Afropop Worldwide Staging | Audio Programs

Closeup September 1, 2020

“Something Deep Inside,” Pana-Soul Crooner Ralph Weeks’s Enduring Classic

"Something Deep Inside" has passed through various renditions over the years and, in this podcast, Pana-Soul singer Ralph Weeks lifts the hood on the creative process that led to a classic, with enthusiasm and an easy laugh.

Hip Deep August 13, 2020

Ancient Text Messages: Batá Drums in a Changing World

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.

Closeup August 5, 2020

Art Is Freedom: A Conversation With Criolo

Closeup July 21, 2020

Johnny and Sipho: A Friendship Made on Earth

Hip Deep July 9, 2020

Africa and the Blues

In this Hip Deep edition, Banning Eyre and Gerhard Kubik explore the connections between Africa and American blues.

Hip Deep April 16, 2020

Edo Highlife: Culture, Politics and Progressive Traditionalism

In this Hip Deep program, we'll hear how Edo highlife musicians have found sustainable careers by simultaneously rooting their music in their local communities and appealing to diasporic enclaves in Europe and the United States.

Hip Deep February 20, 2020

Diaspora Encounters: The Indo Caribbean World

In this Hip Deep program, Peter Manuel reveals Indian music incorporated into the multi-cultural mix of the Caribbean.

Hip Deep October 24, 2019

Hip Deep in Madagascar: Songs of the North

Closeup September 10, 2019

Bolsonaro Is and Isn't

On this week's season finale CloseUp, we step out of the American bubble, and look at who Bolsonaro is, who his targets are, and how he rose to power.

Closeup August 20, 2019

Closeup: French Afro-Colonial Memory and Music

In this CloseUp we look at the legacy of French colonialism in West Africa, Cameroon in particular, and the musicians who are uncovering what some wish to forget.

Closeup August 6, 2019

Barrio Colón to Brooklyn

This podcast is a deep dive into New York City's Afro-Cuban rumba scene in Brooklyn.

Closeup July 23, 2019

Doing it For the Art: Manolo Raps in Cape Verde

At the 2019 Atlantic Music Expo in Cape Verde, Afropop's Sebastian Bouknight met Manolo, a longtime rapper who is trying to find a foothold in the country's overcrowded music scene.

Closeup July 9, 2019

Afropop Goes to the Grammys

Visit the 2019 Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles and hear from the nominees in the World Music category, Fatoumata Diawara, Bombino, The Soweto Gospel Choir, Seun Kuti and Yiddish Glory.

Closeup June 26, 2019

Lazarus: Messenger of Hope

Hip Deep December 27, 2018

Lebanon 2: Diasporas

Closeup October 9, 2018

Gael Faye and the New Generation of Afropean Artists

Hip Deep September 20, 2018

Music and History in The Two Sudans

Closeup September 18, 2018

Kidnapped! Ambassador Osayomore Joseph

Closeup September 5, 2018

We Are All Worthy of One Another

Closeup August 14, 2018

Skippy White: A Vinyl Life

Hip Deep August 2, 2018

Cuban Counterpoint of Tobacco and Sugar: Sacred Musical Spaces in Western Cuba

Ned Sublette takes a group of travelers, including you, to multiple sites in western Cuba to analyze the musical impact of what Ortiz called the "Cuban counterpoint" of tobacco and sugar.

Closeup July 31, 2018

Nha Mundo: The Sound of Cova da Moura

Closeup July 17, 2018

Asante Drum Language

Closeup July 3, 2018

Reggae Takes Root in Germany

Afropop Closeup: Season 3

Closeup June 19, 2018

Thomas Mapfumo: The Enigma of Return

Hip Deep June 14, 2018

The Nature of Trance

In this program, we explore the phenomenon of trance through a survey of musical and spiritual traditions, discover how different cultural and spiritual ideas are expressed musically, how the mathematical complexity of mbira dzavuzimu music may lead to Shona spirit possession, and how experiments in neural imaging give us insight into how the brain works in a state of trance.

Closeup June 5, 2018

Carnival Goes Digital

Closeup May 22, 2018

Tobago's #MeToo Trailblazer: Calypso Rose

In this Afropop Closeup, correspondent Dan Rosenberg talks with Calypso Rose about using music as a weapon for social change.

Hip Deep May 10, 2018

Lagos and the Rise of Nigerian Afrobeats

Lagos and the Rise of Nigerian Afrobeats tells the story of the birth and development of this scene straight from the influential and foundational figures who lived it including 2Face Idibia, Iyanya, Yemi Alade, Adekunle Gold, Flavour and more.

Hip Deep May 3, 2018

Lagos Roots: Fuji, Juju and Apala

Beneath the gloss of Nigeria’s contemporary pop, older roots styles, mostly derived from Yoruba tradition, still thrive.