Afropop Worldwide Staging | Audio Programs

Hip Deep July 6, 2023

Mali: Ancient Empires to Multi-Cultural Democracy

Closeup July 4, 2023

Jacqueline Crooks’s Fire Rush

Hip Deep February 16, 2023

The Prehistory of New Orleans Music - Treasures from the Hogan

This program tells the story of how jazz emerged in the context of all the other African American musics that proliferated in late 19th and early 20th century New Orleans: blues, ragtime, Mardi Gras Indian music, vaudeville and minstrelsy, spiritual church music, and more.

Hip Deep February 9, 2023

Bangkok After Dark: The Story of Maurice Rocco

Jazz pianist Maurice Rocco was a star of American nightclubs and Hollywood films in the 1930s-40s, playing in an ecstatic, stand-up style that left a deep impression on rock and roll.

Closeup November 15, 2022

Ladama in the Studio

Ladama is a collective of four female musicians and activists from Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela and the U.S. Drawing on traditions from all these countries and beyond, they create original music with the zest of soul, r&b and pop

Closeup November 1, 2022

Agua y Luz: Music of Tumaco and the Afro Colombian Pacific

Currulao is the traditional music of Colombia’s majority-Black, southern Pacific coastal region

Closeup October 18, 2022

Bacardi Beats of Pretoria

Bacardi music a sub genre from kwaito to the latest amapiano hits. In this episode, we travel to Pretoria, South Africa, to discover a little-known link in the complex chain of genres:

Closeup October 5, 2022

Suso: Gambia's Global Griots

Susso is a collaborative project between the Suso and Kuyateh Griot families of Gambia, in particular Yusupha and Ansumana Suso, Jabou Kuyateh and U.K. producer and bassist Huw Bennett.

Closeup September 28, 2022

Geraldo Pino and Fela Kuti in Ghana

Geraldo Pino was an early influence on Fela Kuti in Ghana.

Closeup September 20, 2022

Jamaa Fest, Sierra Leone's Forgotten Festival

Yinka Rickford-Anguin tells the story of Jamaa fest in Sierra Leone in 1994.

Closeup September 8, 2022

Mauritius’s Sega Roots

Deep dive into the history and current state of sega music from Mauritius. Narrated and produced by Banning Eyre

Closeup August 23, 2022

Afrobeats By the Bay

Closeup August 9, 2022

Making Waves: A Congolese Guitarist Tests His Range

Abë Levine tells the story of Congolese guitarist Siama Matazungidi.

Closeup July 26, 2022

The Cavemen: Highlife in the Age of Afrobeats

Fay Fay profiles the young Nigerian highlife act, The Cavemen.

Closeup July 12, 2022

The Rise of Hip-Hop in Malawi

Kenneth Lipanga and Banning Eyre unpack the history of hip-hop in Malawi.

Hip Deep February 3, 2022

Egypt 4: Living Traditions

Hip Deep January 6, 2022

A Tango With Robert Farris Thompson

Closeup November 16, 2021

The Kwaito Generation

Closeup November 2, 2021

Echoes of Yaa Amponsah

Closeup October 20, 2021

Learning Congolese Guitar

Dive into the history and mechanics of Congolese guitar, one of the pearls of African music.

Closeup October 6, 2021

Franco Speaks (1985)

In 1985, when Afropop Worldwide was but a gleam in his eye, Sean Barlow sat down with Luambo Makiadi Franco, one of the greatest African bandleaders of all time.

Closeup September 21, 2021

Kakuma Sounds

Kenyan music producer Treynor Tumwa and American musician/scholar Mark LeVine work to provide traditional instruments to Kakuma Refugee Camp, virtual city of people displaced by three decades of war in East and Central Africa.

Closeup September 10, 2021

Yasmin Williams—Guitar Hero To Guitar Hero

Innovative acoustic guitarist Yasmin Williams talks to producer Ben Richmond about her influences, her unique instrumentation, and forging her own path as a young Black woman artist in a genre dominated by white dudes.

Closeup August 24, 2021

The Lyres of East Africa

Known by names like krar, kisara, tambur, simsimiyya and masinkob, the lyres of East Africa represent some of the world’s oldest string instruments, and Otaak Band founder Miguel Merino dives in on this week's Closeup.

Closeup August 10, 2021

A Conversation with Kwaito/Hip-Hop Artist Simphy

Closeup July 27, 2021

Jazz re:Freshed in London

Prior to the pandemic, London’s jazz scene was blooming and gaining a worldwide reputation for innovation. The folks at Jazz Refreshed had everything to do with that. Jazz singer and producer Tess Hirst tells the story.

Closeup July 13, 2021

Closeup: Miss Pat Chin

At 80, Miss Pat looks back on a legendary life.

Hip Deep June 10, 2021

Hip Deep Angola 4: The Cuban Intervention in Angola

This Hip Deep program delves into the complex history of Cuba's intervention in Angoa's civil war.

Hip Deep May 13, 2021

Hip Deep Angola Part 3: A Spiritual Journey to Mbanza-Kongo

In this Hip Deep program, Ned Sublette takes a deep dive into Mbanza-Kongo spiritual tradition and music.

Hip Deep May 6, 2021

The Money Show

In this episode we look at the business side of African music, through a series of vignettes from around the continent and diaspora that illuminate the deep connections between musical creation and the economies that sustain it.