Afropop Worldwide

The season of Carnival in Guadeloupe brings the unmistakable sounds of music from the local culture clubs to the streets like no other carnival in the world. Every Sunday from the new year to Ash Wednesday, The islanders take turns showing off their cultural traditions. Enslaved Africans, were prohibited from assembling because of Article 16 of the “Code Noir” promulgated by the King of France, Louis XIV, in 1685. After the abolition of slavery on the islands in 1848, They have been reorganizing by marching the streets with displays of traces of pre-colonial Arawak sounds of conches and the drumming and the singing of chants of their traditional folk music called Gwoka. In Pointe-à-Pitre “Ben Démaré" or in the sea, is a purification ritual for the “skin clubs”, which kicks off Carnival. Young men take to the streets with traditional whips used on their ancestors during enslavement and have created a counter-culture in their display of whipping the ground - reconciling the past present, and future. Mukwae W

This program traces 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.

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.

Every winter, starting in February, the organizers of the annual Nuits D’Afrique festival put on a battle of the Afropop bands. Bands face off, three a night at Club Balatou, and the audience votes a winner for the night. Eventually, the field comes down to nine finalists, and that’s when we at Afropop are asked to pick the winner of the Afropop prize from those nine acts. So as the festival is about to kick off again this year,we thought it would be great to honor the 2023 winners. The big winner of the entire contest was an awesome Afro-Latin band called Team Salsa Quintet. We'll also feature a visit with a group of young Algerian immigrants in Montreal - the band is called Afirka. And we'll wrap up with a report from correspondent Harrison Malkin on the recent Artist for Aid event in Newark, New Jersey. It was a star-studded evening aimed at raising awareness and funds for the victims of violence in Gaza and Sudan.

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 attends the Easter Rock ceremony and talks with Dr. Joyce Marie Jackson, a scholar and Louisiana native, who has been working with the Rockers for almost 20 years and confirms their tradition as a direct musical link to slavery days. In Athens, Georgia, Sublette visits Art Rosenbaum, producer of recordings by Georgia's McIntosh County Shouters, and more. Produced by Ned Sublette. APWW #734

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

Moh Kouyate is a Guinean guitarist/singer/songwriter descending from a line of griots (jalis) in West Africa. As listeners heard in the Afropop Worldwide program Global Griots in France, he has lived in Paris since 2006, collaborating with a wide range of artists from genres far outside his traditional art. In this episode, Banning Eyre speaks with Moh about his adventurous life, and particularly, his ground-breaking, new acoustic album, Mokhôya. Also, fellow Guinean artist Natu Camara gives a shoutout about her upcoming visit to Camp Afropop, May 28-31, 2024 near Woodstock, New York.

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 beyond tirelessly produce, exchange skills, and frenetically party until dawn. Despite reducing the Villa’s bubbling flow, COVID-19 didn’t silence it, and the house kept on nurturing its community of underground musicians. In this episode, producer Basile Koechlin takes us to the Villa to meet current residents and other members of the Nyege Nyege nebula. Through a patchwork of stories, soundscapes, and fresh musical releases, we hear more about this unique and strange place that came to host and generate a seminal pa

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, jab-jab soca pioneers Tallpree and Mr Killa, and upcoming artists such as Sabrina Francis, a rising star who draws on soul, jazz, R&B and folk elements. Produced by David Katz APWW #856

Okwy Osadebe is the son of Nigerian Igbo highlife legend Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe. In this lively conversation with Georges Collinet and Eme Awa, of WOWD Radio in Takoma Park, we learn about the life, music and legacy of Okwy’s late father. We also learn about Okwy’s life in the United States, and his new album Igbo Amaka, and hear tracks from both father and son. It’s a Nigerian highlife extravaganza for the 21st century.

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 historian Gwendolyn Midlo Hall (1929-2022), who gave us the tools to understand the making of Afro-Louisiana. Produced by Ned Sublette. APWW #467

Jazz legend, Randy Weston, 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. Produced by Sean Barlow and Banning Eyre. APWW #789

Planet Afropop closes out 2023 with a focus on celebratory music from the Democratic Republic of Congo. First, Mukwae notes some of the year’s trends in global African pop. Then we go to the streets of Kinshasa with live music from Kin’Gongolo Kinyata, recorded at WOMEX 2023 in Spain. And we end at the 35th Anniversary Dance Party at SOB’s in New York City, with Samba Mapangala and Soukous Stars. It’s a rollicking finale to an eventful year in African music.

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 the experiences of listeners and players, providing deep insight into many varieties of tarab. We hear works by A.J. Racy, Sabah Fakhri and Ensemble Al-Kindi of Syria. APWW #424

In 1999, almost 30 years before ethnomusicologist Paul Berliner began his research on Zimbabwean mbira music, he organized a U.S. tour with mbira artists he had worked with over the years. Billed as the Mbira Masters of Zimbabwe, the ensemble presented Shona spiritual music as never before on American stages. Revered vocalists Hakurotwi Mude and Beulah Dyoko fronted an ensemble that also included Cosmas Magaya, Chaka Chawasarira and Berliner himself. Afropop Worldwide documented the tour and took it as an opportunity to take a deep dive into one of the most beautiful traditional music traditions in Africa. Produced by Banning Eyre. APWW #327

Burkina Faso in West Africa is a nation on the rise. Amid recent political turmoil, it faces the challenge and opportunity of managing vast mineral wealth, including gold. As promising as these riches are, Georges, Mukwae and Banning focus here on the country’s multicultural musical riches. We hear music from the late Baba Commandant and the Mandingo band, as well as interviews and live music from Dicko Fils and the Sahel punk experimental outfit, Avalanche Kaito. Open your ears to a too-often-overlooked major player in West African music. Episode #007

Gnawa musicians have carved out a unique niche within Moroccan society, as people with revered spiritual power who use music and movement to heal the sick. The Gnawas’ ancestors came to North Africa as slaves. Today they are an elite class of musicians and spiritualists, celebrated in an annual festival that attracts some 400,000 fans, and invited to collaborate with such notable international artists as jazz legend Randy Weston. In this program, originally produced in 2009, author and scholar Deborah Kapchan guides us through the history, practices, music, lore and unique contemporary stature of the Gnawa, both in Morocco and on the world stage. Interviews with Hassan Hakmoun, historian Mohammed Ennaji, and gnawa scholar Tim Abdella Fuson. Produced by Banning Eyre. APWW #580

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 language book on Changüí, and we update the story with Changüí fusions into jazz, salsa and hip-hop. Prepare to dance! Produced by Banning Eyre. APWW # 840

Mr. Eazi stands out among today’s Nigerian pop stars in a number of ways. For starters, in a world of musical dreamers and schemers, he never set out to be a musician. Now, the 29-year-old is one of the most innovative and respected artists in the Afrobeats universe. His 2023 album The Evil Genius is an ambitious concept album recorded in a variety of mostly African countries. Each of its 16 tracks has an accompanying artwork by a different African visual artist. And there’s more, as you will hear in Eazi’s extensive interview with Planet Afropop’s Banning Eyre. Episode #006

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’s autobiography. Produced by Banning Eyre. APWW #815