Afropop Worldwide

In recent months, three Afropop Worldwide producers--Sean Barlow, Banning Eyre and Morgan Greenstreet--have been working in four different regions of Nigeria to gather material for the upcoming five-part Hip Deep in Nigeria series. In this program, the producers sit down to talk about their experiences, share favorite stories and tracks, and preview Afropop Worldwide’s most ambitious field project in our 30-year history. We’ll hear Naija pop, fuji, nanaye film songs and Hausa hip-hop from the north, and highlife from Edo and Rivers States. Produced by Banning Eyre, Morgan Greenstreet & Sean Barlow. 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 #750 Distributed 3/16/2017

The “Black Pacific” is a term coined by our guide, ethnomusicologist Heidi Carolyn Feldman. She describes the circumstance of African descendants displaced not only from their ancestral homes in Africa, but also from the Atlantic coast nations where their enslaved ancestors were originally brought. This Hip Deep edition explores the sonically vibrant realm of Afro-Peruvian music, a young genre identification that has flourished since the 1950s and has now produced artists of international renown, such as singer Susana Baca, and the black folkloric company Peru Negro. The music is sensuous and deeply beautiful, and represents a fascinating and little-understood history. We will hear from Juan Morillo, who represents Peru Negro, from Susana Baca, and from other artists and community scholars Feldman has worked with during her extensive research of this topic. Produced by Simon Rentner and Wills Glasspiegel. 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 #558 Distributed 3/9/2017

We visit one of the world's last untamed natural and musical wildernesses: The Guyanas. Riding along bumpy jungle roads and in dugout canoes, Afropop producer Marlon Bishop travels from Suriname to French Guiana for the Transamazoniennes Festival, located in the remote border town of Saint-Laurent-Du-Maroni. We enjoy the region's fascinating cultural stew, where French Creole, Maroon, Amerindian, Hindu, Javanese, and Dutch elements all mingle together on the outer fringes of the Amazon and hear styles like kaseko, bigi pokoe, aleke and kawina. We'll speak with local stars Prince Koloni, Little Guerrier and Chris Combete, as well as visiting acts such as self-proclaimed "African gypsy" Wanlov the Kubolor and polyglot rap crew Nomadic Massive. Originally aired March 2012. Produced by Marlon Bishop. 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 #630 [Distributed 3/2/2017]

Every September, millions of people celebrate Carnival in Brooklyn. From the pre-dawn J’ouvert bacchanal in the streets, to the intense Panorama steel pan competition, to the massive Labor Day Parade on Eastern Parkway, central Brooklyn is transformed into a Caribbean cultural haven. But before the fun comes months of preparation and centuries of history. We follow Caribbean steel pan groups, masquerade bands and Haitian rara groups through their preparations and celebrations and we hear how members of these Caribbean communities keep their cultural activities alive and thriving despite considerable challenges: violence and political backlash associated with Carnival, and soaring rents and cultural changes in Brooklyn due to gentrification. Produced by Morgan Greenstreet, Saxon Baird and Sebastian Bouknight. 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 #739 [Distributed 2/16/2017]

Every January, New York's Webster Hall jams to the music of 12 bands on three stages in one wild night. globalFEST has become an annual kick-off ritual for music-minded New Yorkers. This program samples the 2017 lineup with dynamic live recordings from Cuba (Septeto Santiguero), Congo (L'Orchestre Afrisa International), Ghana (Jojo Abot), Sudan (Alsarah and the Nubatones), Morocco (Hoba Hoba Spirit), and more. We also speak with Modero Mekanisi about the revival of Afrisa International, and with Reda Allali about Hoba Hoba Spirit's Moroccan roll. Produced by Banning Eyre and Sebastian Bouknight. 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 #748 [Distributed 2/09/2017]

On this program we survey the careers of two giants within their genres. Bunny Wailer is the last surviving member of the original Bob Marley and the Wailers trio. Right up to his 2016 tour, where we met him, this architect of reggae music has continued to carry the banner with new concerts and recordings. And he tells his story with bracing poetic candor. Meanwhile in Egypt, Hakim, the lion of shaabi music, remains a superstar and a player in that country’s turbulent pop scene. On a rare visit to New York, Hakim gives us a tour through his post-revolution songs, and offers personal insights into Egypt’s equally turbulent politics. 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 PGM #737 [Distributed 2/02/2017]

Borrowing the title from Cuban polymath Fernando Ortiz, producer 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. We'll hear endangered species of drums in mountain farms and sugar towns, drilling down into the deep culture of the Afro-Cuban world. We'll hear sacred drumming as handed down from Kongo sources, from Yorubaland, from Dahomey, and more, in sites that are indelibly stamped with the imprints of Africa, above all in music. We'll hear an incredible poetic improviser, go to a block party in Matanzas, and talk to our guest scholar, Latin Grammy-winning record producer Caridad Diez, about the power of rumba and its meaning in Cuban society in the wake of UNESCO's designation of rumba as world heritage. Update: Ned Sublette's group was in Cuba at the time of Fidel Castro's death. Ned, who covered the story for Billboard, tells us what he experienced as Cuba went for nine days without live music. Produced by Ned Sublette. 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 #747 [Distributed 1/26/2017]

Barbados recently celebrated its 50th anniversary of independence. We look into the rise and mysterious fall of the funky Bajan spouge beat which ruled the island in the ’70s, and discover a few underground musicians who are trying to keep it alive. Calypsonians Mighty Grynner and Red Plastic Bag detail their contributions to the lyrically potent kaiso scene. Soca stars Alison Hinds and Edwin Yearwood talk about the pros and cons of the island's competition circuit, and we learn about the hot new "soca bashment" scene. Produced by Saxon Baird and Noah Schaffer. 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 #746 [Distributed 1/19/2017]

New York City is home to a diverse community of Colombian musicians and groups who create in a wide range of traditional, popular and experimental music styles for diasporic communities and beyond. Our “Colombia in NYC” program takes us from independence day celebrations in a chic Manhattan club with accordion virtuoso Gregorio Uribe, to vallenato parties and outdoor festivals. We’ll hear from experimental groups Combo Chimbita and Delsonido; traditional Afro-Colombian bullerengue group Bulla en El Barrio; salsero, folklorist and educator Pablo Mayor; innovative dance bands MAKU Soundsystem and Grupo Rebolú; harp virtuoso Edmar Castañeda, and many more amazing performers. Along the way, musicians weave in stories about nationalism, identity, place and diaspora, and discuss the challenges and opportunities New York offers for Colombian musicians. 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 #736 [Distributed 1/12/2017]

The confederations and clans collectively known as the Tuareg descend from the oldest inhabitants of North Africa. They lead a mostly nomadic existence across the Sahara Desert, in the lands we now know as Algeria, Libya, Niger and Mali. Tuareg communities have long felt neglected by independent African governments, especially in Mali, which has endured a succession of rebellions. In 2012, a Tuareg uprising led to a year-long crisis in which the Malian north separated from the country and fell under harsh control by Islamic extremists. Ironically, these extremists banned music, which in the hands of modern bands like Tinariwen had been a crucial means for expressing Tuareg aspirations. This broadcast unravels the complex history and provides a vivid portrait of the Tuareg predicament in Mali today. The program samples a rich variety of Tuareg music and includes conversations with Tuareg musicians and cultural authorities in the wake of Mali’s crisis, along with University of Houston anthropologist Susan Rasmussen, who has been researching and writing about Tuareg culture for over 30 years, and veteran journalist and author Andy Morgan. Produced by Banning Eyre and Sean Barlow. 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 #727 [Distributed 1/05/2017]