In 2012, Afropop Worldwide’s Hip Deep public radio series, distributed by PRI, traveled back in time to early 20th Century Rio de Janeiro to explore the birth of Brazil’s most iconic music: the samba. Rio 1: Samba at the Dawn of Modern Brazil begins with the arrival to the city of poor Afro-Brazilian migrants from the Northeast in the late 19th Century and later follows the exploits of the early sambistas as they forge the genre that would come to represent the nation.

Today, Hip Deep brings you The Story of Samba At the Dawn of Modern Brazil, an exciting new set of web resources designed to accompany and enhance Rio 1: Samba at the Dawn of Modern Brazil with multimedia features that focus on history, music, art, religion, and other subjects.

Follow the story of samba on a timeline of events that charts the germination and blossoming of Rio’s signature sound. From selected timeline events, you can link to resource pages that will let you listen to songs, watch videos, see rare photographs, and read more. In addition, you’ll find topics for informal discussion and suggestions on how to expand these resources into formal educational environments.

At a time when Brazil has stepped into the international spotlight with the World Cup and upcoming Olympics, Afropop Worldwide offers an unprecedented guide in English to exploring a rich and exhilarating genre that has traveled the world but is still not yet deeply understood by many outside of Brazil. Hip Deep aims to expand its listeners’ appreciation of samba with this inspiring and educational narrative. You can hear “Radio Focuses,” short excerpts of our radio program located at the top of each resource page and you can also find the full program too. (Entire Hip Deep archive at afropop.org/hipdeep.) .We hope you enjoy everything! Please pass it on to friends.

We also hope our work here will inspire you to explore more of Brazil--take a samba music or dance class, go see a concert, discover Brazilian literature, take a semester or vacation in Brazil, learn Portuguese (the most beautiful language in the world!), learn how to cook a Brazilian dish, or whatever moves you.