Afropop Worldwide Folgen

New Orleans, Louisiana is home to some of America's greatest musical traditions, and plays an outsized influence on the evolution of everything from jazz through to r&b, rock and funk. Today, the city is still legendary for its second line brass bands and brightly costumed Mardi Gras Indians. But if you've rolled through New Orleans on pretty much any night in the last 30 years, you've probably heard another sound—the clattering, booming, hip-shaking, chant-heavy roll of bounce, a form of hip-hop music, dance and culture unique to the Crescent City. Pulling from the national mainstream but remaking it the way that only New Orleans can, bounce has become a sonic touchstone for an entire generation of residents. For this Hip Deep edition, Afropop digs into the close-knit scene, talking to dancers, producers, MCs, and managers from over 30 years of bounce, all to explore the beat that drives New Orleans—and to find out what it means to the people who bring it to life. Produced by Sam Backer and Jessi Olsen.

As Afropop Worldwide marks the week of its 30th anniversary on the public airwaves, we take a look at the story that led up to the program’s creation. We hear excerpts from the podcast A Show of Hearts profiling the program’s founders Sean Barlow and Banning Eyre. And host Georges Collinet recalls his audition for the job that has shaped three decades of his storied life. And of course, we will hear highlights from the music that has made Afropop Worldwide one of the longest running music programs in public radio history.

Fela Anikulapo-Kuti would be 79 years old this month, had he not died from complications of AIDS in 1997. By the time of his death, Fela was the inventor of the enduring and influential Afrobeat music style, the composer of an enormous body of music, and one of the bravest political voices in 20th century African music. It is fair to say that no African musician before or since has sacrificed more for the principles he believed in. Nigerian history and music have barreled forth during the two decades since Fela left us. A powerful new generation of Nigerian musicians have emerged in that time, and the music they now champion has been dubbed “Afrobeats,” an appropriation of the name Fela gave his original sound during its heyday. The youngest artists on the scene today have no direct memory of Fela, though his legacy is impossible to escape. In this program, we hear from current day Nigerians from multiple generations and genres—fuji, juju, hip-hop (Afrobeats) and highlife—on how they remember this musical giant, and how they reckon with his complex and challenging legacy. Produced by Banning Eyre and Morgan Greenstreet. Hosted by Sahr Ngaujah. APWW #764