March 31, 2023
Africa: Can You Bring It - Bill T. Jones and D-Man in the Waters Kicks Off Afropop: the Ultimate Cultural Exchange
This season marks the 15th anniversary of AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange, a documentary series dedicated to spotlighting the stories and lives of people from all corners… Read more »
March 27, 2023
Benin: Angelique Kidjo Wins 2023 Polar Music Award
Well, she's done it again! Another unprecedented honour for the genre-bending diva of Benin, France and Brooklyn, the 21st century's Mama Africa, Angelique Kidjo. Read more »
March 23, 2023
Africa: Baaba Maal, Just Being
Baaba Maal is an icon of African music. Alone with his lifelong friend and accompanist Mansour Seck, with his band Dande Lenol, or in any number of collaborations--including in the… Read more »
March 22, 2023
Cameroon: New Single 'Hola Me' By Blick Bassy From New Album 'Madíbá'
In recognition of World Water Day Blick Bassy announces the release details for his new album, 'Madíbá', due out on May 26, 2023 via InFiné (Sabrina… Read more »
March 17, 2023
Malawi: Saving the Malawi Tapes Feature
There was a goldmine inside a building in Malawi, but it lay covered in dust and neglected. Not many seemed aware of the riches that lay in disarray inside MBC, the Malawi… Read more »
Malawi: Keturah - a New Voice From Malawi
This week's Afropop program focuses on Malawi, a country currently reeling from the wrath of tropical cyclone Freddy. Malawi has been scarce on the international music scene. The… Read more »
March 15, 2023
Guinea: Sylvain Leroux Visits L'ecole Fula Flute in Guinea
Sylvain Leroux is a New York-based musician and bandleader who plays multiple instruments but specializes in the Fula flute of Guinea. He's been traveling to that West African… Read more »
March 09, 2023
Togo: Dogo Du Togo Puts Togolese Music On the Map
Massama Dogo--A.K.A. Dogo du Togo--is a Togolese singer/songwriter/bandleader who has lived between the Washington D.C. area and his birthplace in Lomé, Togo since 2000. His… Read more »
Africa: Afropop Top Videos - Requiem for David Lindley, Ayra Starr and More!
It's been awhile since we added new videos to our Afropop Top Videos playlist. Three weeks in Tanzania was rather distracting! But we're back with six new entries. Of particular… Read more »
March 02, 2023
Nigeria: Ado Gwanja Stirs the Pot in Kano With 'Warr'
When we visited Kano in northern Nigeria, in 2017, we interviewed scholar and culture aficionado Abdalla Uba Adamu,officially professor of Science Education and Mass Communication… Read more »
February 22, 2023
Africa: Moonlight Benjamin Rolls Out New Album Wayo
Moonlight Benjamin is a Haitian-born singer/songwriter/bandleader living in France since 2002. Her music is unique on the Haitian diaspora scene. She fuses the gut-level passion of… Read more »
February 21, 2023
Congo-Kinshasa: Nkumu Katalay Previews March 1 Show At NYC's Mercury Lounge
Nkumu Katalay is a Kinshasa-born multi-instrumentalist and bandleader based in New York City. He leads one of the only working Congolese-oriented bands in the eastern U.S., and… Read more »
February 16, 2023
Mauritius: Discography - Rock 'N' Roll Pioneer Maurice Rocco On Film
Every month is Black History Month at Afropop and in celebration of February we are taking a deep dive into rock 'n' roll´s DNA in the form of Maurice Rocco. Black music is a… Read more »
Tanzania: Afropop in Tanzania Blog - Third Dispatch: 2/15/2023
We arrived in Stone Town, Zanzibar the night before the opening on our tour focus, the 20th edition of the Sauti za Busara Swahili Sounds of Wisdom Festival. We covered the first… Read more »
February 09, 2023
Mali: Ali Farka Touré´s "Cherie" Featuring Oumou Sangaré Debuts
Voyageur, the new album from the legendary African guitarist and singer Ali Farka Touré, is out March 10 on World Circuit Records. In anticipation of the forthcoming record… Read more »
February 08, 2023
Tanzania: Afropop in Tanzania Blog - Second Dispatch (2/8/23)
From Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, this is dispatch number two, and the beat goes on! We have enjoyed and recorded several more bands including the awesome Msondo Music Band, founded in… Read more »
February 03, 2023
Tanzania: Afropop in Tanzania Blog - First Dispatch: 2/3/2023
Gambia: Ears of the People - Ekonting Songs From Senegal and Gambia
By now, it's widely recognized that the original model for the American banjo, and really all banjos, lies in West Africa. The essential idea of this percussive, plucked-string… Read more »
January 26, 2023
Tanzania: Afropop Worldwide Heads for Tanzania!
Afropop's Banning Eyre and I are very excited to return this Monday to Tanzania and Zanzibar for a reporting trip. The centerpiece of our work will be covering the pan-African… Read more »
January 20, 2023
Zimbabwe: Passings - Tshala Muana and Stella Chiweshe
The past month has seen a string of significant losses in our musical world. It began with Tshala Muana, the Congolese Queen of Mutuashi, who died in late December, 2022. In her 64… Read more »
January 19, 2023
Africa: January in New York City - Globalfest 2023 and More!
January in New York City: globalFEST 2023 and more! Read more »
January 12, 2023
South Africa: Amapiano DJ Mixers
Amapiano is undisputedly the most trending club music on the planet in 2023. It is dance music not needing a playlist as the genre is a playlist. The music and the mix are created… Read more »
January 11, 2023
Gambia: Sona Jobarteh, With Feet in Two Worlds
Sona Jobarteh stands alone among contemporary kora players. The daughter of a Gambian griot father and an English visual artist mother, she grew up with feet in two worlds.… Read more »
January 05, 2023
Africa: African Cinema - No Cinderella Ending For These Black Women
It's an arithmetic fact that the immigrant workforce who travel from developing countries into developed countries power their economies. What a shame, then, that populist… Read more »
December 29, 2022
Africa: La Brigida Orquestra - Playing for "The Big Minority"
Perhaps the best thing about the annual WOMEX conference is that it's like going to a delicious buffet where you can fill your ears with samples of musical cuisines from around the… Read more »