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Afropop Worldwide

PRI

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.

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.

Location:

Brooklyn, NY

Networks:

PRI

Description:

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.

Twitter:

@afropopww

Language:

English

Contact:

(718) 398-2733

Episodes

Crate Diggers And Remixers

1/21/2021
A vast, new world of DJs, record collectors and producers are going to far reaches of the Earth to find forgotten records and new styles of music. Their discoveries are then brought back home, remixed, repackaged and re-released to be heard by an entirely new audience. We speak to some of these globetrotting DJ and producers Chief Boima and Geko Jones to hear about their experiences, the music they’ve discovered and how they go about remixing some of these styles in order to create a new and...

Duration:00:58:59

The Other Afro-Latino: Hidden Sounds from Ecuador, Bolivia and Uruguay

1/14/2021
Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian musical giants have long enjoyed the spotlight, yet throughout Latin America there are other black enclaves producing some of the New World's most vibrant music. Their stories have gone untold for far too long. In this episode, Afropop explores these lost sounds, starting in an Ecuadorian desert valley where African and Andean traditions have mixed seamlessly into fiery dance music. Then we're off to mangrove-studded Esmeraldas to search out the last marimba...

Duration:00:58:59

Umm Kulthum - The Voice Of Egypt

1/7/2021
Umm 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,...

Duration:00:58:59

2020 Highlights

12/24/2020
2020 has been a year like no other. Tours and concerts have been cancelled, and future plans remain up in the air. Just the same, a great deal of fantastic music has emerged from Africa and the diaspora. In their annual tradition, Georges Collinet and Banning Eyre take stock of the year’s offerings, covering an ever-growing array of styles and artistic movements. Not exactly a “best of the year” show, but you can be sure to hear artists and sounds you won’t find anywhere else! Produced by...

Duration:00:58:59

New Sounds From Nigeria 2020

12/17/2020
Nigeria is today 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, and sample action on the Afrobeat scene. We also speak with key artists in Nigeria and the U.S. about the rising social activism among Nigerian artists in the era of the EndSARS movement against police...

Duration:00:58:59

Reggaetón and Race

11/26/2020
The dembow, the beat behind reggaetón, is much more than just a backdrop for a night of partying and dancing. The style of music, widely associated with Puerto Rico and forged from a mixture of Jamaican dancehall, Panamanian reggae en español, and American hip hop, has always existed as a form of social and political resistance, and continues to do so in 2020. And as such, it has endured constant attempts to criminalize, censor, and police both the music and those who consume it, from the...

Duration:00:58:59

Sao Paulo Migrations: Hybrid Musical Resistance in Brazil’s Alpha City

11/19/2020
Brazil’s economic and artistic powerhouse, São Paulo is a true megapolis, being the largest city in Latin America and fourth largest city in the world. Built on successive waves of immigration, it’s a melting pot of cultures, viewpoints and musical beats with a flourishing alternate arts scene that includes vibrant poetry slams, renowned street art and an incredible array of music forms that push against established hierarchies of race, class, gender and sexual orientation. In this...

Duration:00:58:59

The Mighty Amazon

11/5/2020
The Amazon River basin has long been a mystery to Brazil. Located far from the centers of business and power in the nation's southeast, the jungle provinces of the Brazilian north have long been ignored by the nation at large. But recently, Brazilians have discovered that the cities and waterways of the Amazon are home to some of the nation's hottest music. In this Hip Deep episode—a musical history of Pará state, where Afro-Caribbean influences have created a unique local flavor that...

Duration:00:58:59

822 The Story Of Baobab

10/29/2020
Fifty years ago, the president of Senegal’s nephew was putting together a band for his new, upscale Dakar nightclub, and he recruited a handful of musicians who are still together today. Combining elements from their homes across West Africa into lush Afro-Cuban arrangements, the Orchestra Baobab became one of the continent's top bands. Follow the group from the rough recordings made in Club Baobab, through their breakup and verdant 21st century revival, enjoying their mastery of everything...

Duration:00:58:59

GC's DJ Roadshow - From Kwaito To Amapiano

10/22/2020
In this episode, Georges Collinet inaugurates a traveling talent search introducing guest deejays and producers with unique perspectives on global African music. First up is Matthew Key—a.k.a. DJ M-Point—host of "The Loxion Music Mix Show" on WESU FM in Middletown, CT. Key has been absorbed in South Africa’s post-apartheid pop music for 22 years, and he takes us on a tour through a succession of genres, starting with kwaito, the country’s joyous, jazzy response to long awaited freedom, and...

Duration:00:58:59

Quelbe - Hidden Treasure Of The Caribbean

10/15/2020
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 part of why traditional music and dance forms have remained strong on St. Croix. Meet bandleaders...

Duration:00:58:59

The Afro Roots Virtual Fest 2020 in Miami

9/24/2020
Miami is still in lockdown mode for large gatherings but we don't let that stop us as we travel, virtually, to Miami's beautiful open air, art deco North Beach Bandshell right across from the Atlantic Ocean. Enjoy highlights from the just completed Afro Roots Virtual Fest featuring the city's leading globally grooving artists. Crank it up! Johnny Dread of Cuban/Rasta heritage opens up with his original mix of classic reggae, rock and international sounds. Cortadito, called the best Latin act...

Duration:00:59:00

819 Live from the Archive

9/17/2020
When Afropop Worldwide launched back in 1988, a key goal was to capture the live energy of incredible artists emerging from Africa, the Caribbean and beyond. Most of those recordings were preserved on reel-to-reel tapes. The coronavirus lockdown has given us a chance to start revisiting and preserving. And we have been amazed to rediscover the energy of that thrilling era. On this music-rich program of concerts recorded live at S.O.Bs in New York City, we hear from Congo’s Papa Wemba, South...

Duration:00:59:00

Baaba Maal Acoustic Live In NYC

9/10/2020
Baaba Maal has toured the world, backed by his electric group, Daande Lenol. Sometimes he has performed as an acoustic duo with his longtime musical partner, Mansour Seck, on guitars and vocals. And rarely, Baaba has assembled a large acoustic group featuring guitars and traditional instruments. We caught such a moment at one of our all time favorite live recordings, Baaba and his acoustic big band performing at Joe's Pub in New York City. Beautiful! [APWW #383] [Originally aired in 2014]

Duration:00:58:59

Thomas Mapfumo Live in NYC at SOB's

9/3/2020
In 1991, Thomas Mapfumo and the Blacks Unlimited made their second tour of the United States. It was a fascinating transitional moment in the band’s history. Mapfumo had recently added two musicians playing the metal-pronged, Shona mbira, enriching the band’s lineup of guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, brass and percussion. The band had now evolved into a kind of folk orchestra in which everyone sang, allowing for beautifully layered vocal arrangements. This recording, made by Afropop...

Duration:00:58:59

Afropop Closeup: Pana-Soul Crooner Ralph Weeks’s Enduring Classic “Something Deep Inside”

9/1/2020
Soul singer and multi-instrumentalist Ralph Weeks left Panama for Brooklyn, New York, when he was 17. Today he's a hearty 77, and still takes the stage with his finely honed falsetto to offer the enduring classic of a song he wrote more than 50 years ago, "Something Deep Inside." The song has passed through various renditions over the years and, in this podcast, Weeks lifts the hood on the creative process that led to a classic, with enthusiasm and an easy laugh. Produced by Steve Burkholder.

Duration:00:30:50

818 Lockdown Serenade

8/27/2020
For all those stuck at home or stressed out during these uncertain times, here’s an hour of uplifting music from Mali, Cuba and South Africa. Vusi Mahlasela, Alex Cuba, Afel Bocoum and Oumou Sangare have all known the travails of personal pain and political turmoil. And yet all find the strength and vision to create music that soothes and reassures even as it moves dancing feet. On this program, we hear fresh music and words from all four. Produced by Banning Eyre and Sean Barlow.

Duration:00:58:59

Abidjan: A New Musical El Dorado

8/20/2020
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 group’s front man Asalfo has launched an annual music festival in Abidjan, FEMUA. On this...

Duration:00:58:59

Afropop Closeup: Everything Transforms

8/18/2020
Two new bands, one from Morocco and one from Tunisia, are mixing jazz, funk, and rock with centuries-old ritual music with roots in the trans-Saharan slave trade. It rocks, but what does it mean for the tradition? Afropop talks with both bands about the divergent ways that they negotiate innovation and conservation. Produced by Sebastian Bouknight and Lauren Shenkman.

Duration:00:22:57

Ancient Text Messages - Batá Drums In A Changing World

8/13/2020
In Africa, drums don't only play rhythms, they send messages. “Ancient Text Messages: Batá Drums in a Changing World” explores an endangered tradition of drum speech in Nigeria, and how that tradition changed and thrived in Cuba, where large numbers of enslaved Yoruba arrived in the 19th century. Producer Ned Sublette speaks with ethnomusicologist Amanda Villepastour, language technician Tunde Adegbola, and drummer Kenneth Schweitzer about how language and music overlap. Produced by Ned...

Duration:00:58:59

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