Afropop Worldwide: Music and Stories from the African Planet, featuring Afropop Cover Songs

View in your browser  ON AIR THIS WEEK:  Afropop Cover Songs  In today's pop music, everybody is a composer. But what about the classics? The songs that last? In this program we survey African musicians reinterpreting each other's songs, as well as songs from far outside their traditions. And we hear foreign takes on African diaspora music. From Louis Armstrong's "Skokiaan" to Alpha Blondy's "Whole Lotta Love," it's a journey of discovery and rediscovery. Produced by Banning Eyre. HEAR IT HERE On Afropop.org Juanita Euka is a Congolese-born, London-based singer/songwriter with a remarkably broad musical palette. The niece of Luambo Makiadi Franco—Congo music royalty—she lived in Argentina and made a deep dive into tango, later Afro-Peruvian music, and in London, Afrobeat and funk with the London Afrobeat Collective. Read Banning Eyre's interview here.  For our program of "Afropop Cover Songs," we made a selection of African musicians covering each other's work, as on Manu Dibango's 1994 collaboration album Wakafrika. We also highlight examples of Western artists covering African songs, and African artists covering Western songs. Here are videos of a number of songs featured in our program, and a few others. The small city of Wúrzburg, Germany, situated about an hour's drive between Frankfurt and Nuremburg, along the banks of the Main River, has played host to the largest and oldest African music and cultural festival in all of Europe since 1989. This year the festival will take place from May 26-29. More info here.  Win free tickets to Amadou & Mariam and The Blind Boys of Alabama at New York's Town Hall, May 2.  Click here.  Shows Around New York Sat., April 23  Pedrito Martinez: Afro-Cuban Rhythms A consummate master of Afro-Cuban folkloric music and the bata drum, Pedrito Martinez is one of Cuba's hottest musical exports. He has performed with dozens of Cuban rumba groups and contributed to several important films, including Calle 54 (2000) and Chico and Rita (2010). Mon., April 25 Lakou Mizik at Florence Gould Hall Lakou Mizik is a powerhouse collective of Haitian roots music with a soulful energy and a mix of styles that feels mystical and familiar at the same time. In the wake of Haiti's devastating earthquake the band came together to show the world that their country was much more than the sum of headlines that were being shot around the globe. Thur., April 28  Burna Boy at Madison Square Garden Grammy Award-Winning Afrobeats maestro brings "One Night in Space" to Madison Square Garden, an historic even in African music history. Afropop is always looking for editorial, development and membership interns. Click the link for more information. We Are Social! Support Afropop! Afropop Staff: Sean Barlow, Executive Producer Banning Eyre, Senior Editor Michael Jones, Chief Audio Engineer (jonesaudio.com) Mukwae Wabei Siyolwe, Director of New Media and Operations CC Smith, Editor at Large Copyright © 2022 Afropop Worldwide, All rights reserved. Hey there, you're receiving this e-mail because you signed up via our website or in person. We send out weekly newsletters to keep our listeners and followers updated with the latest in music from Africa and the diaspora. Our mailing address is: Afropop Worldwide 463 Lincoln Place, Unit # 246 Brooklyn, New York 11238