Afropop Worldwide

Musicians everywhere adapt stage names. They can be profound, grandiose or simply humorous, but they always represent a way of distinguishing the artist from the person. In Nigeria, there’s something special going on with stage names. For one thing, they are nearly universal. They can also change over the course of an artist’s career. And they reflect the realities of Nigeria’s complex history, under British colonialism, military rule and the recent democratic period. Stage names riff on the domains of business, religion, politics, the military and the far reaches of the unique Nigerian imagination. This podcast offers a whimsical tour of contemporary artist names in this diverse musical nation. Produced by Banning Eyre.

In recognition of the recent death of South African maestro Hugh Masekela, we revisit a program that touches on one of his earliest musical landmarks, The Jazz Epistles. It’s no secret that the distant roots of American jazz lay in Africa. But how did Afro-America’s revolutionary sound reshape African music? On this Hip Deep edition, we examine how African artists found a modern, global voice using jazz as inspiration. Author Carol Muller tells the story of Abdullah Ibrahim, whose prolific career was launched with “Duke Ellington Presents the Dollar Brand Trio” followed by “Anatomy of a South African Village Suite.” We dig into the political significance of the U.S. State Department tours of Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, and how their visit to Africa underscored the greater fight for social justice for blacks around the world. Senegalese music scholar Timothy Mangin explains West Africa's attraction to American big band music. Finally, jazz and African music scholar Ingrid Monson tells the story of jazz in Ethiopia and Nigeria, and how this American tradition sculpted the sounds of such luminaries as Mulatu Astatke and Fela Kuti.

As we begin our year of celebrating Afropop Worldwide's 30th anniversary on the air, we take a special look back at some highlights of our long run on public radio. We return to our past visits to South Africa, Congo, Senegal, Mali, Cuba, and check in with the hippest hip-hop artists we caught performing at Nuits d'Afrique and Mawazine. Produced by Sean Barlow and Banning Eyre. Follow Afropop Worldwide on Facebook at www.facebook.com/afropop, on Instagram @afropopworldwide and on Twitter @afropopww. Subscribe to the Afropop Worldwide newsletter at www.afropop.org/newsletter/ APWW PGM #771 Distributed 1/25/2018

The songs of Betsayda Machado, the leading voice of Afro-Venezuelan music, address many of the most painful topics of daily life of her country: hunger, poverty, shortages of basic medicine, and deadly street riots – stemming from the current economic and political crisis in Venezuela. They talk about its consequences on a gut level: empty store shelves, and the devastation of parents unable to feed their children. Some in Venezuela who have spoken out have faced retribution, but that hasn’t deterred Betsayda Machado. Produced by Dan Rosenberg. About the producer: Dan Rosenberg is a journalist and music producer based in Toronto, Canada. He reports and music and culture for The Huffington Post, The Times (UK), The Rough Guides and various public radio programs including “Afropop Worldwide” and “Café International”. He also has produced over 60 albums including Yiddish Glory and dozens of releases for the Rough Guide to World Music series. Follow Afropop Worldwide on Facebook at www.facebook.com/afropop, on Instagram @afropopworldwide and on Twitter @afropopww. Subscribe to the Afropop Worldwide newsletter at www.afropop.org/newsletter/ S2:E11 Afropop Closeup Distributed 1/23/2018

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. But there’s one crucial difference in the two women's stories. Hamdi grew up with her grandmother ("ayeeyo" in Somali") in the house, whispering poems in her ears. Amal has only known her grandmother on the phone — she stayed behind when the rest of the family fled. Nevertheless, it is the distant words and stories of her grandmother that inspire Amal to take on the challenge of writing her first Somali poem. Produced by Ian Coss. This program was produced in partnership with The New American Songbook podcast from The GroundTruth Project. Follow Afropop Worldwide on Facebook at www.facebook.com/afropop, on Instagram @afropopworldwide and on Twitter @afropopww. Subscribe to the Afropop Worldwide newsletter at www.afropop.org/newsletter/ S2:E10 Afropop Closeup Distributed 1/09/2018

This program presents a musical portrait of Bamako in the wake of crisis. In 2012-13, Islamists occupied the north and a coup d’etat threatened a recent history of functioning democracy. With borders restored and a new elected government in place, we find musical life returning with festivals, nightclub shows and street weddings. But that picture hides darker realities. Ethnomusicologist Lucy Durán has been studying the oral transmission of music in various countries, notably among griot families in Mali. With her guidance, we explore the precarious lives of griots in today’s Bamako, focusing on the upbringing and education of children in these hereditary families of historian-entertainers. Elders and traditionalists say the griot tradition has been corrupted beyond hope, and even advise their young to pursue different professions. Others persist, within an environment where growing religious conservatism puts increasing pressure on the lives and careers of all musicians. We meet three extraordinarily talented griot children, and hear music and reflections from kora master Toumani Diabaté and his massively popular songwriter son, Sidiki. And we get a fascinating historical perspective from Gregory Mann, professor of history at Columbia University. Produced by Banning Eyre. Follow Afropop Worldwide on Facebook at www.facebook.com/afropop, on Instagram @afropopworldwide and on Twitter @afropopww. Subscribe to the Afropop Worldwide newsletter at www.afropop.org/newsletter/ APWW #731 Distributed 1/11/2018

In hard times and boom times, people in Ghana know how to party. In this program, we hear the regional pop and neotraditional music that animates festivals, funerals and community celebrations across the county. We travel to the lush Volta region in the east to hear Ewe borborbor, agbadza and brass band music. In the northern city of Tamale, we hear Dagbani traditional music, hip-hop and pop, and visit the vibrant Damba chieftaincy festival in nearby Yendi. Back in the bustling metropolis, Accra, we get down to the latest pop hits and underground styles moving hips in the capital city. Produced by Morgan Greenstreet. Follow Afropop Worldwide on Facebook at www.facebook.com/afropop, on Instagram @afropopworldwide and on Twitter @afropopww. Subscribe to the Afropop Worldwide newsletter at www.afropop.org/newsletter/ APWW PGM #745 Distributed 12/28/2017

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. Produced by Morgan Greenstreet. Follow Afropop Worldwide on Facebook at www.facebook.com/afropop, on Instagram @afropopworldwide and on Twitter @afropopww. Subscribe to the Afropop Worldwide newsletter at www.afropop.org/newsletter/ S2:E9 Afropop Closeup Distributed 12/26/2017

Paris has been a thriving capital for African music for decades. Since the 1980s, many major musicians such as Mory Kanté, Khaled and Amadou and Mariam launched their international careers there. Today, as migration patterns evolve, borders tighten and the world becomes increasingly connected via the Internet, Paris remains more than ever a city of encounters and innovations for artists of African origin. With new generations experimenting and new audiences emerging, the term “world music” has lost relevance as artists explore outside geographic and industry-dictated boundaries. In this program, we explore the new "Afropolitan" sounds of Paris, from concert halls to studios, from the heart of the city to immigrant neighborhoods in the banlieues. We hear from Mauritanian singer Noura Mint Seymali, and instrumentalists Ballake Sissoko and Lansiné Kouyaté exploring alongside classically trained French musicians. We catch up with Nigerian Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen to hear about his life in Paris and his new jazz project, drop in on a recording session with young Algerian raï singer Sofiane Saidi, and meet Sudanese flautist Ghandi Adam, who provides a musical platform for migrants and refugees with his Lamma Orchestra. The sounds of tomorrow are in the making in Paris today! Produced by Elodie Maillot and Alejandro Van Zandt-Escobar Follow Afropop Worldwide on Facebook at www.facebook.com/afropop, on Instagram @afropopworldwide and on Twitter @afropopww. Subscribe to the Afropop Worldwide newsletter at www.afropop.org/newsletter/ APWW #769 Distributed 12/21/2017

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. Part two of the story of Zimbabwe’s most consequential singer and bandleader picks up at the dawn of the country’s independence in 1980. The program focuses on key songs from Thomas Mapfumo’s vast post-independence catalogue, beginning with his celebration of victory, and his warnings about “dissidents” out to destabilize a young nation struggling for unity. The 1988 song “Corruption” officially opens Mapfumo’s rift with the regime of Robert Mugabe, turning a government financial scandal into a pop culture sensation. 1999’s “Mamvemve” accuses leaders of betraying the promises of the liberation struggle and reducing a rich country to tatters, and 2003’s “Marima Nzara” takes on the government over Zimbabwe’s most prolonged and vexing challenge—reclaiming land stolen from Africans by Rhodesian settlers over a century of colonial rule. In all, this is an amazing saga of a popular singer’s evolution from enthusiastic booster to caustic critic of a young African government. Zimbabwean historian Mhoze Chikowero contextualizes all these songs with vivid descriptions of the issues and events that Mapfumo’s work both responded to and shaped. At the time this program was recorded, Afropop producer Banning Eyre had been researching a biography of Mapfumo for more than 15 years, and the broadcast draws upon his, and Afropop’s, wealth of archival interviews and rare musical recordings, resulting in a persuasive portrait of a brilliant musical innovator and an under-recognized titan of African post-colonial cultural politics. Follow Afropop Worldwide on Facebook at www.facebook.com/afropop, on Instagram @afropopworldwide and on Twitter @afropopww. Subscribe to the Afropop Worldwide newsletter at www.afropop.org/newsletter/ Produced by Banning Eyre. APWW #657 Distributed 12/14/2017