Afropop Worldwide

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 the night for many Afropop fans: Mokoomba from Zimbabwe, featuring phenomenal lead singer Mathias Muzaza, who spanned nods to Salif Keita, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, as well as a Congolese soukous animation that had the crowd up and dancing. Special bonus: a taste of the acoustic “traditional” set Mokoomba performed the next day up the Hudson. 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 Wor

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 Worldwide newsletter at www.afropop.org/newsletter/ APWW PGM #744 [Distributed 12/08/2016]

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 artists, from the founding King of Rapso, Brother Resistance, to the emerging musicians behind the American hip-hop influenced trapso sound. Brother Resistance shares stories of how local rhythms and participation in Trinidad’s Black Power movement influenced him to define his music as the most recent manifestation of an ancient oral tradition, as passed down from the West African griot. Omari Ashby of Kindred, Wendell Manwarren of 3Canal, and Ataklan bring us into the Trinidadian cultural matrix, where speed-rapping Carniv

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 2016, large scale Afrobeats concerts were staged in Brooklyn and Houston, and greeted by large young, rapturous crowds. In this program we hear the new sounds of Lagos, Nairobi, Angola and beyond and talk with artists and others about the thrilling rise and unfolding future of the newest African pop. 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 newsletter at www.afropop.org/newsl

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 Facebook at www.facebook.com/afropop and on Twitter @afropopww. Subscribe to the Afropop Worldwide newsletter at www.afropop.org/newsletter/ [Distributed 11/22/2016]

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 NYC-based Colombian-rooted groups Bulla en el Barrio and Combo Chimbita, a festival set from Abdoulaye Diabate, and music from Sauti Sol, Tabou Combo and Mokoomba in New York concert halls. For more live music from this year visit www.afropop.org to see our programs on Colombia in NYC, globalFEST, Africa Now!, MASA, Hakim and Bunny Wailer, and Carnival in BK. Produced by Ben Richmond and Sebastian Bouknight. Follow Afropop Worldwide on Facebook at www.facebook.com/afropop, on Instagram @afropopworldwide and on Twitt

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. Produced by Marlon Bishop. Follow Afropop Worldwide on Facebook at www.facebook.com/afropop and on Twitter @afropopww. Subscrib

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 and on Twitter @afropopww. Subscribe to the Afropop Worldwide newsletter at www.afropop.org/newsletter/ [Distributed 11/08/2016]

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 families in Mali. With her guidance, we explore the precarious lives of griots in today’s Bamako, focusing on the upbringing and education of children in these hereditary families of historian-entertainers. Elders and traditionalists say the griot tradition has been corrupted beyond hope, and even advise their young to pursue different professions. Others persist, within an environment where growing religious conservatism puts increasing pressure on the lives and careers of all musicians. We meet three extraordinarily talente

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. We will also hear everything from Amazigh black metal to a band covering Bob Marley songs with Moroccan instruments, along with some female artists who are powerfully staking out their place in male-dominated genres. Produced by Jesse Brent. Follow Afropop Worldwide on Facebook at www.facebook.com/afropop and on Twitter @afropopww. Subscribe to the Afropop Worldwide newsletter at http://www.afropop.org/newsletter/ APWW #741 10-27-2016

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]

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 music is heading next. Great music, provocative thinking! 10/20/2016 Show #740 Producer: Banning Eyre

Africa in Matanzas, Cuba: 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 groups to record while paradoxically convincing the folkloric community of the value of their endeavors, and the conundrum of establishing meaningful connections outside of Cuba to disseminate the city’s music to the world. #726 Airdate: 10/13/2016 Producer: Harris Eisenstadt

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]

Show # 723 Airdate: 10/06/2016 Produced by Saxon Baird and David Katz Music 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 always sharply commented on partisan politics in Jamaica while also revealing that Jamaican politicians have often attempted to co-opt and subvert reggae’s liberating messages for their own purposes. Particular attention is paid to the turbulent Cold War era of the mid-1970s, when foreign influence led to what was basically an undeclared civil war and reggae’s popularity was at its highest.

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 members of these Caribbean communities keep their cultural activities alive and thriving despite facing considerable challenges: violence and political backlash associated with Carnival, and soaring rents and cultural changes in Brooklyn due to gentrification. Produced by Morgan Greenstreet, Saxon Baird, & Sebastian Bouknight [APWW #739] [Air date: 9/29/2016]

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 scholar of Congolese popular music.

[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 uniquely reflected the complex layers of identity in these Caribbean communities that are, administratively, a full-fledged part of France. Still colonies? Many think so. Either way the Antilles have long produced artists and thinkers with deep sensitivity to the gradations of race, class, migration, and relationship to a powerful, distant metropolis. Now, musicians in Guadeloupe and Martinique are re-exploring their roots, celebrating rhythms that go back to slavery days without pulling back from the cosmopolitanism of rece

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

Show #722 Producer: Sam Backer Distributed Sept. 8 2016: Hip Deep: Afro-Lisbon and the Lusophone Atlantic: Dancing Toward The Future In 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 music? And what does that say about the identity of the city, or the country, or the continent? On this special Hip Deep edition, we take a journey to Lisbon, a city facing both the sea and 600 years of its own history. We’ll go to African club nights, hang out with obsessive record collectors, learn how to dance kizomba, and visit the projects that have produced a musical revolution. And through it all, we will try to answer a seemingly simple question: Just where did this music come from?