Afropop Worldwide

Afropop Worldwide Where Music Tells the Story of the World Over 30 years of connecting you to music of Africa and the World!

08/22/2026

Afro-Tech: Stories of Synths in African Music

The story of how Jimmy Cliff’s synths left in storage influenced Nigerian electronic music is part of this Afropop Classic!

https://www.afropop.org/audio-programs/afro-tech-stories-of-synths-in-african-music

Technology is one of the great drivers of musical change, and often one of its least understood. In this episode, we explore the synthesizer, looking closely at the history of this ubiquitous (and often debated) piece of musical technology, and investigating how and why it was first used in a variety of African musics. Enabled by groundbreaking record reissues by synth pioneers like William Onyeabor (Nigeria) and Hailu Mergia (Ethiopia), disco stars like Kris Okotie, and South African superstar Brenda Fassie, we take you back to the ’70s and ’80s, listening to the birth of a distinctly African electronic sound.

Produced by Sam Backer

Featuring






Kris Okotie
William Onyeabor

disco
highlife
Synthesizer
Bubblegum
Burger Highlife
Ethio-Jazz
Ethiopian

08/18/2026

This weekend! Angélique Kidjo / Cimafunk / DJ Freshy K at SummerStage NYC

August 23 @ 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Doors Open: 6:00 PM
Central Park
All Ages + Free!

Featuring Angelique Kidjo Cimafunk Dj Freshyk

Check out the review of Angelique Kidjo’s new album HOPE!! before heading out this weekend to SummerStage >>> https://www.afropop.org/articles/angelique-kidjo-hope

Beninese singer Angélique Kidjo returns to SummerStage with her multilingual fusion of Afrobeat, pop, jazz, reggae, and various African traditions and percussive rhythms that earned her international acclaim. After arriving in Paris in the early ‘90s, Kidjo recorded a run of critically acclaimed albums on Island Records—beginning with the chart-topping 1991 album Logozo—and followed it up with an ambitious trilogy exploring African music’s influence in the Americas, from gospel to Brazilian and Latin. Over her multi-decade career she’s collaborated with the likes of Philip Glass and the Kronos Quartet to Peter Gabriel, Alicia Keys, Dr. John, and Branford Marsalis. Her latest album, Hope!! is dedicated to her late mother, and features contributions from Pharrell Williams, Nile Rodgers, Ayra Starr, Quavo, and The Gap Band’s Charlie Wilson. DJ Freshy K, a Nigerian Afrobeats specialist based in NYC who has opened for the likes of Jidenna, Flavour, Olamide, Davido, and Wizkid, opens the show with a DJ set.

In association with World Music Institute
City Parks Foundation
Partnerships for Parks

08/12/2026

AN IDEA, NOT A CRIMINAL

Moroccan rapper and activist Mehdi Black Wind has become a flashpoint in the country’s growing struggle over free speech.

Arrested in July and charged with “insulting a constitutional institution,” Mehdi was detained for more than two weeks before being released on bail. His case comes amid a broader crackdown on journalists, artists and activists, even as Morocco invests heavily in music festivals, tourism and preparations for the 2030 World Cup.

For critics, the contradiction is stark: a country promoting its culture abroad while tightening restrictions on dissent at home.

Now artists and activists across Morocco and Europe are rallying behind the rapper under a message: “Black Wind is an idea, not a criminal.”

Read Ben Jones’ full report >>> at https://www.afropop.org/articles/an-idea-not-a-criminal
el.mahdi

08/05/2026

NEW LIVING ROOM SESSION: Alsarah & Brandon Terzic at Barzakh Cafe

📺 Watch and be transported: bit.ly/alsarahsession

of Alsarah & the Nubatones, Sudanese-American singer, songwriter, and ethnomusicologist joined New York-based multi-instrumentalist and composer Brandon Terzic who plays oud and ngoni with Alsarah & the Nubatones. Together, they played songs at Barzakh • Café • برزخ composed by Egyptian Nubian composer and oud master Hamza El Din in both Arabic and Nubian.

Alsarah brings a plaintive depth and cross-cultural resonance in her vocals that undulate over the timeless, ancient, and influential oud – expertly played by Terzic.

For the full songs including lyrics, translations and more, head to afropop.org.

“Cutlure is made up. We make up culture, therefore we control culture.” –Alsarah

Executive Producer: Sean Barlow

Producer and Host:

Line Producer: Lynn Jones

Sound: Michael Jones

Cameras & Editing:

Copy:


East African Retro-Pop
Soul Music from East Africa

07/21/2026

Some clips from the outstanding Nuits d'Afrique featuring:

Fulu Miziki 🇨🇩
Ed People
Fred Williams
Papa Karim Kane
Joyce Nsana
Sahra Halgan

Elida Almeida

🌍 Head to >>> Afropop.org > bit.ly/afropopnewsletter

07/15/2026

NEW INTERVIEW! Kossi Mawun: Jazz Courageous 🇹🇬🥁

From practicing on a tabletop with broomsticks to becoming Togo’s first jazz artist to release a jazz album, ’s story is one of extraordinary perseverance.

“I see it as spiritual jazz,” the self-taught Mawun says. “You will definitely hear the traditional rhythms. The rhythms come from my tribe, the Watchi. It’s a mix as well of Hausa that began in Niger and then came into Ghana then moved to Togo. It’s called brekete. Also rhythms of Agbadja. It’s traditionally used for the ceremonies and spirituals.”

In this Afropop Worldwide interview, the drummer and composer shares how the traditions of his Watchi heritage, ancestral rhythms, and a life-changing introduction to jazz shaped his powerful musical voice.

Check out how his journey led from Lomé to the international stage at Jazzahead in Germany , and why every performance is a tribute to his ancestors.

🎙️ Read the full interview and discover one of the most exciting voices in African jazz >>>

https://www.afropop.org/articles/kossi-mawun-jazz-courageous

AfropopWorldwide

07/08/2026

The leopard cult of Ekpe in Calabar, in present-day Nigeria and southwestern Cameroon, has one of the most unique performance traditions in all of Africa—a complex theatrical tradition, referred to in Calabar English as “play,” which encompasses a cycle of sacred dramas that takes many years to execute. Che music of this society is almost completely unknown outside the region, because it was not recorded until the 1980s. This program will feature Calabar-themed recordings by artists including Sexteto Habanero, Chano Pozo, Arsenio Rodríguez, and Los Muñequitos de Matanzas. Dr. Ivor Miller, the only scholar who has both penetrated the Abakuá society and visited the motherland in Calabar, and promoted the first-ever re-encounter between the two traditions, will play some of this powerful music and tell stories of this fascinating culture.

🎧 🐆 https://www.afropop.org/audio-programs/1752

African Diaspora Afro-Cuban Secret Society

07/01/2026

live at NYC! Check out his recent interview at with :

Ibrahim Maalouf’s Trumpets of Celebration >>> Afropop.org!

06/28/2026

🇸🇳 SENEGAL REK! 🇸🇳

Celebrate the Senegal World Cup victory with music and stories from ’s Senegal programming! Featuring artists like:











konate
a.hosier


And many more! Deep dive into the sounds of and — as well as music programming from all ten African nations competing this year.

Head to >>> bit.ly/afropopworldcup to celebrate 🏁🔥🇸🇳⚽️🌍🎶

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