Audio Programs

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.

Hip Deep March 15, 2018

Roots and Future: A History of U.K. Dance

Building on prior Hip Deep explorations of the origins of house and techno in the American Midwest, “Roots and Future” explores how a community of (primarily) black British musicians, fans, D.J.s, and radio pirates recreated dance music in the United Kingdom during the 1990s and 2000s.

Closeup February 6, 2018

What’s in a Nigerian Name?

Nigerian musicians almost all have stage names and in this audio program we explore the history of why that is.

Hip Deep February 1, 2018

Reimagining Jazz in Africa: Cape Town Cosmopolitans and Beyond

How jazz music came back to Africa, South Africa in particular, by way of America.

Closeup January 23, 2018

The Voice of Protest: Betsayda Machado Sings Against Hunger in Venezuela

Closeup January 9, 2018

“For My Ayeeyo:” Learning Somali Poetry From a Distance

Amal Hussein and Hamdi Mohamed have a lot in common. Both were born in Kenya, where their parents fled as refugees during the Somali Civil War, and both came to Boston when they were just a few years old. They’re both poets — and equally important for this story — both their grandmothers are poets...

Closeup December 26, 2017

Underground

Underneath the streets of New York City, in the tunnels and stations of the busiest subway system in the country, there is a thriving music scene. Amidst the noise of passing trains, we meet Papa Fara, a Cameroonian xylophonist and singer, who plays for tips and captures the love of strangers and makes friends with his quick, warm smile. But, behind the smile and beautiful melodies, something is troubling Papa Fara. There’s a reason he’d rather be underground.

Hip Deep December 14, 2017

Thomas Mapfumo 2: The Mugabe Years

In recognition of the end of Robert Mugabe's 37-year rule in Zimbabwe, we are rebroadcasting our program on the career of Thomas Mapfumo during the Mugabe years.

Closeup December 12, 2017

Biafra at 50: A Wound That Does Not Heal

We examine how the unresolved issues that triggered the devastating Biafran War in the 1960s still resonate and persist in the Niger Delta today on this Afropop Closeup.

Closeup November 28, 2017

Kizito Mihigo and the Politics of Music in Post-Genocide Rwanda

Kizito Mihigo is one of Rwanda’s most beloved singers, yet he is currently imprisoned, serving a 10-year sentence for treason. In 2014, Mihigo released a song which criticized the wartime actions of Rwanda’s governing political party. The song went viral, sparking a nationwide dialogue around the genocide, and weeks later, Mihigo was arrested on charges of conspiracy to assassinate the president of Rwanda, Paul Kagame.

Closeup November 14, 2017

Night at the Clash

Sound clashes have been a mainstay of reggae culture for decades. Mobile sound system teams face off to see who can best move the crowd with their selections of records and exclusive "dub plate" jingles. On a recent late night in Queens, seven sounds competed for the U.S. champion title, and many were surprised by the winner. We meet the sound-system operators and talk to fans about why they love the clash scene. Produced by Noah Schaffer.

Hip Deep November 9, 2017

Hip Deep Angola 2: Kuduro and Beyond

In this Hip Deep program, join producer Ned Sublette on the streets of Angola’s big, smoggy, oil-booming capital city of Luanda. Peace came to Angola in 2002 after forty-two years of war, and now everything is different, with construction under way everywhere.

Hip Deep November 2, 2017

Hip Deep Angola1: Music and Nation in Luanda

This Hip Deep program explores 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.

Closeup October 31, 2017

Shackled Love: LGBT Asylum Seekers in the U.K.

Hip Deep October 19, 2017

Riqueza del Barrio: Puerto Rican Music in the United States

“Riqueza del Barrio,” produced by Ned Sublette explores Puerto Rico’s distinctive cultural identity as expressed through flavorful music.

Closeup October 17, 2017

Black, Greek and Proud: Negros Tou Moria

Ghanaian-Greek rapper Negros Tou Moria is carving out new territory and challenging stereotypes with rap music that is deeply rooted in Greek language and culture.

Closeup October 3, 2017

Afro-Symphonic Folk: From the Coasts of Africa to the San Francisco Bay

Two very different Bay Area artists, Meklit Hadero and Zena Carlota, use their music to explore what it means to live on two sides of a hyphen: African-American, black-artist, Ethiopian-American, female-musician, to name a few.

Closeup September 19, 2017

Rushin’ to Bacchanal: When Caribbean Festivals Collide

Closeup September 5, 2017

Haiti's Fight For Copyright

Closeup August 15, 2017

Soundin' Like Weself: The Trinidadian Rapso Tradition

Here we encounter the musical and philosophical movement called rapso–an infectiously danceable rhythmic oration style that comes with a philosophy championing a Trinidadian identity in the face of a colonial history and a globalized present.

Closeup July 25, 2017

Salaam, Amani, Peace: Festivals in Goma, DR Congo

In a context of ongoing violence and N.G.O. intervention in Eastern Congo, a festival culture is emerging based on the concept of “peace-building” through the arts.