Hip Deep
Hip Deep Fourteen years ago, with support from the NEH, we created Hip Deep, a subseries integrated into the overall Afropop Worldwide program offering. Hip Deep programs build on the techniques and format developed for Afropop Worldwide, but are enhanced by rigorous academic and field research that translates into higher production values. Every episode of Hip Deep actively involves leading humanities scholars to illuminate a wealth of history, culture, politics, ethnic and spiritual contexts. Over 15 years, Hip Deep has produced over 110 humanities-focused programs and a wide range of supplementary Web resources (interviews, videos, text/photo features, podcasts), all easily accessible within the Hip Deep section of our website. Hip Deep amplifies Afropop Worldwide’s longstanding commitment to disseminate humanities themes to the general public through world music via a growing set of media pathways.
Planet Afropop: Season Finale with Noise Cans and the Swanky Kitchen Band
Planet Afropop June 25, 2024
Planet Afropop: Season Finale with Noise Cans and the Swanky Kitchen Band
Planet Afropop wraps up Season 1 with Noise Cans, The Swanky Kitchen Band and top picks in new releases
Mbalax Fever
Hip Deep June 20, 2024
Mbalax Fever
Thomas Mapfumo 1: The War Years
Hip Deep April 11, 2024
Thomas Mapfumo 1: The War Years
Part 1 of Afropop Worldwide's HIp Deep audio biography of Thomas Mapfumo focuses on his upbringing, musical education and the bands that lead up to the Blacks Unlimited. These are the war years, when Zimbabwe was fighting to throw off the burden of the racist Southern Rhodesian regime. This episode documents the birth of "chimurenga" music in the voices of those who made that history, many of whom have now joined the ancestors. Produced by Banning Eyre.
Calypso, Reggae and Jab-Jab Soca: Musical Resistance in Grenada
Afropop Classic January 11, 2024
Calypso, Reggae and Jab-Jab Soca: Musical Resistance in Grenada
Calypso, Reggae and Jab-Jab Soca: Musical Resistance in Grenada.
Seize the Dance: The BaAka of Central Africa
Hip Deep May 8, 2025
Seize the Dance: The BaAka of Central Africa
This program will initiate listeners into one of the most enchanting and mysterious musical practices in Africa, BaAka people music.
Black History Month 2025: A Brief History of Funk
Afropop Classic February 20, 2025
Black History Month 2025: A Brief History of Funk
Funk is a perennial favorite. In this panoramic history of the grooviest of genres, we hear track after track of absolute boogie-down classics.
The Mighty Amazon
Hip Deep January 30, 2025
The Mighty Amazon

Afropop After 37 Years, We’re Charting a New Course