Afropop Worldwide

Afropop Worldwide logo

On Air This Week »

Samba

Rio 1: Samba at the Dawn of Modern Brazil

In Part One of our 2012 Hip Deep Brazil series, we travel back in time to Rio De Janeiro in early 20th century to explore the birth of Brazil’s most iconic sound: samba. Beginning with the arrival of poor nordestinos … Read more »

Blog »

Blog Thank Goodness for Brega! Waldo Squash “Get Lucky” Remix
Blog Lebanon Journal: First days in Beirut
Blog Fatai Rolling Dollar, Nigerian Highlife Veteran, Passes Away
video Stromae’s “Papaoutai”
contest Win a trip for two to NYC to celebrate Afropop’s 25th anniversary at SummerStage–Central Park

Reviews »

  • photo-main
    Baque do Brooklyn

    Brazilian music is synonymous to many Americans with bossa nova and samba. What few people outside Latin America’s largest country are familiar with is maracatu, a distinct style that comes from the Pernambuco state in northern Brazil. Maracatu bands consist … Read more »

  • Owiny Sigoma Band
    Power Punch

    The Owiny Sigoma Band is an evolving collaboration between two Kenyan musicians, masters of the traditional music of the Luo people of Western Kenya—Joseph Nyamungu (nyatiti, vocals) and Charles Owoko (percussion)—and five British musicians—Jesse Hackett (keys), Louis Hackett (bass), Sam … Read more »

  • a2778540315_10
    Jumbie in the Jukebox

    Jumbie in the Jukebox is the second album by Kobo Town, a band led by Trinidadian-Canadian songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Drew Gonsalves.  While the album is clearly influenced by a variety of genres that includes hip-hop and reggae, its roots are … Read more »

  • douster
    Inna Style N Fashion

    “Inna Style N Fashion,” a 4-track EP produced by the French DJ Douster and featuring four young Jamaican vocalists, marks an interesting new step in Brooklyn based Mixpak records engagement with dancehall. While the label has a history with the … Read more »

Baque do Brooklyn

Brazilian music is synonymous to many Americans with bossa nova and samba. What few people outside Latin America’s largest country are familiar with is maracatu, a distinct style that comes from the Pernambuco state in northern Brazil. Maracatu bands consist … Read more »

NYC Events »

  • Wed Jun 19

    Location: B.B. King Blues Club & Bar (Google Maps)

    Time: 8:00 pm to 10:00 pm

    The B.B. King Blues Club and Bar welcomes three-time Grammy Award-winning Haitian-American rapper, singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and politician Wyclef Jean to perform on June 19th

  • Thu Jun 20

    Location: BAM R&B Festival (Google Maps)

    Time: 12:00 am to 12:00 am

    Zozo Afrobeat Orchestra at BAM R&B Festival at the Metrotech Commons. Free!

  • Thu Jun 20

    Location: Lincoln Center Atrium (Google Maps)

    Time: 7:00 pm to 11:00 pm

    Based in NYC, Matuto plays Brazilian forro-rock that includes happily shredding accordion, alert jazz guitar, and daring fiddle. They just wrapped up a tour through West Africa as a part of a US State Dept diplomacy project.

  • Fri Jun 21

    Location: Celebrate Brooklyn! Prospect Park Band Shell (Google Maps)

    Time: 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm

    AMADOU & MARIAM’s 2012 album, Folila, which featured guest spots by Santigold and TV On The Radio among others, was hailed by NME as “a great chuffing masterstroke of genre-less genre mixing,” but it also sparkled with of the Afro-blues sound that has made this blind husband and wife duo one of West Africa’s finest exports. The powerhouse young Taureg guitarist BOMBINO’s playing unfurls with “fast, stuttery, rhythmic hammering, coiling lines inside lines;” (NY Times) he’s been called the Hendrix of the Sahara. Rolling Stone also recently called Bombino's Nomad "The most exciting blues album of the year."

  • Sun Jun 23

    Location: Central Park Summerstage (Google Maps)

    Time: 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm

    Femi Kuti & The Positive Force have blended Funk, Jazz, and African Folk throughout their 27 year career to create a colorful and distinctive sound in the music world. The records tell their story: After a short spell at Motown, Femi Kuti took on the Afrobeat sound with his first international album in 1998 Shoki Shoki, before rubbing shoulders with the modern urban style of his American peers such as Mos Def and Common on the album, Fight To Win. In 2004 he opened The Shrine, the club where he recorded the live album Africa Shrine. He re-emerged in 2008 with Day by Day and Africa for Africa in 2010, for which he received two GRAMMY nominations. In 2012 he was both inducted into the Headies Hall of Fame (the most prestigious music awards in Nigeria) and was the opening act on the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ European Tour.

    Ahmed Gallab, the Sudanese-born multi-instrumentalist and founder of Sinkane, came to the US with his family at age five and then continued to move around until he was 18, when he settled in Columbus, OH. There, he became part of the city’s hardcore Punk scene. Before making a record of his own, Gallab was best known for lending his musical talents to the likes of Yeasayer, Caribou, and Of Montreal. His music reflects the geographic span of his travels. Mars, his debut was released in 2012. NPR said of the record and its use of collaborations: “Each appearance, like each instrument, is deftly placed by Gallab and used by the artist to help realize his vision rather than merely round out his credits sheet. The result is a body of work that sings on many levels, yet remains tethered to one confident voice.”

    King Britt is a producer, composer, performer and curator of electronic music. As a producer/composer, Britt fuses his knowledge of music history from many cultures and genres with electronic compositions, which redefine and re-contextualizes the past into the present. Britt has remixed and produced many diverse artists including Miles Davis, Femi Kuti, Angelique Kidjo, King Sunny Ade as well as scoring commercials for Rolex and L’oreal Paris. From cutting his craft as the wax poetic for the GRAMMY Award winning Digable Planets to traveling solo in different cities and countries, Britt is bringing cultures together through his eclectic taste and live improvised dance/experimental sets.

    http://www.uplanme.com/event/NYC-SummerStage-Femi-Kuti-And-The-Positive-Force-Si