Hello Imani,
A year-end message from our fearless leader
Sean Barlow:
2015 proved a singular year for Afropop Worldwide
. We won the highly prestigious Institutional Peabody Award for 27 years of excellence in storytelling. The Peabody organization said, "Afropop Worldwide
is part dance party, part cultural anthropology seminar...For its pioneering role in the world music movement, for illuminating the richness and diversity of African and African diaspora cultures, for archiving and fortifying its work on afropop.org and simply for being a treat for the ears." Georges, Banning, Michael, Atane, CC, myself and everyone on the Afropop team thank our devoted audience for listening to our programs, viewing our features, reviews and photo essays on afropop.org, following our social media, and for caring about the artists and cultures we cover. Once or twice a year, I ask you directly for your financial support to help us continue our vital work at the high level you expect. We are a lean and mean organization and we spend every donor dollar wisely. In 2016, you will hear our groundbreaking Hip Deep
series continue. You will benefit from a major Web redesign focusing on mobile device compatibility. You will see our Afropop Archive Project progress, protecting our unique 30-year collection. Please make your contribution now while you're thinking about it. Thank you! —Sean Barlow, Executive Producer
On air this week is our brand-new
Hip Deep program "
Afro-Lisbon and the Lusophone Atlantic: Dancing Towards the Future," produced by
Sam Backer. In the last few years, 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?
Be sure to check out Sam's
crucial cuts from the Lusophone world feature.
2015 has been a great year for Ghanaian reggae musician
Rocky Dawuni. His album
Branches of the Same Tree received a Grammy nomination for Best Reggae Album.
Banning Eyre recently met up with Rocky in Harlem for a chat.
Check it out.
Ben Richmond interviewed filmmaker John Bosch on his latest film
Malian Pieces: Stories From A Rich Country that he is currently crowdfunding for.
Morgan Greenstreet wrote about Burkinabe rapper
Art Melody's new video "
Wagare Hip-Hop." It's a sharp and aggressive track from his new album
Moogho.
Our latest "Best of The Beat on Afropop" feature is the first installment in a mini-series of the magazine's
coverage of the development of reggae in Africa. This edition includes
George Zawonu's early report from 1984 on the establishment and growth of reggae in Ghana, in addition to
Tom Cheyney's "The African Reggae Phenomenon" from 1991. Stay tuned for features to come that will focus on African reggae stars like
Lucky Dube,
Alpha Blondy and
Majek Fashek.
Afropop honors and remembers South African anti-apartheid activist
Steve Biko, who was born on this date, Dec. 18, 1946. We decided to run a special "Best of The Beat on Afropop" feature
commemorating his life.
For New Yorkers,
M'Bolo led by Senegalese singer
Cheikh Ngom appears at the
Shrine on Dec. 19.
The Pedrito Martinez Group performs at
Subrosa on Dec. 21. Malian musician
Makane Kouyate is at the
Shrine on Dec. 26. Cameroonian bassist
Richard Bona plays
Club Bonafide on Dec. 31, New Year's Eve. Malian songbird
Awa Sangho takes the stage at
SOB's on Jan. 14. Congolese singer
Pierre Kwenders entertains at Lincoln Center on Jan. 14, and
Drom on Jan. 15. Sudanese band
Alsarah and the Nubatones, along with Ethiopian groove collective
Debo Band, perform at
Drom on Jan. 16.
Have a lovely weekend!
Cheers,
Atane and the Afropop Crew
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