Africa: Novalima Leads the Dance With Ramón Perez Prieto

[Afropop] Since its official founding in 2001, the band Novalima has championed a driving, tuneful electronic and, at times, hard-rocking expression of Afro-Peruvian music. After the release of their third album, Coba Coba in 2008, they began touring t…

Africa: Kasiva Mutua – Feeling the 6/8 Rhythm

[Afropop] In 2016, Afropop Worldwide spoke with a young Kenyan percussionist, Kasiva Mutua, when she was a member of the Nile Project. The Nile Project actually kicked off three years earlier, and as Nile Project co-founder and CEO, Mina Girgis explain…

Africa: Youssou N’dour At Brooklyn’s King’s Theater

[Afropop] The excitement and anticipation was palpable as the seats began to fill in the historic Kings Theater on Flatbush Ave on Sunday, April 27th, 2025. When hype-man and percussionist Mbaye Dieye Faye led the twelve-piece band onstage, the capacit…

Africa: Jazzahead Spotlights African Jazz and More

[Afropop] One of the Brother Grimm’s fairy tales is about four domestic animals – a dog, donkey, cat, and rooster – who are past their prime and are being mistreated by their master and decide to split and head to the town of Bremen, Germany, to become…

Africa: Salif Keita Goes Acoustic With So Kono

[Afropop] When we spoke with Salif Keita before the Pandemic, he told us, not for the first time, that he was ready to retire from recording and performing. Not long afterwards, he released what he said would be his last album, Un Autre Blanc. His urge…

Morocco: Bab L’bluz Returns to America

[Afropop] Bab l’Bluz has been the brainchild of French musician Brice Bottin and Moroccan musician Yousra Mansoor since they first met in 2016 as part of a music collective in Morocco that was combining modern jazz and traditional Gnawa music. The duo …