Since the 1960s in Jamaica, iconic figures such as Bob Marley have gathered in backyards to write reggae anthems that conquered world charts. The yard remains a cornerstone in Jamaican culture. Musicians withdraw from the violence of the city to create and play songs in their yards. In Jamaican patois, “mi yard” means “my home,” and many songs, proverbs and colloquialisms hinge on the word “yard.” More even than the music itself, the yard evokes a state of mind and a physical space wherein artists create amid the warmth of acoustic sound, raw emotion of voices and a collective energy. In this program, we move yard to yard in Jamaica, listening to acoustic music being written and recorded, smelling trees and flowers, and meeting legendary artists like Ken Boothe, Winston McAnuff, Cedric Myton of the Congos, Kiddus I, Robbie Lyn, Viceroys, or Nambo Robinson, as well as a number of young and emerging reggae artists like JAH9, Var, and Derajah, who grew up and found their artistic voices in ghetto yards. You've never heard Jamaica sound like this before!

Produced by Elodie Malliot
APWW #753

Jamaica: Big a Yard, Big Abroad

03h 45m 49.6067s
24° 22′ 03.895″
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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. 

MC / PRODUCER / DJ  Debut album "Every Minute Counts" available on Itunes now. For Booking: smilo@swig-art.com 


wamanzi invites dancers to sink into the groove and discover the power of the slow burn. Reaching out from Lisbon his sound weaves global rhythms, downtempo textures, jazz-tinged moods and deep house warmth into a hypnotic tapestry.

He has shaped a sonic identity that resists rigid BPMs and celebrates spaciousness, where restraint becomes rhythm, and emotion moves just as deeply as the beat. His music is less a march than a glide, where each subtle shift draws you further inward, then out into the world again.

In his sets sound becomes sensation: textured, soulful, and timeless. This is groove for the dreamers and the dancers. In his journeys he invites you to slow down, open up, and get lost in the pulse of something beautifully human.

upcoming:

07.11.25 Alvine /// Lisboa
01.11.25 Substitutet /// Stockholm
10.10.25 Those Who Dance with Zen Baboon /// Lisboa
05.10.25 Kindling /// Colares
27.09.25 Equilibrio Festival /// Alentejo
19.09.25 The Organic Way /// Ericeira
13.09.25 Badassery with GiZ /// Lisboa
12.09.25 Mona Verde /// Lisboa
15.08.25 Secret Garden /// Lisboa
09.08.25 Mona Verde /// Lisboa
01.08.25 Taqueria Paloma /// Lisboa
19.07.25 Elidium Festival /// Mafra
12.07.25 Mona Verde /// Lisboa
28.06.25 Sal Burger /// Comporta
18.06.25 Indigo /// Ericeira
12.06.25 Food Temple /// Lisboa
15.05.25 Taqueria /// Lisboa 
14.05.25 Mona Verde /// Lisboa
30.04.25 Aura /// Lisboa
19.04.25 Rumu /// Lisboa
18.04.25 Nectar /// Alentejo
21.03.25 Those Who Dance /// Lisboa
30.01.25 Rumu /// Lisboa
31.12.24 NYE Mona Verde /// Lisboa
07.12.24 Mona Verde /// Lisboa
29.09.24 Equilibrio Festival /// Alentejo
12.06.24 Food Temple ///  Lisboa 
18.05.24 Beginnings Festival /// Evora
04.05.24 Mirari /// Lisbon
12.04.24 Palimpsestu /// Faro
10.02.24 Mona Verde /// Lisbon
03.02.24 Ritmo da Terra with Chele /// Aljezur
24.09.23 Goa /// Lisbon
12.06.23 Food Temple with Kurup /// Lisbon
07.05.23 beginnings festival /// Evora
16.04.23 Amarelo /// Lisbon
16.12.22 Boa Lab with Andi Otto & Dorian Fecht /// Lisboa
24.09.22 Ribeira d'ilhas /// Ericeira
01.09.22 Pôsto da Onda /// Caparica
15.05.22 beginnings festival /// Evora
19.02.22 Le Baron /// Lisbon
28.01.22 Rastilho /// Lisbon
22.01.22 mama shelter /// Lisbon
17.09.21 Kosmo Kollektive /// Arroz Estudios
29.02.20 Kosmo Kollektive /// Casa da Semente
08.02.20 Kosmo Kollektive /// ODD, Lisbon
31.01.20 Le Baron /// Lisbon
17.01.20 a pampa /// Lisbon
27.11.19 Le Baron /// Lisbon
01.10.19 East Side Radio /// Lisbon
15.06.19 a pampa /// Lisbon
27.03.19 MUSICBOX /// Lisbon
11.01.19 Crew Hassan /// Lisbon
21.09.18 in bloom /// Lisbon
26.08.17 GIV LOWE /// Lisbon
22.10.16 Polysick III /// Blaue Perle, Leipzig
30.09.16 Globalista /// Kassablanca, Jena
13.08.16 Summerclosing /// Blaue Perle, Leipzig
25.06.16 Kap Spa Festival /// Großkagen
23.06.16 Mogadisco /// Fabrique Gängeviertel, Hamburg
18.06.16 Uproot Andy gets Mad Again! /// Distillery
02.06.16 Polysick II /// Blaue Perle, Leipzig
14.05.16 Ram Zeilich & Falakumbe Aftershow/// Tipi, Leipzig
05.05.16 Mad Again! lgs. Chief Boima /// Distillery
15.04.16 Polysick I /// Blaue Perle, Leipzig
30.01.16 Tipi /// Leipzig
08.01.16 Mad Again meets Overdubclub /// Distillery
18.12.15 Afro Vintage Night /// Dr. Seltsam, Leipzig
13.11.15 The Akwaaba Session lgs. BBrave /// Distillery
24.10.15 Dia de los Muertos  /// Art Collective Amsterdam
26.09.15 Zitterhütten Festival /// Halle
23.09.15 Ebo Taylor Aftershow /// UT Connewitz, Leipzig
08.08.15 Karneval der Klischees /// Großkagen
12.06.15 Okapi Disko /// Goldhorn
01.05.15 Mad Again! /// Distillery
28.04.15 Okapi Disko meets Pattern Select /// Trautmann's, Eisenbronx
22.04.15 Vintage Night /// Dr. Seltsam