Africa: The Afro-Semitic Experience – ‘Unity in the Community’
[Afropop] The Afro-Semitic Experience is a six-piece ensemble of Jewish and African-American musicians dating back to the late 1990s, when Hartford-based pianist and vocalist Warren Byrd and bassist David Chevan met at a jam session. A quarter-century …
Morocco: Deborah Kapchan On the Gnawa of Morocco
[Afropop] Deborah Kapchan is a professor of Performance Studies at New York University, and the principle voice for Afropop Worldwide’s Hip Deep program, Traveling Spirit Masters: The Gnawa of Morocco. Professor Kapchan has been doing research in Moroc…
Morocco: The Lure and Lore of Gnawa
[Afropop] The Gnawa musical healers of Morocco are a perennial fascination within the broad tableau of the Afropop story. They bring together potent themes–slavery and its legacy of displacement and diaspora, music that induces trance and even spirit …
Africa: WOMEX 2023 – the Rundown From Ron!
[Afropop] Each year, come late October, there is a gathering of what could be described as a tribe – this year it was nearly 3000 people, from over 100 countries. There are no real rules to join this tribe, no initiations, no uniforms, and no secret ha…
Africa: Afropop Celebrates 35 Years At Sob’s in New York, Congo-Style!
[Afropop] Congo’s Samba Mapangala and the Soukous Stars animated a high-spirited Afropop Dance Party at the legendary New York nighclub SOB’s on Friday, Novemver 10th. The event was to honor of Afropop Worldwide’s 35th anniversary and SOB’s 40th. Samba…
Africa: Images of WOMEX 2023 in Spain
[Afropop] Each year when the world music expo, WOMEX, closes up shop in another European city, we get the stats. And the 23rd edition in A Coruña, Spain, was no exception. So here they are:
Africa: Etienne Sevet – the Many Adventures of the Bongo Hop
[Afropop] One of this year’s headliners at the International Festival de Nuits Afrique in Montreal this summer was The Bongo Hop.
Nigeria: Adekunle Gold At Kings Theater in Brooklyn
[Afropop] Nigerian pop star Adekunle Gold returned to New York this week for a show at King’s Theater in Brooklyn. The event was scheduled for September 29, the day Brooklyn nearly drowned, causing many disruptions including a last-minute postponement …
Nigeria: Mr. Eazi Fuses African Art and Music Into a Global Sensation With the Evil Genius
[Afropop] Mr. Eazi, the award-winning Nigerian artist, is blurring the lines between continents and genres with his groundbreaking project, The Evil Genius. This innovative fusion of contemporary African art and music, hosted at Gallery 1957 in the Kem…
Africa: Afropop Top Videos – Stephen Marley, Bombino, Las Hijas Del Rap
[Afropop] The awesomely creative and inspiring videos just keep coming. Here are six more additions to Afropop’s Top Videos YouTube playlist, once again spanning the endless diversity of today’s African and diaspora music and video.