Afropop Worldwide

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 th...

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...

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 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 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...

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 “sol...

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, b...

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. I...

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 progr...

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 abov...

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 (Spai...

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...

Off the Beaten Track - Burkina Faso, Malawi, and Beyond 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 Grammy Award. Here, we speak with the p...

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...

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 Cong...

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

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 Gall...

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...

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.”...

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 R...

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...

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.

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 groundbre...

"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 i...

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...