The Amazon River basin has long been a mystery to Brazil. Located far from the centers of business and power in the nation's southeast, the jungle provinces of the Brazilian north have long been ignored by the nation at large. But recently, Brazilians have discovered that the cities and waterways of the Amazon are home to some of the nation's hottest music. In this Hip Deep episode—a musical history of Pará state, where Afro-Caribbean influences have created a unique local flavor that connects the dots between Brazilian music and the rest of Latin America, we check out the guitar heroes of old-school Amazonian dance bands, investigate the origins of the early '90s lambada dance craze, and explore the bubblegum bass culture of tecno brega. Featured interviews with singer Gaby Amarantos, lambada revivalist Felipe Cordeiro and ethnomusicologist Darien Lamen, among others. APWW #691 Lead Producer: Marlon Bishop Assistant Production: Saxon Baird, Joe Dobkin

In this episode, our new producer, Lauren Williams, revisits an old genre through a new lens. Classical music, a historically exclusionary space, is going through changes. We explore the process of writing and performing boundary-pushing classical music with Seth Parker Woods, a Grammy-nominated cello player who pulls from the sounds and stories of the Black diaspora to write otherworldly compositions, and Curtis Stewart, a Grammy-nominated Violinist who experiments with beats and electronics in his virtuosic arrangements. We get a taste of how far the genre has come — and how far it has to go — from Afa Dworkin, a violinist and the creative director of The Sphinx Organization, which supports emerging composers of color. To wrap up the episode, we hear from Abel Selaocoe, a classical cellist from South Africa who has gifted the genre something new to play by tapping into ancestral memory. PA 030

Botswana is a large, landlocked country in Southern Africa, a vast stretch of desert and savannah between South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia with a population of only 2.2 million. While widely overlooked internationally for their music, over the past 20 years Batswana has steadily built a diverse and fruitful local scene that includes traditional choirs, hip hop and kwaito, R&B and jazz and even heavy metal. While the biggest star in the country, Franco, packs stadiums with his Congolese-derived Setswana kwassa kwassa, Vee Mampeezy, Charma Gal and a host of aspiring stars champion a distinctly local fusion called house kwassa: a mix of rumba guitars, house beats and kwaito vocals. In this program we hear from Kabelo Mogwe of the popular cultural troupe Culture Spears; hip hop star Jujuboy; the metal band Skinflint; Afro soul singer Mpho Sebina and reformed house kwassa badboy Mingo Touch. We also head to a midnight recording session with young producer Zolasko and singer Naisi Boy and learn the insides of the Botswana music video industry with videographer Jack Bohloko. Produced by Lollise Mbi and Morgan Greenstreet APWW #813

By the mid 20th century, Cairo had become the unrivaled center for music and film production in the Middle East. Producers, writers, composers, actors, musicians, star singers, and creators of every stripe flocked here to take part in the city's fervent, international, progressive artistic milieu. This was the heyday of the diva Umm Kulthum, Mohamed Abdel Wahab, and the beloved singer and composer Abdel Halim Hafez. But events of the 50s and 60s signaled an inward turn for Egypt and Cairo. The 70s saw the rise of a rougher, more street-wise music--sha'bi--and films began to lose their edge. And the 80s saw the emergence of a slick new pop sound that has resonated in the Middle East ever since. We hear from artists, producers, and scholars in this unique Hip Deep edition. Produced by Banning Eyre APWW #627

Our reporter from Texas, Akshaj Turebylu, triangulates the influences responsible for the irresistible, intercontinental, genre-bending, collaborative album called History of House. Our guides include Shimmy Jiyane, a founding member of the Soweto Gospel Choir, the pre-eminent African gospel performers in the world. We're also joined by Latroit, a Grammy-winning producer who got his start with the legendary techno wizards, Inner City. Akshaj speaks to Shimmy and Dennis to learn how Australian DJ Groove Terminator put the pieces together for this revelatory release blending Afro house, Amapiano, techno, gospel, and more into, as it were, a tapestry of "the (global) history of house." As we find out, Detroit and Johannesburg have been speaking to each other for much longer than you might imagine. In this episode we also preview Afrobeat artist Amayo’s 2025 album, Lion Awakes.

Our Hip Deep edition “A Tale of Two Rebellions" recounts the stories of two remarkable military campaigns in early Islamic history. Both uprisings take place in the late 9th century, both involve Africans as key players, and both set the scene for the crystallization of the Sunni-Shi’ite divide in Islam, which of course continues to this day. By Joseph Browdy and Banning Eyre. APWW #535

Beginning in 1815, under Shaka Zulu, the Zulus began a campaign of conquest that would subsume so many other groups that today, the Zulu are South Africa's largest ethnic population, numbering at least six-million. Ethnomusicologist Louise Meintjes, author of Sounds of Africa! Making Music Zulu in a South African Studio writes that the Zulu reputation for courage and style has given them "empowering significance as a defiant, self possessed, royal, and artful African people." This program will trace the rise of Zulu musical identity. We'll hear from Umzansi Zulu Dancers; Lahlumlenze, guitar picking maskanda stars Phuzekhemisi, Bhekumuzi, and top seller, Shwi No Mthekala, as well as mbaqanga stars, Isigqi Sesimanje and others. This is a story of musical innovation and virtuosity: how local musicians absorbed American fingerstyle guitar, Afrikaans concertina, the marching bass drum of the British imperialists, the backing vocals of soft soul, and made from these new elements thoroughly "Zulu" sounds. Banning Eyre. (originally aired 2007) APWW #530

Georges, Mukwae and Banning share highlights from 2024, including new voices from Malawi and Namibia, highlights from the Nuits D’Afrique festival in Montreal, Mukwae’s song of the year, and George’s shout-out to Africans stationed on U.S. aircraft carriers. Plus a look ahead to Mali’s Bamba Wassoulou Groove, debuting at globalFEST 2025 in New York City on January 12. Great music and good cheer to end a most unusual year! PA 028

In the 70s and 80s Ivory Coast’s capital Abidjan was a major musical hub in West Africa. After a series of political crises, Abidjan is back. The Zouglou sound of the 1990s and the coupé decalé rage that followed are being reinvented in the era of Afrobeats and African hip-hop. The group Magic System is now invited to play major events in France—including President Macron’s election victory party! The group’s front man Asalfo has launched an annual music festival in Abidjan, FEMUA. On this program, we attend the festival and hear the sounds and stories of Abidjan’s cultural and commercial renaissance.Produced by Elodie Maillot and Alejandro Van Zandt-Escobar. APWW #802

Every year on Sierra Leone’s Independence Day in late April, musicians and revelers descend upon Freetown from throughout the country. Parades and celebrations traverse the city, joining diverse neighborhoods with processional music, including one particular local style called bubu, a trance-inducing sound played by groups of young men blowing interlocking hocketed breath patterns into bamboo tubes. Bubu resonates with other African diasporic horn traditions, rara and gaga especially. It has long been a part of the cultural fabric of Sierra Leone, yet its deeper story has so far eluded scholarly examination. This program, supported by original fieldwork and by interviews with scholars Connie Nuxoll, David Skinner, Michael Gallope and John Nunley, begins a serious exposition and investigation of the intriguing mythology and history that surrounds this unique, hypnotic music, through a focus on musician Ahmed Janka Nabay, widely recognized in Sierra Leone and beyond as “the Bubu King.” Written and produced by Wills Glasspiegel and Drew Alt. Georges Collinet is away on assignment: Our guest host is Sahr Ngajuah, the musician and actor who starred in the Broadway show, Fela!. APWW #690

Traditional Manding (Mande) griots living in France sit at the crossroads between Africa and Europe. Historically, their role has been to weave traditional, oral histories, often within music, to promote a united, peaceful society. As they have become part of the modern global community, each griot has their own way of staying true to these historical roles, while also broadening their appeal to multicultural audiences. In this program, we hear how these international troubadours spread their messages to the world by blending European music with the kora, the balafon, the guitar, and their own voices. Produced by Lisa Feder. APWW #864