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September 19, 2020

Toots Hibbert, 1942-2020

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Toots Hibbert, lead singer of the Jamaican vocal group Toots & The Maytals, passed away on September 11 from complications of COVID-19. ...
September 14, 2020

Charts September 8-14, 2020

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WRIR's NACC World Top Ten 1 NAHAWA DOUMBIA | Kanawa | Awesome Tapes From Africa 2 TOOTS AND THE MAYTALS | Got To Be Tough | Tro...
September 13, 2020

OK boomer, where's the beef?

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Cumbia and hip hop are like peanut butter and chocolate: two great tastes that taste great together.  Each lends the other something that...
September 8, 2020

Charts September 1-7, 2020

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WRIR's NACC World Top Ten 1 VUSI MAHLASELA | Shebeen Queen | ATO 2 KEITH HUDSON | "Nuh Skin Up" [Single] | Greenslee...
September 5, 2020

Shebeen queen

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Vusi Mahlasela's grandmother Ida ran a shebeen (an illegal tavern or what Americans might call a speakeasy) in South Africa's Mam...
September 1, 2020

Charts August 25-31, 2020

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WRIR's NACC World Top Ten 1 QWANQWA | Volume 3 | Wuzzawazzee Industries 2 FALLE NIOKE AND GHOST CULTURE | Youkounkoun [EP] | P...
August 29, 2020

Ethiopian tradition, 21st century improvisation

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Violinist Kaethe Hostetter got interested in Ethiopian music when she became a founding member of Boston's Debo Band.  Then she took a...
August 25, 2020

Charts August 18-24, 2020

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WRIR's NACC World Top Ten 1 A GUIDE TO THE BIRDSONG OF MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN | various artists | Shika Shika ...
August 22, 2020

We're making history

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There's a lot of music I listened to in 1978 that I'm no longer interested in.  And there are a few things that are as timely and ...
August 17, 2020

Charts August 11-17, 2020

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WRIR's NACC World Top Ten 1 KELEKETLA | Keleketla! | Ahead Of Our Time 2 MOONLIGHT BENJAMIN | Simido | Ma Case 3 MODOU TOURE...
August 15, 2020

Crossroads can't hold me

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She has released two albums since 2018 and she's already being compared to Angelique Kidjo, Patti Smith, PJ Harvey, the White Stripes,...
August 10, 2020

Charts Aug 4-10, 2020

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WRIR's NACC World Top Ten 1 SANTROFI | Alewa | Out Here 2 VOZ DI SANICOLAU | Fundo De Marê Palinha | Analog Africa 3 HABIBI ...
August 8, 2020

Uhuru special

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It's an all-African edition of Global A Go-Go this week (Monday August 10, 3:00-5:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards at wrir.org/...
August 4, 2020

Charts Jul 28 - Aug 3, 2020

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WRIR's NACC World Top Ten 1 ANDRE ABUJAMRA | "Alma Nao Tem Cor - Multi 25" [Single] | Tratore 2 KELEKETLA | Keleketla...
August 1, 2020

The king of Sudanese jazz

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In Sudan, as in many African countries, if you made music in the 1960s with electric guitars and electric keyboards and a drum trap kit (a...