Afropop Worldwide

“Twenty years of putting out compilations, and none of them involves a Cuban. And every single one of them had to rely on Cubans.” –Garo

In 1970s Cuba, musicians were absorbing funk, soul, psychedelia and progressive rock, even as American-influenced music faced censorship. One way around it was fantasía: a name broad enough to make room for experimentation, and for some of the strangest and most inventive music of post-revolutionary Cuba.

Now Cuban producers and hip-hop pioneers EL GARO and Harold G Medina have brought that history together on Cuban Beat & Fantasia (1970–1980), released by Garo’s LUCHANDO Music and AfroQbano’s Future Rootz. It’s the first compilation of this musical period made entirely by Cubans.

Rare records are dope, but For Garo the project is about amplifying and preserving a true lineage.

“This idea of ownership comes out of the beginnings of the Cuban rap movement.” –Garo

After decades of watching outsiders collect, curate and profit from Cuban music, often relying on Cuban knowledge without crediting the people who provided it, the compilation is an act of authorship and preservation. It also grows directly from Cuba’s early hip-hop movement, where Garo says exiled Black Panthers taught young rappers the importance of controlling their own narratives.

The result is what he calls “a photograph you leave behind for the future”: a document of a musical history that might otherwise be lost, misunderstood or told by someone else.

🇨🇺 Full interview >>> https://www.afropop.org/articles/cuban-fantas%C3%ADa-a-photograph-for-the-future

🇨🇺 Hear the album >>> https://futurerootz.bandcamp.com/album/cuban-beat-fantasia-1970-1980-compiled-by-garo-afroqbano

Get the best of Afropop’s indie journalism in your inbox >>> bit.ly/afropopnewsletter

NEW LIVING ROOM SESSION WITH RAZIA SAID at Afropop.org!

On a warm summer morning, Malagasy-born singer and songwriter Razia Said welcomed Afropop Worldwide into her Harlem apartment for an intimate and uplifting set.

A longtime New Yorker, Razia writes and sings mostly in Malagasy, drawing on the rhythms, melodies and instruments she grew up with to address environmental destruction in Madagascar.

Featured here: “Zanako.” The song’s title means “my child” in Malagasy. Taken from the album Akory, it looks toward the children of Madagascar as the country’s future.

• Razia Said - Razia Said: Vocals
• David Rajaonary: Guitar, vocals
• Harvey Wirht - Harvey Wirht: Drums, vocals
• Zwelakhe-Duma Bell le Pere - Zwelakhe-Duma Bell le Pere: Bass

Watch here >>> https://www.afropop.org/articles/afropop-living-room-session-razia-said

• Executive Producer: Sean Barlow Sean Barlow
• Executive Producer and Host: Banning Eyre Martin Banning Eyre
• Line Producer: Lynn Jones
• Sound: Michael Jones
• Cameras & Editing: Bec Stupak Diop Bec Stupak
• Production Assistance: Mariana Giacobbe mariana

African Diaspora global culture Afropop Worldwide

NEW INTERVIEW WITH on Afropop.org! Somi shares her thoughts on how art is made, how grief becomes music, and what it takes to bloom 🌼 Listen to the stories behind the songs at >>> https://www.afropop.org/audio-programs/somi-on-what-does-it-take-to-bloom

Afro-Tech: Stories of Synths in African Music

The story of how Jimmy Cliff’s synths left in storage influenced Nigerian electronic music is part of this Afropop Classic!

https://www.afropop.org/audio-programs/afro-tech-stories-of-synths-in-african-music

Technology is one of the great drivers of musical change, and often one of its least understood. In this episode, we explore the synthesizer, looking closely at the history of this ubiquitous (and often debated) piece of musical technology, and investigating how and why it was first used in a variety of African musics. Enabled by groundbreaking record reissues by synth pioneers like William Onyeabor (Nigeria) and Hailu Mergia (Ethiopia), disco stars like Kris Okotie, and South African superstar Brenda Fassie, we take you back to the ’70s and ’80s, listening to the birth of a distinctly African electronic sound.

Produced by Sam Backer

Featuring






Kris Okotie
William Onyeabor

disco
highlife
Synthesizer
Bubblegum
Burger Highlife
Ethio-Jazz
Ethiopian

This weekend! Angélique Kidjo / Cimafunk / DJ Freshy K at SummerStage NYC

August 23 @ 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Doors Open: 6:00 PM
Central Park
All Ages + Free!

Featuring Angelique Kidjo Cimafunk Dj Freshyk

Check out the review of Angelique Kidjo’s new album HOPE!! before heading out this weekend to SummerStage >>> https://www.afropop.org/articles/angelique-kidjo-hope

Beninese singer Angélique Kidjo returns to SummerStage with her multilingual fusion of Afrobeat, pop, jazz, reggae, and various African traditions and percussive rhythms that earned her international acclaim. After arriving in Paris in the early ‘90s, Kidjo recorded a run of critically acclaimed albums on Island Records—beginning with the chart-topping 1991 album Logozo—and followed it up with an ambitious trilogy exploring African music’s influence in the Americas, from gospel to Brazilian and Latin. Over her multi-decade career she’s collaborated with the likes of Philip Glass and the Kronos Quartet to Peter Gabriel, Alicia Keys, Dr. John, and Branford Marsalis. Her latest album, Hope!! is dedicated to her late mother, and features contributions from Pharrell Williams, Nile Rodgers, Ayra Starr, Quavo, and The Gap Band’s Charlie Wilson. DJ Freshy K, a Nigerian Afrobeats specialist based in NYC who has opened for the likes of Jidenna, Flavour, Olamide, Davido, and Wizkid, opens the show with a DJ set.

In association with World Music Institute
City Parks Foundation
Partnerships for Parks

AN IDEA, NOT A CRIMINAL

Moroccan rapper and activist Mehdi Black Wind has become a flashpoint in the country’s growing struggle over free speech.

Arrested in July and charged with “insulting a constitutional institution,” Mehdi was detained for more than two weeks before being released on bail. His case comes amid a broader crackdown on journalists, artists and activists, even as Morocco invests heavily in music festivals, tourism and preparations for the 2030 World Cup.

For critics, the contradiction is stark: a country promoting its culture abroad while tightening restrictions on dissent at home.

Now artists and activists across Morocco and Europe are rallying behind the rapper under a message: “Black Wind is an idea, not a criminal.”

Read Ben Jones’ full report >>> at https://www.afropop.org/articles/an-idea-not-a-criminal
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