Afropop Worldwide

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 zouk, which e...

The first decade of the 21st century saw the beginning of huge changes in African diaspora music. Afrobeats and amapiano were still in the cradle, but a new spirit was in the air. In this program, we return to that crucial decade to hear some of the bold new ideas bubbling up in Africa. We’ll hear Buraka Som Sistema from Angola and Portugal, Nigerian rapper 9ice, an Akon remix of Amadou and Mariam...

Once-substantial Jewish enclaves of Morocco, Algeria and other North Africa states have dwindled steadily since World War II, mostly through migration to Israel. In sub-Saharan Africa, lesser known Jewish communities provide strikingly different narratives. Guided by ethnomusicologist and Rabbi Jeffrey A. Summit of Tufts University, this program focuses on the history and music of a small but robu...

In hard times and boom times, people in Ghana know how to party. In this program, we hear regional pop and neo-traditional music at festivals, funerals and community celebrations across the county. We travel to the lush south-east Volta region 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 vibra...

Tarab, the ecstatic feeling associated with listening to and playing great music, is a fundamental characteristic in many varieties of Arab music. In this program, we explore tarab with special guest UCLA ethnomusicology professor A.J. Racy. Racy draws on his lifelong study of music and musicians, and also his insights as a virtuoso performer on the nay flute and the buzuq. Racy guides us through...

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 i...

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 pop...

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 l...

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 par...

Cabo Verde (aka Cape Verde) has long been known as a music powerhouse. Despite its little size (population: 500,000), the West African archipelago is the third largest country in music sales in the “World” market by some estimations. That’s why the island has become home to the Atlantic Music Expo: a trans-oceanic music fair featuring conferences and concerts that attract musicians and industry pr...

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.”...

Join us on a musical adventure into the storied past of Africa's Rainbow Nation. In 2016, 20-plus years removed from apartheid, South Africa was a nation deep in transition. And, that was reflected in its music—brimming with enthusiasm and creativity, yet also suffering from the growing pains of a new democracy. On the ground at the 2016 Cape Town International Jazz Festival, we celebrate the coun...

Musicians create worlds of their own. They are sonic alchemists. This program, originally produced in 2007, surveys a wide range of artists from throughout the African diaspora, artists with this special ability to spin out their own realities. We hear classic work from Basssekou Kouyate, Habib Koite, Youssou N'Dour, Konono No 1, The Assad Brothers, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and we hear many of them sp...

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 Ipi Tombi als...

Bachata is a music of the people. Recalling the American blues, bachata was infamous as the anthem of the hard-drinking, womanizing, down-on-his-luck man, vilified as the entertainment of the brothels and the cabarets, and worshipped by the down-trodden poor as the deepest expression of their feelings. Today it is an international sensation. Alex Wolfe, director of the film "Santo Domingo Blues: T...

On January 8, 1959, Fidel Castro and his ragtag army marched into Havana and proclaimed victory in the Cuban revolution. Much of the world knew Cuba primarily from its 1930 megahit "El Manicero" ("The Peanut Vendor") and from the mambo craze of the 1950's. After Castro came to power, the economic, political and cultural doors between Cuba and the U.S. would soon be shut. The doors opened briefly f...

This classic episode features Afropop Worldwide’s original live recordings of stellar artists Joe Arroyo (Colombia) in London, Paulina Tomayo (Ecuador) in Quito, Los Muñequitos de Matanzas (Cuba) in New York, Los Van Van (Cuba) in Havana, and Willie Colon in New York. Produced by Sean Barlow APWW #292

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. We talk to the founding bandleaders of the genre -- Rafael Ithier (El Gran Combo), Quiqu...

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 m...

Islam's complex relationship with arts and culture across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia presents special paradoxes and intrigue in the realm of music. Islam has been used both to nurture and curtail musical expression. This program delves into the historic roots of this debate, all the way back to Baghdad in the early centuries of Islam. Case studies highlight sublime and ecstatic music from I...

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 ide...

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 h...

Nigeria is 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, Tiwa Savage, Olamide and Fireboy DML are giants on the scene. In this program we sample the latest from these and others - as well as action from the Afrobeat scene. We also speak with key artists in Nigeria and the U.S. about social activis...

Guinea's legendary dance band, Bembeya Jazz, are a pillar of modern West African history. Begun in 1961 in the flush of Guinea's independence and Sekou Toure's maverick presidency, the band played under the inspired leadership of guitar giant Sekou "Bembeya" Diabate. This program delves into Bembeya history with a focus on the band's 60s and 70s heyday, right up to more recent solo work by Sekou D...

In this episode, Afropop dives into a celebration of the blues--for some, the essence of the American experience and for others a link back into a lost history in Africa. For our program, we also went back through a number of key interviews we've done over the years where the subject of blues came up, particularly in reference to the genre's African roots. The notion that the blues has roots in Af...