Africa: Rikki Stein’s Gonzo Journey As an African Music Manager

[Afropop] Even if you are a longtime fan of African music, you may not know the name Rikki Stein. But Rikki is one of those people behind the scenes that makes things work, and the world go around. Over the years he has managed the Master Musicians of Joujouka, Les Ballets Africains de Guinea, Keziah Jones, The Pan-African Orchestra and, most famously, Fela Anikulapo Kuti. It's probably fair to say that no non-Nigerian was more of an inside player in Fela's career than Rikki. Even if you know all these things,

Africa: The Deepest Roots of Revolution – How Six Musicians Transformed African Music

[Afropop] In the tense summer of 1962, in a dimly lit bar on the outskirts of Oran, Algeria, revolution wore an unexpected face. Cheikha Rimitti stepped onto the stage, her shoulder deliberately bared in the style that had earned singers like her the scandalous title "women of the cold shoulder." The conservative audience shifted uneasily - not just because of her presence, but because of what that presence represented. In French colonial Algeria, where women were forbidden from public performance, the very