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Afropop Worldwide

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Afropop Worldwide

Where Music Tells the Story of the World Over 30 years of connecting you to music of Africa and the World!

01/13/2026

FOLLOWING THE GOLD ROAD: GLOBAL MEDIEVAL AFRICA IN THE TIME OF GHANA, MALI AND SONGHAI

is going DEEP into the history of how the rich empires of medieval Africa were at the center of the gold road trade networks. A three-part, one hour series that starts WEDNESDAY 1/14 at 12:30PM ET. This free conference is all online and is open to anyone!

📩 Head to our newsletter and we’ll deliver the registration link directly to your inbox, along with a special curated playlist called MALI GOLD that features iconic hits by the region’s artists.

👉🏼👉🏾👉🏿 GO TO bit.ly/afropopnewsletter or click the link in our bio to get all the details!

CONFERENCE OVERVIEW — recordings will be available, join live for Q&A!

🎓JANUARY 14, 2026: Geography, Technology and Governance

🎓 JANUARY 21, 2026: Gold, Power, and Global Trade Networks

🎓 JANUARY 28, 2026: Ajami Manuscripts & Knowledge Production in West Africa

Featuring:

And many more!

01/13/2026

FREE ONLINE CONFERENCE + CURATED PLAYLIST

Africa as a hub of the medieval world. Gold, knowledge, music, power.

This January, Afropop Worldwide is proud to collaborate with The Africa-America Institute on a major new online conference:

“Following the Gold Road: Global Medieval Africa in the Time of Ghana, Mali & Songhai.”

🗓️ Jan 14, 21 & 28, 2026
🎓 Free and open to the public
🌍 Created with scholars from Howard University and Boston University

🇬🇭 This three-part lecture series explores 1,400 years of African history, from the trans-Saharan gold trade to Ajami manuscripts, centering Africa’s essential role in global economics, governance, art, and learning.

🇲🇱 Yes, this includes Mansa Musa, the 14th-century ruler of Mali, widely regarded as the wealthiest person in human history.

🎶 To accompany the conference, Afropop’s own curated MALI GOLD, a sweeping playlist celebrating the golden age of Malian music, featuring legends like Salif Keita, Ali Farka Touré, Oumou Sangaré, Toumani Diabaté, Habib Koité, the Super Rail Band, and more.

For the free registration link and the playlist access, sign up for the Afropop newsletter (link in bio) or go to >>> http://bit.ly/afropopnewsletter

01/07/2026

SENEGAL, UP CLOSE 🇸🇳🎶
An Afropop Music & Culture Tour
📍 Dakar + countryside
🗓 Jan 25 – Feb 7, 2027

Afropop Worldwide is planning a once-in-a-generation journey into one of Africa’s most electrifying musical cultures…and we want you on the interest list first.

Led by Afropop co-founders Sean Barlow and Banning Eyre, this immersive Senegal tour goes far beyond sightseeing. Think private sessions with legendary and rising artists, deep dives into mbalax, intimate meals with local creatives, village traditions, markets, museums, beaches, cooking lessons—and the legendary Senegalese spirit of teranga (hospitality).

From Dakar’s cutting-edge music scene to historic Gorée Island, this tour is being crafted through on-the-ground research in 2026 to ensure extraordinary access and unforgettable experiences.

• Afropop tours are known as life-changing.
• Travelers are curious, globally minded music lovers.
• Many return again and again.

📩 Join the newsletter / interest list to receive:

✔️ The full itinerary when it drops
✔️ Early access before spots fill
✔️ Details on our live info Zoom with Sean & Banning
✔️ Special in-person events (NYC folks 👀)

We took Afropop fans to Senegal in the ’90s.
2027 will be better than ever.

🇸🇳 Sign up via the link in bio to stay in the loop >>> bit.ly/afropopnewsletter

12/31/2025

🇬🇭 GHANA: CELEBRATION SOUNDS

In hard times and boom times, people in Ghana know how to party. In this program, we hear the regional pop and neotraditional music that animates festivals, funerals and community celebrations across the country.

We travel to the lush Volta region in the east to hear Ewe borborbor, agbadza and brass band music. In the northern city of Tamale, we hear Dagbani traditional music, hip-hop and pop, and visit the vibrant Damba chieftaincy festival in nearby Yendi. Back in the bustling metropolis, Accra, we get down to the latest pop hits and underground styles moving hips in the capital city.

🎧 Listen to the whole episode at Afropop.org, or get direct links in our stories and Highlights on IG.

Produced by .music

❣️FRIENDS!! We are SO CLOSE to making our 2025 year end giving goal! Please help us close the gap and visit afropop.org to make your tax deductible donation today!

12/26/2025

SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS: TARAB, THE ART OF ECSTASY IN ARAB MUSIC

Explore the rich traditions of Tarab in Arab music, its emotional ecstasy, and cultural values, through the insights of A.J. Racy, a renowned ethnomusicologist, and the artistry of legendary Tarab singers like Umm Kulthum, set against the backdrop of Aleppo’s Aleppian Tarab tradition and Syrian music culture.

Tarab, the ecstatic feeling associated with listening to and playing great music, is a fundamental characteristic of many varieties of Arab music. In this program, we explore tarab with special guest UCLA professor A.J. Racy. Racy draws on his lifelong study of music and musicians, as well as his insights as a virtuoso performer on the nay flute and the buzuq.

Racy guides us through the experiences of listeners and players, providing deep insight into many varieties of tarab. We hear works by A.J. Racy, Sabah Fakhri and Ensemble Al-Kindi of Syria, and the Egyptian queen of tarab Umm Kulthum.

LISTEN: https://www.afropop.org/audio-programs/tarab-the-art-of-ecstasy-in-arab-music

Featuring: .kulthum_

#سلطنة

12/21/2025

Luiz Gonzaga: The King of Baião

Sweet accordion riffs, the steady twang of the triangle, and the off-beat pounding of the zabumba drum make forro a favorite for all Brazilians. The infectious tunes and syncopated beats have been described as “a mixture of ska with polka in overdrive.” This edition of Afropop Worldwide’s Hip Deep will profile forro creator Luiz Gonzaga—from the wanderlust that led him from his rural birthplace in northeastern Brazil to a pumping career in the capital, Rio de Janeiro, in the 1940s. Conversations with Brazilian artists, recorded on location in the forro capital of Recife, following in Gonzaga’s footsteps.

Produced by Megwen Loveless

LISTEN >>> https://www.afropop.org/audio-programs

12/17/2025

Might Angelique Kidjo be the true Queen of Afropop?

We’re thinking Kings and Queens this week at Afropop. And while many might make the claim to be “Queen of Afropop” these days, it’s hard to think of anyone with a better claim to that throne than of Benin.

Ever since she broke onto the scene with her album Logozo in 1991, Angelique has been shaking up the scene on a regular basis with excursions into Cuban, Haitian and Brazilian music, American R&B, funk and rock, also classical music, jazz and on and on. She just keeps surprising us. Along the way, she’s won five Grammy Awards and countless other accolades.

All this got us looking back at the many fascinating conversations we’ve had with her over the years. Head to afropop.org to see the list of our features with her!

What do you think! Is she the True Queen, or can that crown be worn by many?

Love this content? Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to keep the beat alive at afropop.org.

12/15/2025

Ever heard percussion made from a donkey jawbone? 🐴✨

Afro-Peruvian groups like have brought this centuries-old instrument — the quijada — back into the global spotlight. Its rattling teeth and bone-on-bone crack give Afro-Peruvian music a sound like nothing else.

We dug into its roots, its role in Black Peruvian identity, and why Peru is the only place where the quijada still thrives today.

🐴 Check out the full story, listen to the music, and watch a tutorial on how to play the jawbone of an ass on our website: bit.ly/donkeyjaw

🪘If you value deep dives into the music, history, and culture of the African diaspora, we invite you to support Afropop’s year-end goal. Your gift keeps this work alive in 2026 and beyond.

🤲🏼🤲🏾🤲🏿 Donate here: bit.ly/donatetoafropop

Images and video:

Pepe Villalobos
Freddy “Huevito” Lobatón
KijadaStudio on YouTube

12/08/2025

HIP DEEP IN MADAGASCAR

Salegy may be the most popular dance music of Madagascar. It’s a churning, harmonious groove with spine-stiffening vocal harmonies that emerged from towns and cities of northern Madagascar in the mid-20th century. On a trip to Diego Suarez, we learn that salegy’s older origins are both fascinating and mysterious. We meet young salegy stars Ali Mourad and Jacs, and speak with the genre’s reigning legend, Jaojoby, on the roof of his nightclub in Antananarivo. Along the way we visit a music school in Diego and hear blazing guitar riffs and get a fingerpicking tour of the entire island from guitar maestro Hajazz. Produced by .

Afropop depends on listener donations! Make your tax-deductible gift to help us meet our year end goal at bit.ly/donatetoafropop.

12/05/2025

Living legend endorses Afropop Worldwide! Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to our little non-profit media outlet that has served to preserve and uplift voices from the African continent and diaspora for 38 years. 🌍 We are a very small team of dedicated workers and volunteers who are passionate about the artistry, exquisite cultural transmissions and thought leadership from the Global South and regions where the pulse of true humanity still beats.

GIVE TODAY and help us meet our 2025 fundraising goal! >>> bit.ly/donatetoafropop or click the link in our bio!

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Opening Hours

Monday	11am - 6pm
Tuesday	11am - 6pm
Wednesday	11am - 6pm
Thursday	11am - 6pm
Friday	11am - 6pm

Website

http://www.afropop.org/, http://twitter.com/afropopww, http://www.youtube.com/afropopworldwide

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