Niger: Mdou Moctar’s Central Park Stand for Niger

[Afropop] We recently saw Mdou Moctar and his band from Niger deliver a blistering set of Tuareg rock at Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage in Central Park. There were some 4,000 in the audience, many of whom had never seen Moctar, or any Tu…

Mali: Fatoumata Diawara – London Ko

[Afropop] Fatoumata Diawara’s latest album, “London Ko,” is an uplifting musical journey that lly blends electronic music with the rich traditions of Malian Wassoulou music. The production of this album creates a mesmerizing fusion that showcases Diawa…

Nigeria: Yemi Alade – From Montreal With Love

[Afropop] Yemi Alade was one of the early breakthrough artists in the global Afrobeats movement. Born in Nigeria in 1989 to a Yoruba father and an Igbo mother, she broke the scene open in 2013 with the song “Johnny,” and has been riding high ever since…

Africa: Afropop Closeup Podcast Season 8 Begins July 4

[Afropop] As podcast subscribers and listeners know, the Afropop Closeup podcast series, hosted by individual producers, is a place where we go beyond the music into politics, religion, history and culture. It’s a wide open forum allowing producers to …

Africa: The Sierra Nevada World Music Festival Rides Again

[Afropop] More than a few reggae fans thought they’d never see another edition of the Sierra Nevada World Music Festival, the Northern California event, which for 25 editions had become known as the annual summer highlight for reggae connoisseurs. The …

Nigeria: Dap the Contract New EP PW3RS Hits the Ground Running

[Afropop] It doesn’t happen often but a few weeks ago, Nigerian artist and lawyer Dolapo Akinkugbe, AKA DAP The Contract, a producer, rapper, singer, classical pianist, and videographer slipped into our Afropop Worldwide DM’s on Instagram. I just happe…

South Africa: BCUC Shakes Up South African Music

[Afropop] BCUC has to be one of the more unusual bands to emerge from South Africa’s alternative music scene in recent years. Not amapiano or gqom or hip-hop, and certainly no throwback to Soweto jive, “bubblegum” or its post-apartheid offspring kwaito…