WEST AFRICAN RADIO

A wild romp through the West African airwaves, including a bewildering range of folk genres & styles from the region’s many ethnic groups, DJ banter, commercials, and more. Most of the recordings featured here are from the 1990s & 2000s. Some highlights include a Malian DJ who randomly drops jarring space effect bombs over folk tunes; a remarkable telephone karaoke segment from Niger; and an on-air conversation about juju music and marijuana to name just a few. The cover image is from a vintage Nigerian horror movie poster.

Many thanks to the following for the many hours of source material used to put this together, including Dutch journalist and collector Gerrit Kalsbeek (Lola Radio), David Goren (Shortwave Shindig), Alan Bishop (Sublime Frequencies), and Derek Didge Weiskopf (ShortWaveMusic).

TIME MARKS

0:00-19:10 Mali

19:11-20:54 Niger

20:55-24:16 Niger

24:14-28:41 Tuareg

28:42-38:13 Burkina Faso

38:15-39:44 Senegal

39:45-40:40 Gambia

40:41-49:54 Guinea

49:55-51:31 Sierra Leone

51:32-58:26 Ghana

58:26-62:51 Nigeria