Best Zona Libre DJs Podcasts (2025)

1
Roots Reinvented in Mali and Egypt 59:04

1d 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…

1
Off The Beaten Track in Burkina Faso, Malawi, and Beyond 59:04

8d 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,…

1
Planet Afropop - Breaking into Afrobeats: Homegrown, Selfmade 56:27

10d 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…

1
Cuts from the Crypt 4: Zona Libre 59:04

15d 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…

1
Barbados - From Spouge to Soca 59:04

22d 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…

1
Planet Afropop - Madalitso! From Banjo Boys to Men and Acoustic Salif 52:58

24d 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

29d 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…

1
Afro-Dominicana: Music from the Other Dominican Republic 59:04

1M 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…

1
Planet Afropop - Steel Pans and New Trends 46:31

1M 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…

1
Ten Tunes That Shook Kingston 59:04

1M 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…

1
Afro-Lisbon and the Lusophone Atlantic 59:04

2M 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?…

1
Planet Afropop - African Beat-Makers Part 2: Dami TNT 44:20

2M 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…

1
Seize the Dance: The BaAka of Central African Republic 59:04

2M 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…

1
Hip Deep in Northern Nigeria 59:04

2M 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…

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

2M 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 …

1
Remembering Andy Palacio and Aurelio Martinez 59:04

2M 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…

1
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 …

1
Planet Afropop - Somali DJs in America and Songhoy Blues 42:22

3M 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…

1
Africans in the Arabian Gulf 59:04

3M 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…

1
A Hip Deep Portrait of King Sunny Ade 59:04

3M 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 …

1
Planet Afropop: Celebrating Toumani Diabate 1:02:46

4M ago1:02:46

1:02:46

An intimate look at Toumani Diabaté through 30 years of Afropop Worldwide conversations. From his home in Bamako to concert halls worldwide, Toumani revolutionized the kora and brought West African music to new heights – winning Grammys and collaborating with everyone from Ali Farka Touré to the London Symphony Orchestra.Join us as his longtime fri…

1
Planet Afropop - Tcehlla & Dotti Carve Their Own Lane 53:29

4M ago53:29

53:29

In this episode of Planet Afropop, FayFay spotlights two standout artists, Tchella, an R&B vocalist, and Dotti the Deity, a Nigerian folk musician. Both friends and reality show winners, they’ve taken unique paths in a music scene dominated by lo-fi Alté vibes. From Port Harcourt to Lagos, and Badagry to Ibadan, they’ve stayed true to their sound, …

1
Planet Afropop - Simpa Sonics: Neo-traditional dance music from Northern Ghana 57:02

4M ago57:02

57:02

From late night sessions of frenetic drumming, singing and trumpets and teenagers shaking their "waists" by the light of the moon, to hard-driving studio simpa tracks with drum machines, vst synths and auto-tuned vocals, simpa is an evolving neo-traditional popular music of the Dagomba people of Northern Ghana that is rarely heard outside of the re…

1
Women’s History Month: Reconstructing Somalia - Women’s Voices 59:04

4M ago59:04

59:04

In this episode we take a rare look at Somalia’s formative, pre-civil war years (1960-90), which saw the birth of soomaalinimo - Somali patriotism. This national mood inspired people to put aside the clan identities so heavily manipulated by the colonial powers and dedicate themselves to the creation of a new, culturally authentic, but also modern,…

1
Women's History Month: Four Women of the West 59:04

4M ago59:04

59:04

In West Africa, women are on the cutting edge of musical and cultural progress. This program looks at four singer/composers with roots in tradition and unique ideas about how to keep them current in the fast-changing milieu of today’s African music. Mali’s Fatoumata Diawara keeps her focus on messages, mixing traditional sounds and rock idioms to r…

1
Women's History Month: Fairuz, A Woman for all Seasons 59:04

4M ago59:04

59:04

Fairuz is the most popular living singer throughout the Arabic-speaking world and an artist with no real counterpart in Europe or the Americas. Since the ‘50s, she has appealed across boundaries of age, gender, class, religion, nationality, regional dialect, and political persuasion. Creating music as serious and engaged as it is popular, Fairuz—al…

1
Planet Afropop - AfroPopup in Malawi, Rising Stars from the Warm Heart of Africa 44:06

4M ago44:06

44:06

In December 2024, Planet Afropop co-host Mukwae Wabei Siyolwe produced the first AfroPopup in at the Uka Café in Lilongwe, Malawi. Despite torrential rain and power outages, the show went on with three fanstastic young Malawian stars, Praise Umali, Chikondi Wiseman and Maggie Kadrum. This podcast tells the story of grass roots cultural activism in …

1
Black History Month: Kriolu in New England, The Cape Verdean-American Story 59:04

4M ago59:04

59:04

Of all contemporary Cape Verdeans, Cesaria Evora, "the Queen of the Morna" made the biggest impression internationally. However the first Cape Verdean to grace the American imagination was the harpooner Dagoo in Herman Melville's Moby Dick (1851). Cape Verdeans first arrived in United States as whalers in the late 1700's and have been coming ever s…

1
Black History Month: A Brief History of Funk 59:04

4M ago59:04

59:04

Funk is the personal favorite of many music lovers. In this panoramic history of the grooviest of genres, we hear track after track of absolute boogie-down classics. Everything from Sly and the Family Stone to James Brown, with a few stops to hear legends like the Meters, Kool and the Gang, and Parliament. We’ll also hear the great Bobby Byrd expla…

1
Black History Month: Shake it Fo Ya Hood, The History of New Orleans Bounce 59:04

5M ago59:04

59:04

New Orleans, Louisiana is home to some of America's greatest musical traditions, and plays an outsized influence on the evolution of everything from jazz through to r&b, rock and funk. Today, the city is still legendary for its second line brass bands and brightly costumed Mardi Gras Indians. But if you've rolled through New Orleans on pretty much …

1
Planet Afropop - Boom.Diwan: Arabian Pearl Diving Meets Afro-Cuba 41:24

5M ago41:24

41:24

Ghazi and Boom.Diwan with Arturo O’Farrill is about as unlikely a group as you could imagine. Ghazi Al-Mulaifi is a rocking guitar player and an ethnomusicologist who studies the music of Arabian Gulf pearl divers, among them, his own ancestors. Boom.Diwan is an ensemble based around the Kuwaiti percussionists who preserve the vanishing art of pear…

1
Women's History Month: Afropop's Tribute to Cesaria Evora 59:04

5M ago59:04

59:04

The beloved, Grammy Award winning singer Cesaria Evora from Cape Verde passed away in 2011 at the age of 70. We celebrate Cesaria's life and art with an encore of our 1995 recording of her magnificent New York City debut at the Bottom Line. Cesaria, known as the "Queen of the morna" is backed by her classy group featuring piano, acoustic bass guita…

1
Planet Afropop - Golden Elephants and Ibibio Gospel 52:36

5M ago52:36

52:36

In this edition of Planet Afropop, our newest producer Stella Hartman reports on the UK/Nigerian group Ibibio Sound Machine’s venture into gospel music. Then Georges, Mukwae and Banning preview the annual Syli D’Or battle of the Afropop bands in Montreal by profiling the two winners of the 2024 Afropop Award. Boubé is a young Tuareg composer/singer…

1
The Mighty Amazon 59:04

5M ago59:04

59:04

The Amazon River basin has long been a mystery to Brazil. Located far from the centers of business and power in the nation's southeast, the jungle provinces of the Brazilian north have long been ignored by the nation at large. But recently, Brazilians have discovered that the cities and waterways of the Amazon are home to some of the nation's hotte…

1
Planet Afropop - The New Black Vanguard of Classical Music 1:00:51

6M ago1:00:51

1:00:51

In this episode, our new producer, Lauren Williams, revisits an old genre through a new lens. Classical music, a historically exclusionary space, is going through changes. We explore the process of writing and performing boundary-pushing classical music with Seth Parker Woods, a Grammy-nominated cello player who pulls from the sounds and stories of…

1
Black History Month: The African Roots of Rock n Roll 59:04

6M ago59:04

59:04

In this program you will the hear the African music roots of famed American blues and rock 'n' roll artists such as Jimi Hendrix, Bo Diddley, Buddy Holly, Fats Domino, the Isley Brothers, Robert Johnson, The Kingsmen and many more! Not everyone in this program is as well-known as the above mentioned juggernauts of music. Also included is Celia Cruz…

1
Botswana Dumelang 59:04

6M ago59:04

59:04

Botswana is a large, landlocked country in Southern Africa, a vast stretch of desert and savannah between South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia with a population of only 2.2 million. While widely overlooked internationally for their music, over the past 20 years Batswana has steadily built a diverse and fruitful local scene that includes traditional c…

1
Cairo: Hollywood of the Middle East 59:04

6M ago59:04

59:04

By the mid 20th century, Cairo had become the unrivaled center for music and film production in the Middle East. Producers, writers, composers, actors, musicians, star singers, and creators of every stripe flocked here to take part in the city's fervent, international, progressive artistic milieu. This was the heyday of the diva Umm Kulthum, Mohame…

1
Planet Afropop - Johannesburg Meets Detroit: Soweto Gospel Choir's History of House 43:55

6M ago43:55

43:55

Our reporter from Texas, Akshaj Turebylu, triangulates the influences responsible for the irresistible, intercontinental, genre-bending, collaborative album called History of House. Our guides include Shimmy Jiyane, a founding member of the Soweto Gospel Choir, the pre-eminent African gospel performers in the world. We're also joined by Latroit, a …

1
A Tale of Two Rebellions - Zanj, Fatamid 59:04

6M ago59:04

59:04

Our Hip Deep edition “A Tale of Two Rebellions" recounts the stories of two remarkable military campaigns in early Islamic history. Both uprisings take place in the late 9th century, both involve Africans as key players, and both set the scene for the crystallization of the Sunni-Shi’ite divide in Islam, which of course continues to this day. By Jo…

1
The Zulu Factor 59:04

6M ago59:04

59:04

Beginning in 1815, under Shaka Zulu, the Zulus began a campaign of conquest that would subsume so many other groups that today, the Zulu are South Africa's largest ethnic population, numbering at least six-million. Ethnomusicologist Louise Meintjes, author of Sounds of Africa! Making Music Zulu in a South African Studio writes that the Zulu reputat…

1
Planet Afropop - 2024 Wrapup 50:01

6M ago50:01

50:01

Georges, Mukwae and Banning share highlights from 2024, including new voices from Malawi and Namibia, highlights from the Nuits D’Afrique festival in Montreal, Mukwae’s song of the year, and George’s shout-out to Africans stationed on U.S. aircraft carriers. Plus a look ahead to Mali’s Bamba Wassoulou Groove, debuting at globalFEST 2025 in New York…

1
Abidjan: A New Musical El Dorado 59:04

7M ago59:04

59:04

In the 70s and 80s Ivory Coast’s capital Abidjan was a major musical hub in West Africa. After a series of political crises, Abidjan is back. The Zouglou sound of the 1990s and the coupé decalé rage that followed are being reinvented in the era of Afrobeats and African hip-hop. The group Magic System is now invited to play major events in France—in…

1
Proving the Bubu Myth 59:04

7M ago59:04

59:04

Every year on Sierra Leone’s Independence Day in late April, musicians and revelers descend upon Freetown from throughout the country. Parades and celebrations traverse the city, joining diverse neighborhoods with processional music, including one particular local style called bubu, a trance-inducing sound played by groups of young men blowing inte…

1
Global Griots in France 59:03

7M ago59:03

59:03

Traditional Manding (Mande) griots living in France sit at the crossroads between Africa and Europe. Historically, their role has been to weave traditional, oral histories, often within music, to promote a united, peaceful society. As they have become part of the modern global community, each griot has their own way of staying true to these histori…

1
Ebo Taylor and the Pioneers of Afro-Funk 59:04

8M ago59:04

59:04

This Hip Deep edition, based on field work in Ghana, tells the story of how highlife turned into Afro-funk. Guitarist/composer/bandleader Ebo Taylor, is our principle guide, taking us to his hometown Saltpond to explore the roots of his complex sound, and recounting his highlife years, and his deep study of American jazz in London in the early 60s—…

1
Planet Afropop: Breaking into Afrobeats: First Klaz and Kemuel 55:51

8M ago55:51

55:51

In this episode, our reporter in Lagos, Fay Fay, turns us on to two rising stars in African music’s dominant genre, Afrobeats. First Klaz, also known as Helicopter Boy, has made his from humble beginnings to become a top contender, and Kemuel has evolved from a rapper, modeled on gangsta stars, to become a tuneful and insightful Afrobeats singer/so…

1
The Mighty Orchestra Baobab 59:04

8M ago59:04

59:04

Fifty years ago, the president of Senegal’s nephew was putting together a band for his new, upscale Dakar nightclub, and he recruited a handful of musicians who are still together today. Bringing together elements from their homes across West Africa to the Afro-Cuban style of the time, the Orchestra Baobab became one of Dakar’s top bands. From the …

1
The Hidden Blackness of Flamenco 59:04

8M ago59:04

59:04

Flamenco as we know it was “born” in Spain in the mid-19th century. But for centuries before that, Roma (Gitanos, Gypsies) had been living in Spanish cities, often rubbing shoulders with the descendants of Africans (Moors), who had been there as both citizens and slaves going back to Medieval times and earlier. This overlooked pre-history of flamen…

1
Reggaeton and Race 59:04

8M ago59:04

59:04

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…

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