Podcast
Afropop Worldwide
Hosted by Afropop Worldwide · EN
Afropop Worldwide is an internationally syndicated weekly radio series, online guide to African and world music, and an international music archive, that has introduced American listeners to the music cultures of Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean since 1988. Our radio program is hosted by Georges Collinet from Cameroon, the radio series is distributed by Public Radio International to 110 stations in the U.S., via XM satellite radio, in Africa via and Europe via Radio Multikulti.
31episodes
Episodes
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Hip Deep Angola Part 1: Music and Nation in Luanda
5d ago00:59:04Tap to summarizeWe explore the role music played in the creation of a uniquely Angolan consciousness as the country struggled toward independence in the 1960s and ‘70s after centuries of colonialism. Our guides will be producer Ned Sublette, on the ground in Angola, and Dr. Marissa Moorman, historian of southern Africa, and author of Intonations: A Social History of Music in Luanda, Angola from 1945 to Recent Times. We’ll hear the pathbreaking group Ngola Ritmos, who dared sing songs in Kimbundu publicly when it was prohibited by the Portuguese. We’ll hear immortal voices from the age when the guitar-driven style called semba ruled, as well as some snazzy ‘60s guitar instrumentals. Produced by Ned Sublette APWW #647
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A Tale of Two Rebellions - Zanj, Fatamid
2w ago00:59:04Tap to summarizeOur Hip Deep edition “A Tale of Two Rebellions,” produced in August, 2007, recounts the stories of two remarkable military campaigns in early Islamic history. Both uprisings take place in the late 9th century, both involve Africans as key players, and both set the scene for the crystallization of the Sunni-Shi’ite divide in Islam, which of course continues to this day. Produced by Banning Eyre APWW #535
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Africans in the Persian Gulf
3w ago00:59:04Tap to summarizeScholar and author Joseph Braude guides us through the often overlooked popular music of the Persian Gulf, the music known as Khaliji. We learn about the Africans of places like Bahrain and Kuwait - slaves of yore - their free descendents, and more recent waves of African immigrants, notably from Sudan. This episode features spectacular historic recordings, such as the songs of the all but disappeared pearl divers, a well as Khaliji hits by the likes of Abdullah al-Ruwaished and Areel Abou Bakr. Produced by Banning Eyre APWW #520
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Celebrating Toumani Diabaté
4w ago00:59:04Tap to summarizeToumani Diabaté, the most celebrated kora player of his time, passed away in July, 2024, just days before his 59thbirthday. Afropop Worldwide was blessed to call Toumani a friend for over 30 years and to interview him some 15 times, often at his home in Bamako, Mali. In this episode we celebrate a life of massive virtuosity, creativity and innovation. Toumani overcame daunting obstacles and extended the global reach of this venerable West African harp as no one else has ever done. We hear the voice and music of Toumani at many points in his storied career, along with commentary from his longtime producer and friend, Lucy Durán. Produced by Banning Eyre. APWW #879
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The Tropical Soul of Jorge Ben Jor
Apr 2300:59:04Tap to summarizeJorge Ben Jor first began to experiment with fusions of samba, bossa nova, rhythm ‘n’ blues and soul in the early 1960s. Together with Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, he participated in the watershed cultural movement, Tropicália, in the late 1960s. In the 1970s, he further explored Afro-Brazilian history and culture in a series of popular albums that have since become key points of reference for a contemporary neo-soul movement. Jorge Ben Jor continues to be an active presence in Brazilian popular music, and he grants us a rare interview to tell his story. The program is produced by Sean Barlow and coproduced with Christopher Dunn, author of Brutality Garden: Tropicália and the Emergence of a Brazilian Counterculture (University of North Carolina Press, 2001) as part of Afropop Worldwide’s Hip Deep series. Produced by Sean Barlow & Christopher Dunn APWW #430
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Dakar Dancing and Casamance Roots, Afropop Returns to Senegal
Apr 1600:59:04Tap to summarizeAfropop returns to Senegal for a thrill-packed tour of Dakar nightlife and a first time visit to the rich traditional music tapestry of Casamance. We check in with Youssou N’Dour, Baaba Maal and Cheikh Lo, and meet stars like Cheikh Ibra Fam, Dieyla, Sahad and mbalax heartthrob Pape Diouf. In Casamance, we experience the frenzy of a female fertility ritual and the serenity of the Diebate kora family. It’s a classic Afropop field adventure, with nonstop music. Produced by Banning Eyre APWW #878
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The Art of Improvisation, Part 2
Apr 1000:59:04Tap to summarizeMusical improvisation comes in many forms. A jazz player creates within the harmonic structure of a composition. A Shona mbira player in Zimbabwe improvises interactively with another player, and the audience, in some cases, an ancestor spirit. An Arabic maqam musician works within the elaborate set of rules governing the movement of melodies within one or more particular maqamat, or modes. How are these musicians’ experience the same? And how are they different? Musicians and scholars weigh in on this Hip Deep episode. Produced by Banning Eyre. APWW #485
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The Art of Improvisation, Part 1
Apr 200:59:04Tap to summarizeThis Hip Deep episode is Part 1 of a two-part series comparing and contrasting approaches to musical improvisation. Beginning and ending with bebop and free jazz, Part 1 takes sidetrips into Ghanaian percussion traditions, Mande string and vocal music, and solo taqsim improvisation in Arabic music. With insights from UCLA’s A.J. Racy and Wesleyan University’s Eric Charry, among others, we launch a provocative and revealing meditation on spontaneity in the world’s music traditions. APWW #454 Produced by Banning Eyre
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Women's History Month: Umm Kulthum, The Voice of Egypt
Mar 2600:59:04Tap to summarizeUmm Kulthum has been called the greatest singer in the Arabic speaking world in the 20th century. Born in 1904 the humble daughter of an Egyptian village imam, she went on to become a glamorous Cairo celebrity in her 20s, and soon after that, a cultural icon whose monthly live radio broadcasts brought much of Egypt to a standstill. She turned high poetry into popular culture. She extended musical forms with her virtuoso, extended vocal improvisations. Combining historical, religious, literary and musical passions, she inspired an enduring sense of national pride and left a legacy for the ages. Millions gathered for her 1975 funeral. With Umm Kulthum biographer Virginia Danielson as guide and guest, this program explores the life and music of a musical legend. Produced by Banning Eyre APWW #465
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Women's History Month: Hip Deep in Mali - Growing Into Music in 21st Century Bamako
Mar 1900:59:04Tap to summarizeThis program presents a musical portrait of Bamako in the wake of crisis. We explore the precarious lives of griots in Bamako in the early 21st Century. The program draws on the groundbreaking documentary work of Lucy Duran, exploring how hereditary musicians apprentice and grow in various cultural contexts. In this case, we focus on the upbringing and education of children in these hereditary griot (djeli) families of historian-entertainers. Produced by Banning Eyre in 2016 APWW #731
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