Intoxicating Beats: The Bay Area’s African Music Scene

Bay Curious

KQED

History, Society & Culture, Places & Travel

4.9 • 999 Ratings

🗓️ 10 November 2022

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The Bay Area has a vibrant and eclectic music scene, but when Jessica Kariisa moved here last year she couldn’t find many places playing the African dance hits she loves. But African music is her passion, so Jessica went on a mission to find it. You'll definitely want to turn the volume up for this episode! Additional Reading: Finding Musical Gems in the Bay Area’s African Club Scene A longer version of this story first appeared on Afropop Worldwide Read the transcript here Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts This story was reported by Jessica Kariisa. It was edited by Victoria Mauleon. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Katrina Schwartz and Brendan Willard. Our Social Video Intern is Darren Tu. Additional support from Kyana Moghadam, Jen Chien, Jasmine Garnett, Carly Severn, Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez, Jenny Pritchett and Holly Kernan.

Transcript

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0:00.0	From K-QED. In early 2016, the Canadian rapper Drake and his team were feeling
0:08.3	unsure. They had this new song, One Dance, that was different from the rap and R&B singles that Drake was known for.
0:17.0	It was part dance hall, a little pop, and thanks to the involvement of Nigerian artist
0:25.7	Wiz Kid it had a heavy hand of Afrobeats listen for that they released it at the same time as another more conventional rap song.
0:36.5	Drake and his team were so nervous about how the song would be received that they released
0:40.5	it at the same time as another more conventional rap song. Of course if you went just
0:45.6	about anywhere in 2016 you know how this story ends. One dance shot to the top of the charts and it stayed there. It became the most played
0:56.8	song ever on Spotify with more than a billion plays and it helped introduce the entire genre of Afrobeats to a mainstream American audience.
1:07.0	African pop stars have been on a tear ever since. Their songs are constantly going viral on Tik-talk and the genre has become a go-to
1:15.3	for dejays looking to liven up a party.
1:20.9	Today on Bay Curious we're heading out with Jessica Carissa, as she goes searching for the Bay Area's African
1:28.5	music scene and finds quite the party.
1:31.4	This episode is sure to put you in a good mood so crank it up. I'm Olivia
1:35.6	Alan Price. Support for Bay Curious
1:46.1	Bay Curious is brought to you by Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, still family owned,
1:50.6	operated and argued over.
1:52.8	Explore their brews wherever fine beverages are sold,
1:55.9	and taste how trailblazing runs in the family.
1:59.0	Visit Sierra Nevada.com
2:00.8	to find your new favorite beer today.
2:05.0	Reporter Jessica Carissa is Ugandan American and she spent years listening to and writing about African pop music.
2:11.0	When she moved to California earlier this year, she wasn't sure
	...

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