Best Afropop Podcasts (2025)

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Blues Reflections 59:04

Play Pause

5d ago59:04

59:04

In this episode, Afropop dives into a celebration of the blues--for some, the essence of the American experience and for others a link back into a lost history in Africa. For our program, we also went back through a number of key interviews we've done over the years where the subject of blues came up, particularly in reference to the genre's Africa…

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S22,E05: 07/07/25 (Dayaway, Pressyes, Miynt, Love Spells, Foxwarren, Youth Lagoon, The New Runes) 53:26

10d ago53:26

53:26

SEASON 22 EPISODE 5: JULY 7TH, 2025 Chlorine - Dayaway Heaven on Earth - Pressyes Blue Crystal Water - Pressyes Stranglers - Miynt Low-key - Miynt Bones and All - Love Spells I Can't Let You Go in This Life - Love Spells Sleeping - Foxwarren Say It - Foxwarren Speed Freak - Youth Lagoon Lucy Takes a Picture - Youth Lagoon Look Up - The New Runes Th…

1
Chimurenga Legacy - Thomas Mapfumo and Mary Anibal 59:04

12d ago59:04

59:04

Afropop’s Banning Eyre published his prize-winning biography of Thomas Mapfumo, Lion Songs, in 2015. In this episode, he visits the Lion of Zimbabwe at his home in Eugene, Oregon, to discuss new music, the current state of Zimbabwe and more. We hear from Mapfumo’s latest album, Ndikutambire, and sneak previews of works in progress. We also meet 24-…

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Nollywood - Nigeria's Mirror 59:04

19d ago59:04

59:04

"Nollywood - Nigeria's Mirror" takes us to Lagos, the third largest film industry in the world. Scholars Jonathan Haynes and Onookome Okome serve as guides as we negotiate the intricacies and eccentricities of Nollyood's past and digital future. Nollywood films dramatize key tensions in contemporary Nigerian life, such as the relationship between t…

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Planet Afropop - The Other Sound of Kinshasa 45:29

21d ago45:29

45:29

The rumba and soukous of Congo-Zaire has infatuated listeners across the world for more than half a century. However, today in the neighborhoods of the capital, Kinshasa, there is a movement of musicians creating a new music that is at once more folkloric and rootsy as well as more innovative and cosmopolitan. Producer Nathaniel Braddock shares mus…

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Roots Reinvented in Mali and Egypt 59:04

26d ago59:04

59:04

Grammy nominated ngoni virtuoso Bassekou Kouyate and his 8 piece band Ngoni Ba wowed the crowd at Lincoln Center in 2011. Ngoni Ba re-wired the ancient ngoni to create a dense, 21st century sound. We'll hear the concert and talk with Bassekou about hunters, his precocious son, and his future plans. We hear a very different take on the ngoni from Si…

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Off The Beaten Track in Burkina Faso, Malawi, and Beyond 59:04

1M ago59:04

59:04

This program ventures into corners of Africa we rarely hear from, guided by adventurous field recordists and crate diggers. The Zomba Prison Project is a set of recordings by inmates at a maximum security prison in Malawi, one of the poorest nations on earth. The project’s debut CD was nominated for a Grammy Award. Here, we speak with the producer,…

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Planet Afropop - Breaking into Afrobeats: Homegrown, Selfmade 56:27

1M ago56:27

56:27

Host FayFay sits with two emerging Nigerian artists whose paths are as bold as their sound: Looking for Avala and Inima. Avala opens up about her journey from sneaking into open mics in New York to navigating motherhood and music in Lagos. She reflects on her identity, independence, and the power of trusting her own voice literally and figuratively…

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Cuts from the Crypt 4: Zona Libre 59:04

1M ago59:04

59:04

DJ Crew Zona Libre take a break from throwing genre-defying parties and producing their own live events and podcasts to team up with Afropop for another edition of Cuts from the Crypt. Frequent Afropop producer Morgan Greenstreet (modrums) and Brooklyn-based Puerto Rican DJ Ricardo Luiggi (tres dos) dig through Afropop's extensive vinyl archives, s…

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S22,E04: 06/16/25 (Dash Hammerstein, Born Ruffians, Stereolab, Club 8, Being Dead, Elephant Stone, Mamalarky) 46:15

1M ago46:15

46:15

SEASON 22 EPISODE 4 A Clean House - Dash Hammerstein Athena - Born Ruffians Can We Go Now - Born Ruffians Aerial Troubles - Stereolab Vermona F Transistor - Stereolab Left Behind - Club 8 Sucker - Club 8 Closer to You - Club 8 Godzilla Rises - Being Dead Big Bovine - Being Dead Sally Go Round the Sun - Elephant Stone Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin -…

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Barbados - From Spouge to Soca 59:04

2M ago59:04

59:04

We look into the rise and mysterious fall of the funky Bajan spouge beat which ruled the island in the ’70s, and discover a few underground musicians who are trying to keep it alive. Calypsonians Mighty Grynner and Red Plastic Bag detail their contributions to the lyrically potent kaiso scene. Soca stars Alison Hinds and Edwin Yearwood talk about t…

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Planet Afropop - Madalitso! From Banjo Boys to Men and Acoustic Salif 52:58

2M ago52:58

52:58

The two-man acoustic juggernaut from Malawi, Madalitso Band, is on the move in 2025. With their fourth album, Ma Gitala (The Guitars), just released and a global tour, including Glastonbury, just starting, these rootsy, spirited street musicians from Lilongwe are winning hearts everywhere. In this episode, Mukwae meets the band in Malawi as they be…

1
Cooking with Georges Revisited 59:04

2M ago59:04

59:04

One of the glories of Afropop’s more than 30-year run has been joining our host Georges Collinet in the kitchen as he creates delicious concoctions, while grooving to his favorite tunes. This episode looks back on two classic “Cooking with Georges” episodes: Yassa Chicken from Senegal, and Yoruba soul food with guest chef Baba John Mason—all accomp…

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Afro-Dominicana: Music from the Other Dominican Republic 59:04

2M ago59:04

59:04

In the 1930s, infamous Dominican dictator Rafael Truillo ordered the burning of the country’s palos drums, hoping to erase the powerful vestiges of African culture in the Dominican Republic. Luckily for us, the breakneck, trance-inducing sound of palos still reverberates at Afro-syncretic religious parties across the Caribbean nation almost a centu…

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Planet Afropop - Steel Pans and New Trends 46:31

2M ago46:31

46:31

Veteran Afropop producer Marika Partridge takes us to the island of St Lucia for a “beginners” steel pan (steel drum) work shop with maestro Andy Narell. It’s a complete sensory experience, with ambiance, cuisine, and deep history on the only instrument invented in the 20th century. Plus Marika’s journey to steel pan bliss. Then Mukwae catches us u…

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Ten Tunes That Shook Kingston 59:04

2M ago59:04

59:04

The development of the popular Jamaican style is audible in this fun-packed, loosely chronological selection of tunes, moving from a US-style shuffle to ska to rock steady, toasting, dub, and Rastafarian reggae. Programmed by and using the record collection of reggae connoisseur and KPFK radio host Chuck Foster. Produced by Ned Sublette. Consulting…

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Afro-Lisbon and the Lusophone Atlantic 59:04

3M ago59:04

59:04

A small network of DJs in the suburbs of Lisbon, Portugal has been consistently producing some of the world’s best dance music. The children of African immigrants, these young musicians have combined a hemisphere of musical influences and distilled them down into a single astonishing style. But how did Lisbon start to make such great African music?…

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Planet Afropop - African Beat-Makers Part 2: Dami TNT 44:20

3M ago44:20

44:20

Behind every Afropop YouTube megahit and dancefloor sensation, there is a producer, a beat-maker striving to imagine the next big thing, basically inventing the future. In part 2 this two-part podcast, we meet Dami TNT, a rising producer in Lagos, Nigeria. And we hear a discussion between Zimbabwean producer Kooldrink, Pierre Kwenders of the Moonsh…

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Seize the Dance: The BaAka of Central African Republic 59:04

3M ago59:04

59:04

This Hip Deep episode features a remarkable journey among the forest people of the Central African Republic. The polyphonic, hocketing vocal style of this region's forest peoples ("pygmies") is one of the most singularly beautiful musical expressions in Africa, one that has entranced outsiders since the time of the pharaohs. Ethnomusicologist Miche…

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Hip Deep in Northern Nigeria 59:04

3M ago59:04

59:04

Kano State in northwest Nigeria is a land of paradox. The ancient home of the Hausa people, it has ties back to the oldest civilizations in West Africa. Muslim since around the 12th century, the region remained largely self-administered during the era of British colonialism, and never significantly adopted Christianity or Western culture and values…

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Planet Afropop - African Beat-Makers Part 1: Kooldrink and Pierre Kwenders 51:32

3M ago51:32

51:32

Behind every Afropop YouTube megahit and dancefloor sensation, there is a producer, a beat-maker striving to imagine the next big thing, basically inventing the future. In part 1 this two-part podcast, we meet Kooldrink, the producer who broke South African superstar Tyla, and Pierre Kwenders of the Moonshine Afro-house collective in Montreal, and …

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Remembering Andy Palacio and Aurelio Martinez 59:04

3M ago59:04

59:04

Andy Palacio (1960-2008) of Belize was a brilliant singer/songwriter/bandleader/activist and one of the greatest champions of Garifuna culture in his time. At the height of his international acclaim, after the release of his 2007 album Watina, Andy died suddenly. This program was produced shortly before that tragic event and captures Andy, his band…

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African Sounds of the Indian Subcontinent 59:04

3M ago59:04

59:04

In this Hip Deep program, we explore musical connections between Africa and India. First up is the story of the Afro-Indian Sidi community. In the 13th century, Africans arrived in India as soldiers in the armies of Muslim conquerors. Some were able to rise through the ranks to become military leaders and even rulers. Their descendants continue to …

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Planet Afropop - Somali DJs in America and Songhoy Blues 42:22

4M ago42:22

42:22

In this episode, we meet two women from the Twin Cities - DJ Fawzi and DJ Yasmeenah - who are challenging stereotypes while continuing a tradition of Somali-Minnesotan trailblazing. And we catch up with Songhoy Blues through a short conversation with Oumar Touré, bassist of the acclaimed desert blues group about their groundbreaking new album Herit…

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Africans in the Arabian Gulf 59:04

4M ago59:04

59:04

Scholar and author Joseph Braude guides us through the often overlooked popular music of the Persian Gulf, the music known as Khaliji. We learn about the Africans of places like Bahrain and Kuwait - slaves of yore - their free descendents, and more recent waves of African immigrants, notably from Sudan. This episode features spectacular historic re…

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A Hip Deep Portrait of King Sunny Ade 59:04

4M ago59:04

59:04

King Sunny Ade was, in many ways, the inspiration for what would become Afropop Worldwide. And he was by no means an inspiration only to us! Many fans in America first got hooked on Afropop (and African music in general) through the landmark 1982-83 tour by King Sunny Ade and his African Beats: The propulsive polyrhythms of traditional drums mixed …