Afropop

Cuba

Africana Studies - South America & Caribbean

To listen

MUSIC

The dembow, the beat behind reggaetón, is much more than just a backdrop for a night of partying and dancing. The style of music, widely associated with Puerto Rico and forged from a mixture of Jamaican dancehall, Panamanian reggae en español, and American hip hop, has always existed as a form of social and political resistance, and continues to do so in 2020. And as such, it has endured constant attempts to criminalize, censor, and police both the music and those who consume it, from the early tape-confiscations by Puerto Rican law enforcement in the 1990s underground scene to the present day, arguing its hypersexual content. In this episode we speak with Latin and Caribbean music scholars and social workers to break down the racist and sexist undertones of the genre's constant policing, as well as examples of songs by artists such as Tego Calderón and Ivy Queen, that counter these assumptions. We also take a couple of detours to explore how this music, and these criticisms, manifest in the Dominican Republic and Cuba. 

Produced by Luis López. 
APWW #824

Reggaetón and Race

Special guest Dr. Ivor Miller, back from a 2021 research trip to Cameroon, takes us into the complexities of south Cameroonian spiritual tradition and its connection to the Cuban Abakuá secret society for men. Featuring Abakuá-themed music from Cuba, ceremonial music from Cameroon, and Batanga pop by Chief Eko Roosevelt, Pablo Gabbana, and Emily Sadey.

Produced by Ned Sublette.

The Cameroon-Cuba Connection

One of the spiritual fathers of Afropop Worldwide has joined the ancestors. After an extraordinarily rich and full life, Dr. Robert Farris Thompson -- or, as he preferred to be called, "T" -- passed on November 29, 2021, at the age of 88. Through his books, lectures and mentorship, T revolutionized the study of African art and culture beginning in the 1950s, and he inspired generations of students and scholars. 

While his academic discipline was art hisotry, music was central to his conception. This program was produced as an Afropop Worldwide Hip Deep episode in 2005 to celebrate his book Tango: The Art History of Love. In it, T talks to Ned Sublette about the erotic Afro-Argentine dance whose Kikongo-derived name he renders as "moving in time to a beat." With musical examples galore. We present it in loving memory. 

APWW #479
Produced by Ned Sublette

A Tango with Robert Farris Thompson

Much has been made of Mexico's rich Spanish and indigenous heritage, but until recently, there's been little talk of Mexico's so-called "Third Root": Africa. Africans came to Mexico with the Spanish as soldiers and slaves - so many that by 1810, the black population of Mexico was equal to that of the United States. Today, African heritage persists throughout Mexico, yet for a variety of reasons, black history has long been silenced. In this Hip Deep episode, we use music to explore that history as we take a road-trip across the country in search of sonic traces of Afro-Mexico. We visit the state of Veracruz to learn the history of the Afro-Mexican son jarocho sound, made famous by Ritchie Valens' 1958 hit cover of La Bamba, a traditional jarocho tune. Then, we visit the Costa Chica of Guerrero, where Afro-Mexican communities are fighting for government recognition to help preserve faltering musical traditions. And we'll stop by the golden-age halls of Mexico City, where the Afro-Cuban danzón thrives far from it's ancestral home in Havana. Along the way, we hear from top scholars in the field such as Ben Vinson III and Alejandro Madrid, as well as Afro-Mexican music stars past and present, from Los Cojolites to Las Cafeteras. ¡Que padre! Produced by Marlon Bishop.

APWW #658
Originally aired in 2013

La Bamba - The Afro-Mexican Story

Changüí is a little understood, loose and lively, community-based music of eastern Cuba. In this program we sample recordings from the 2021 box set Changüí: The Sound of Guantánamo, and hear from Gianluca Tramontana, the man who made the recordings. Rooted in Afro-Haitian music, pan-Caribbean styles, Spanish poetic traditions and more, Changüí emerged in the mid 19th century in plantations, not unlike the blues. We also hear from musician and scholar Ben Lapidus, author of the only English language book on Changüí, and we update the story with Changüí fusions into jazz, salsa and hip-hop. Prepare to dance! 

Produced by Banning Eyre in 2021
APWW #840

Changui!

Toots Hibbert was a titan of Jamaican popular music. With his harmony group the Maytals he indelibly changed the island’s music scene in the early 1960s by infusing ska with gospel and went on to captivate overseas audiences by blending blues and funk with reggae, becoming one of Jamaica’s best-known performers. Never Grow Old: A Salute To Toots And The Maytals is an homage to Toots, whose incredible career only ended when he tragically died of Covid-19 in September 2020, aged 77. On this show, producer David Katz will trace his evolution, using select archive interviews with the man.

APWW #861

Never Grow Old - A Salute to Toots and the Maytals

Currulao is the traditional music of Colombia’s majority-Black, southern Pacific coastal region. In this episode, professor Michael Birenbaum Quintero describes how this performative practice has been used to grapple with modernization, dramatize Black politics, demonstrate national heritage and generate economic development. Currulao connects the past to an emerging future as the identification and role of race in Colombia has changed across multiple generations of musicians. Produced by Nathaniel Braddock.

Agua y Luz: Music of Tumaco and the Afro Colombian Pacific

It' s a difficult exercise to work with raw materials. But maybe the most gratifying too!
I tried to keep the 60 hz as a tonality, it's close to a "B"(http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-notenames.htm) and used the 5 drones to make beats and melody with gates, filters, arpeggiators (set to Bmin) and lfo's in Ableton. 
Every filter's cut off and eq's frequencies are set to multiples of 6, and the bpm is…60:)
Thanks to vladg/sound for their awesome and free limiter : 
http://vladgsound.wordpress.com/plugins/limiter6/

a great tool for digital pre/mastering.


More on this 114th Disquiet Junto project — “Combine elements of Dave Seidel’s album ~60 Hz (Irritable Hedgehog)” — at:

http://disquiet.com/2014/03/06/disquiet0114-60hz/

More on the Disquiet Junto at:

http://disquiet.com/?p=16588

Join the Disquiet Junto at:

http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/

The source audio is from Dave Seidel’s ~60 Hz album, released on the Irritable Hedgehog record label. More on the album at:

http://recordings.irritablehedgehog.com/album/dave-seidel-60-hz

Sixty Hertz And A Glass Spine {disquiet0114-60hz}

Based in Stockholm since the late 1990s, British-born Mark Seven began his obsession with the dance at now vaunted London parties such as Delirium, to a soundtrack of Soul, Funk, and Hip Hop. As Acid House took root in the capital Mark became a regular at the similarly hallowed Future and Shoom and started organizing his own events. His passion for discovery led him to journey to the U.S. and Europe to source vinyl, and has resulted in his own on-line store, JusWax. In Stockholm Mark set up the Black Lodge all-nighters, mix-tapes from which helped to alert the outside world to his knowledge and ability. 

Mark is probably one of the best selectors around and is making a journey over here next month (details of that here: http://on.fb.me/1dwxT5v). 

With that in min we thought it was high time we asked him to formulate a mix for the R$N series. 

http://www.theransomnote.co.uk/the-ransom-noteparkway-mastermix-mark-seven/


Mark Seven - The Ransom Note Parkway Mastermix Vol 3

The 700-year period of Muslim courts and conquerors in Medieval Spain (711-1492) leaves behind many mysteries. In the first of a three-part look at the musical legacy of Andalusia, this program presents period recreations of medieval Spanish music and considers the lasting influences the era would have on Europe. This program takes a provocative look at instruments--the lute and the violin--at the tradition of troubadours, European poetry and vocal styles, and much more, all informed by the insights of Al-Andalus scholar Dwight Reynolds (University of California, Santa Barbara). Many enigmas remain, but you may never hear European music in quite the same way after this venture into the heritage of Al-Andalus. This is part of Afropop Worldwide's "Hip Deep" series exploring the historical roots of musical cultures of the Afro-Atlantic world. Produced by Banning Eyre.

APWW #432

The Musical Legacy of Al Andalus, Part 1 - Europe

Make Icemusic Disquiet0157

Making some experiments with one sample. Used the "granulator" (by monolake in Max for Live Ableton) and "Stutter edit" . Mixed it up with an endless reverb and pan...
The Assignment: Record the sound of ice in a glass and make something of it.

Happy new year! This week’s project is as follows:

Step 1: Please record the sound of an ice cube rattling in a glass, and make something of it.

Step 2: Upload the finished track to the Disquiet Junto group on SoundCloud.

Background: Longtime participants in, and observers of, the Disquiet Junto series will recognize this single-sentence assignment as the very first Disquiet Junto project, the same one that launched the series on the first Thursday of 2012. Revisiting it a year and two years later, on the first Thursdays of 2013 and 2014, provided a fitting way to begin the new year. Now, at the start of the fourth year of the Disquiet Junto, it is a tradition. A weekly project series can come to overemphasize novelty, and it’s helpful to revisit old projects as much as it is to engage with new ones. Also, by its very nature, the Disquiet Junto suggests itself as a fast pace: a four-day production window, a weekly habit. It’s beneficial to step back and see things from a longer perspective.

More on this 157th Disquiet Junto project — “Record the sound of ice in a glass and make something of it.” — at:

disquiet.com/2015/01/01/disquiet0157-icemusic2015/

More on the Disquiet Junto at:

disquiet.com/?p=16588

Join the Disquiet Junto at:

soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/

disquiet0157-icemusic2015disquietambientdronesoundscapeacousmatic



eiswürfel [disquiet0157 - Icemusic2015]

Clearing customs excerpt

Our first ColdCuts premiere comes from new reissue label https://soundcloud.com/smilingc. 

Their focus will be on 80's and 90's obscurities from the music world. To kick the label off, they have pressed a compilation from Arabic rapper Sham Dinns and a collection of his best works... both released and some unreleased material. 

~ SUPPORT ~

https://www.facebook.com/smilingc/

~ AVAILABLE TO BUY ~

https://www.coldcutshotwax.uk/products/shams-dinn-s-t

IN STOCK

COLDCUTS // Shams Dinn - Rai Al Mal Boule

near

Essential Mix-02-03-2019

DJ Stingray - BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix 2/3/2019

Recorded "LIVE" on Easter Sunday, 2019 - Here's a nice long (just under 5 hours) taste from what was a beautiful 8 hour journey of sensational music curated on the fly by the super combo of GE-OLOGY and RED GREG (both amazing in their own right), whose individual and combined music knowledge, chemistry, insane record collections, and masterful DJ skills WOW'd the Selectors Stage audience at DEKMANTEL a few years ago when they first paired up to play back-to-back. Ever since, it's been a treat to see these guys team up on a few more occasions...and the 6th birthday celebration for the FEVER 105 crew was no exception! Pure musical bliss....enjoy!

GE-OLOGY & RED GREG (LIVE at The Pickle Factory, London)- Easter Sunday 2019 - Fever 105 6th bday!!!

Goodthingman - Alter Disco Podcast 35

Even before the expulsion of Jews (1492) and converted Muslims, or Moriscos, (1610) from Al Andalus, many Andalusians crossed the Straight of Gibraltar to resettle in North Africa, and as far east as Syria. All these centuries later, Andalusian art forms and communities persist, especially in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Syria. This Hip Deep program examines the intriguing variety of Muslim "Andalusian" music traditions, especially in Morocco, Algeria, and Syria. Once again, our guide is Andalusian scholar Dwight Reynolds. We'll also hear from Moroccan musicians, a specialist on Syrian Andalusian traditions, and of course, we'll hear lots of music, including the Orchestra of Fes, Ensemble Essoundoussia of Tlemcen, Algeria, and legendary Syrian singer Sabri Moudallal. Produced by Banning Eyre.

[APWW #440]

The Musical Legacy Of Al - Andalus Part 2

In Africa, drums don't only play rhythms, they send messages. “Ancient Text Messages: Batá Drums in a Changing World” explores an endangered tradition of drum speech in Nigeria, and how that tradition changed and thrived in Cuba, where large numbers of enslaved Yoruba arrived in the 19th century. Producer Ned Sublette speaks with ethnomusicologist Amanda Villepastour, language technician Tunde Adegbola, and drummer Kenneth Schweitzer about how language and music overlap. Produced by Ned Sublette.

[APWW #724]
[Originally aired in2016]

Ancient Text Messages - Batá Drums In A Changing World

ARROVESCIATA the new album of Giulia Tripoti.
www.giuliatripoti.it
www.giuliatripoti.com
with TONY LEVIN, MARKUS REUTER, ORHAN OSMAN, FRANCESCO MONETI like special guest. 
love and human right with folk, rock, progressive and world music from Italy

GiuliaTripoti feat. Tony Levin and Markus Reuter - ARROVESCIATA - gli elefantini arrovesciati

Afropop Worldwide is an internationally syndicated weekly radio series, online guide to African and world music, and an international music archive, that has introduced American listeners to the music cultures of Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean since 1988. Our radio program is hosted by Georges Collinet from Cameroon, the radio series is distributed by Public Radio International to 110 stations in the U.S., via XM satellite radio, in Africa via and Europe via Radio Multikulti. 