A small network of DJs in the suburbs of Lisbon, Portugal has been consistently producing some of the world’s best dance music. The children of African immigrants, these young musicians have combined a hemisphere of musical influences and distilled them down into a single astonishing style. But how did Lisbon start to make such great African music? And what does that say about the identity of the city, or the country, or the continent? On this special Hip Deep edition, we take you on a journey to Lisbon, a city facing both the sea and 600 years of its own history. We’ll go to African club nights, hang out with obsessive record collectors, learn how to dance kizomba, and visit the projects that have produced a musical revolution. And through it all, we will try to answer a seemingly simple question: Just where did this music come from?
Produced by Sam Backer
APWW #722
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59:04
African Beat-Makers Part 2: Dami TNT
Behind every Afropop YouTube megahit and dancefloor sensation, there is a producer, a beat-maker striving to imagine the next big thing, basically inventing the future. In part 2 this two-part podcast, we meet Dami TNT, a rising producer in Lagos, Nigeria. And we hear a discussion between Zimbabwean producer Kooldrink, Pierre Kwenders of the Moonshine Afro-house about beats, tempos, and the emergence of super-fast youth music, like Tanzania’s singeli, in urban African centers.
Produced by Banning Eyre
PA 038
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44:20
Seize the Dance: The BaAka of Central African Republic
This Hip Deep episode features a remarkable journey among the forest people of the Central African Republic. The polyphonic, hocketing vocal style of this region's forest peoples ("pygmies") is one of the most singularly beautiful musical expressions in Africa, one that has entranced outsiders since the time of the pharaohs. Ethnomusicologist Michelle Kisliuk has spent nearly 25 years immersing herself in this music, and wrote a landmark book about the lives and music of the BaAka people in the Central African Republic. Kisliuk believes deeply in the performance experience--learning by doing--and this program will initiate listeners into one of the most enchanting and mysterious musical practices in Africa. The program also deals with the BaAka's problematic encounters with neighboring ethnic groups, Christian missionaries, and modernity in general.
Produced by Banning Eyre
APWW #603
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59:04
Hip Deep in Northern Nigeria
Kano State in northwest Nigeria is a land of paradox. The ancient home of the Hausa people, it has ties back to the oldest civilizations in West Africa. Muslim since around the 12th century, the region remained largely self-administered during the era of British colonialism, and never significantly adopted Christianity or Western culture and values as in other parts of Nigeria. In 2000, Kano instituted Shariah law. But by that time, the city of Kano was also the center of a large and active film industry, dubbed Kannywood. And it would soon be home to a nascent coterie of hip-hop artists. There followed a series of high-profile conflicts and crises between these forces of religion, politics and art in the years since. But as the Afropop crew discovered in 2017, Kano has achieved a delicate balance that allows film and music to continue apace under the watchful eye of clerics and a censorship board. We visit studios producing local nanaye music, with its echoes of Hausa tradition and Indian film music. We also meet young Hausa hip-hop artists striving to develop careers under uniquely challenging circumstances.
Produced by Banning Eyre and Sean Barlow
APWW #757
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59:04
African Beat-Makers Part 1: Kooldrink and Pierre Kwenders
Behind every Afropop YouTube megahit and dancefloor sensation, there is a producer, a beat-maker striving to imagine the next big thing, basically inventing the future. In part 1 this two-part podcast, we meet Kooldrink, the producer who broke South African superstar Tyla, and Pierre Kwenders of the Moonshine Afro-house collective in Montreal, and hear their thoughts on making African hits in 2025.
Produced by Banning Eyre
PA 037
Afropop Worldwide is an internationally syndicated weekly radio series, online guide to African and world music, and an international music archive, that has introduced American listeners to the music cultures of Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean since 1988. Our radio program is hosted by Georges Collinet from Cameroon, the radio series is distributed by Public Radio International to 110 stations in the U.S., via XM satellite radio, in Africa via and Europe via Radio Multikulti.
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