlemcen, Algeria, and legendary Syrian singer Sabri Moudallal. Produced by Banning Eyre. [APWW #440]

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 insights of Al-Andalus scholar Dwight Reynolds (University of California, Santa Barbara). Many enigmas remain, but you may never hear European music in quite the same way after this venture into the heritage of Al-Andalus. This is part of Afropop Worldwide's "Hip Deep" series exploring the historical roots of musical cultures of the Afro-Atlantic world. Produced by Banning Eyre.

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-derived Setswana kwassa kwassa, Vee Mampeezy, Charma Gal and a host of aspiring stars champion a distinctly local fusion called house kwassa: a mix of rumba guitars, house beats and kwaito vocals. In this program we hear from Kabelo Mogwe of the popular cultural troupe Culture Spears; hip hop star Jujuboy; the metal band Skinflint; Afro soul singer Mpho Sebina and reformed house kwassa badboy Mingo Touch. We also head to a midnight recording session with young producer Zolasko and singer Naisi Boy and learn the insides of the Botswana music video industry with videographer Jack Bohloko. Produced by Morgan Greenstreet and Lollise Mbi.

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 #787 Originally broadcast in 2018

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 recordings from this spectacularly musical and often overlooked Indian Ocean island. Produced by Banning Eyre. APWW #800 Originally broadcast in 2019

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 Bhodloza “Welcome” Nzimande, long a champion of maskanda music and a would-be peacekeeper in the fractious current scene. We’ll also hear from Zulu guitar legend Madala Kunene, and check out some of the recent gqom music that has largely replaced maskanda and other roots styles in the lives of young South Africans. Produced by Banning Eyre. [APWW #803] [Originally broadcast in May 2019]

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 hip-hop and reggae. Produced in Belo Horizonte by David Katz, this program explores the intricacies of the city’s homegrown resistance movements, based in squatted buildings and public spaces in the city center and peripheral favelas on the outskirts. It reveals the surprising complexities of the renowned Belo Horizonte rap scene, which is intricately linked to improv theatre and urban poetry movements, with a revived Carnival culture, African-Brazilian Candomblé and baile funk all part of the local form’s very distinctive musical backdrop; the smaller reggae scene also addresses issues such as social exclusion, income disparity, racial bias, gender discrimination, transphobia and environmental crises. In the show, we’ll hear from rappers such as Roger Deff, Samora Nzinga and the leftfield duo of Hot e Oreia, as well as Leo Vidigal of the Deska Reggae sound system and Zaika dos Santos of Salto, the city’s first female-run sound; Tiago Lopes of the Rastafari collective Roots Ativa and former rapper Kdu dos Anjos and guide us through the permaculture and upcycled fashion projects they have established in the massive favela complex of Aglomerada da Serra, providing employment and social integration to some of the city’s most disenfranchised residents. Produced by David Katz. Image: copyright David Katz [APWW #812]

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 Reeves’ African career, and the unlikely story of how the pedal steel made it from Hawaii to Lagos. Finally, we’ll travel to Angola with the help of director Jeremy Xido, to explore that nation’s death metal scene. And along the way, we will try to understand just how to account for taste. Produced by Sam Backer with help from Jesse Brent. [APWW #703] [Originally aired in 2015]

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 traditionalism is also progressive: Edo highlife music draws on traditional genres like asonogun, ojeke, agbi, ivbiagogo, and ekassa, and musicians continue to incorporate instruments and styles from neighboring Yoruba communities and Western popular music. In this Hip Deep program, we'll hear how Edo highlife musicians have found sustainable careers by simultaneously rooting their music in their local communities and appealing to diasporic enclaves in Europe and the United States. Their local support has even allowed certain musicians to broach political themes, singing in support or in critique of specific politicians, a rare occurrence in contemporary Nigeria. We’ll hear from legends and innovators including Sir Victor Uwaifo, Ambassador Osayomore Joseph, and Alhaji Waziri Oshomoh as well as current stars including Dr. Afile, Akogbehian and Johnbull Obakpolor. Produced by Morgan Greenstreet and Austin ‘Maro Emielu. [APWW #751] [Originally aired in 2017]

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, Cape Verde, Colombia and more—all artists we had hoped to feature. The music is uplifting, and the stories illustrate the global reach of the ongoing crisis. Produced by Banning Eyre [APWW #811]

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 sample the rich music and hear the stories, challenges and triumphs of this fascinating new generation of global musical creators. Produced by Banning Eyre. [APWW #772]

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 next best thing.

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 early Puerto Rican salsa. Produced by Ned Sublette with José Mandry. [APWW #207]

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] [Originally aired in 2019]

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.” From the opening ceremony, to the climactic final moments of the festival, the music at Voodoo To Go was filled with the spirit: Trance-inducing traditional music from Togolese/Beninois diaspora group Djogbé; heavy, retro Vaudou funk from Togolese musician Peter Solo and Vaudou Game, based in Lyon, France; Surinamese Kawina music from Rotterdam-based dance band Dray-ston; Late-night Haitian Vaudou-jazz from Erol Josué; and, finally an intense collaboration between Cuban jazz maestro Omar Sosa and Togolese musician and dancer Ayaovi Kokoussé. Alongside the excellent music, we hear from various participants in the festival discussing what Voodoo means to them: a Winti priestess; fascinated Dutch music fans; and, of course, the musicians who make music inspired by the spirit. [APWW # 717] [Originally aired in 2014]

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 steel-pan jazz and calypso of the 1960s to soca and its successor, chutney-soca, which for the first time in the 1980s fully integrated Indian and African influences in a local popular music. This Hip Deep edition explores all of these styles, and also the music of diaspora communities in the U.S. and the U.K.. Ethnomusicologist Peter Manuel of the City University of New York shares his ground-breaking research on Indo-Caribbean music in all of its geographic and social contexts. His music and insights reveal a fascinating, overlooked story of hybrid Caribbean culture. Produced by Siddhartha Mitter. [APWW #556] [Originally Aired 2008]

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 to Sahara desert blues and the uniquely boogieing funerals of southern Madagascar. Produced by Banning Eyre in 2011. [APWW #608]

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 Brenda Fassie, we take you back to the ’70s and ’80s, listening to the birth of a distinctly African electronic sound. Produced by Sam Backer.

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 instrumental in preserving hundreds of songs that have since gone extinct. Glasspiegel speaks with Dianne Thram, director of Tracey library in Grahamstown, South Africa; Tracey's son Andrew, a musician and field recordist in his own right; Michael Baird, an expert on the Tracey catalog; and esteemed South African anthropologist David Coplan. We'll also head to Malawi to make a field recording of our own with the help of Malawian singer, Esau Mwamwaya. [APWW #590] Originally aired 03-25-2010

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 Elida Almeida. We also meet local artists unknown on the local scene, including producer and cutting-edge songwriter Wilson Silva, and high school-aged singer Maya Neves—already a diva! The great Cesaria Evora may be gone, but Cape Verde’s musical spirit is thriving! [APWW #779]

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 Suarez. Along the way, we take a tour of Miami's lively local radio. Afro Roots indeed! Produced by Sean Barlow and Banning Eyre. Live mix by Niall Macaulay.

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 listeners regarding the future of our program.

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. Conversations with Brazilian artists, recorded on location in the forro capital of Recife, following in Gonzaga's footsteps. Co-produced by Harvard's Megwen Loveless. APWW #457

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 considerable challenges they are facing in a rapidly gentrifying city. APWW #739

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.

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 Produced by Banning Eyre

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, specifically from Cameroon before its independence. We'll dig into memories and secrets, and hear echoes from the tropical forest where bodies and facts were hidden, with artists who are tackling fault lines of France's colonial past and unearthing harsh reality with sweet voices such as singer Blick Bassy who released a new album 1958, a tribute to the freedom fighter Rubem Um Nyobe.

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 programs in public radio history. Produced by Banning Eyre APWW #791

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 Afro-Cuban sacred music through jazz explorations. In this podcast, we hear from two Cuban musicians, Anier Alonso and Melvis Santa, who are adding their unique voices to the New York Afro-Cuban music scene, pushing things forward with tireless creative energy. Produced by Ricardo Luiggi and Morgan Greenstreet. Photo by Carla A. Tomassini Quijano www.carlaojo.com Hear full interviews, in Spanish with Anier and Melvis: https://soundcloud.com/zonalibredjs/anier-alonso-entrevista https://soundcloud.com/zonalibredjs/melvis-santa-entrevista

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.

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 expression of a new generation of restless youth in the burgeoning slums of Buenos Aires. And in Mexico, it became so instilled in the local culture that some have forgotten that it came from Colombia in the first place. Through extensive interviews with experts and musicians, we discover how cumbia and its many transformations tell us the story of Latin America in the late 20th century. APWW # 606 [Produced by Marlon Bishop. Originally aired Jan. 3, 2011]

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.

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 of their new music is now out on a unique compilation called I’m Not Here to Hunt Rabbits. We’ll hear the sweet, raw sounds and their surprising stories, and discover a whole new way of playing the world’s most versatile string instrument. APWW #786 Produced by Banning Eyre

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 Afropop Closeups--shorter pieces made specifically for podcasting, which will come out every other week over the summer.

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, and some you don’t, but will be happy to discover. This is our second WOMEX 2018 program, a music-filled hour of music and impressions from the world’s greatest gathering of global music movers and shakers. Produced by Banning Eyre. APWW #796

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 Mizik and RAM. Finally, we meet Tjovi Ginen, a pan-African band featuring the provocative and humorous spoken words of Boston-based Haitian educator and animator Daniel Laurent. A romping update on all things Haitian. [APWW #806] Produced by Banning Eyre.

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 contributed to the construction of a unique local identity in a city now dubbed the “Brazilian Jamaica.” Produced in São Luís by David Katz, this program explores how reggae became embedded in São Luís’ consciousness, cutting across boundaries of race, class, age, gender and language. Photo © David Katz​ APWW #805

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 Danay Suarez. Along the way, we take a tour of Miami's lively local radio. Afro Roots indeed! Produced by Sean Barlow and Banning Eyre.

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 recent music from a wide range of African and diasporic artists in Sweden, and get context from ethnomusicologist Ryan Skinner, who has immersed himself deeply in the Afro-Swedish scene for the past 15 years. Produced by Banning Eyre and Ryan Skinner.

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 singer/songwriters on the scene these days, Victor Kunonga. Produced by Banning Eyre. APWW #781 Originally broadcast June 2018.

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 for insights into the latest trends from one of Africa’s greatest musical powerhouses. Produced by Morgan Greenstreet APWW #777

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 alive; the Garifuna Collective, the band created by Garifuna music legend Andy Palacio; and Harouna Samake with Kamele Blues, a brand new band from a veteran Malian instrumentalist. Plus one or two surprises. This is the first of Afropop’s two-part coverage of the musical extravaganza that is WOMEX. Produced by Banning Eyre. [APWW #795]