[music]

Brigid Bergin: This is All Of It. I'm Brigid Bergin. WNYC listeners, probably if you're a dedicated listener, you probably caught that Notes From America with Kai Wright is currently in the midst of a summer playlist series that is celebrating the diaspora through music and inviting listeners who submit songs that tell the story of their own diaspora experience in this country. The latest episode in this series focuses on the world of Afrobeats in West Africa, which is, without a doubt, one of the musical genres growing the fastest in popularity around the world. Artists like Burna Boy, Tems, and Wizkid all stream in the hundreds of millions. Let's get a little taste.

[MUSIC - Tems: Damages]

Back then when I was a new youngie

Surely you were tryna run on me

I've been, I been going on my own

I been, I been doing things unknown

Since day one you running right back

Save the drama you running off track

Is a one life, you tell me one life

One time, you tell me one time

Open your eyes, open your eyes baby

Can you be wise? 'Cause you are my pride baby

I'm on a way, I'm on the run baby

Leave me alone, leave me alone, take it back now

I put you on there

Say you want chance to hold it on me

I finna hold it back

Turn you right 'round

Taking my way

Brigid Bergin: That is the song Damages from Nigerian artist Tems. There's also an interesting history to how Afrobeats developed as a genre towards the end of the colonial occupation in West Africa and on the edge of independence. All of that and more is covered in the episode and Notes From America associate producer Regina de Heer has been taking the lead on this project.

She has a personal connection with the Afrobeats episode because, well, first, she's Ghanaian American, but both of her parents grew up in Ghana and she was raised in South Jersey. She also just recently celebrated her traditional Ghanaian engagement ceremony, which is a huge deal in Ghanaian culture. It's an event where, of course, music plays a huge role. Regina joins me now to talk about the episode and the series overall. Hey, Regina.

Regina de Heer: Hi, Brigid. Thanks for having me.

Brigid Bergin: Oh, I'm so glad. I can't wait till we get to the engagement story, but before we get there, let's dive a little bit further into Afrobeats in the diaspora. How did you come up with the very original idea for this series, and what's the goal?

Regina de Heer: The original series was inspired by these cool SWANA diaspora parties called Laylit. SWANA is Southwest Asian and North African for people who may not know. Laylit are these parties that happen in different cities like New York, Washington, DC, Montreal, Detroit, et cetera. I live in DC and I had a bunch of friends who went to these parties, posted about it on Instagram, talked about how transformative and how fun it is, how emotional it was, so I wanted to go to experience these parties for myself, have a fun party night. I bought tickets and everything, but as it got closer, I did what a typical producer would do and made it into a story.

Brigid Bergin: Of course.

Regina de Heer: Of course, and so I got the green light. I took my recording equipment to this late-night party because at first, we were just going to do Notes From America segment on it. Then I saw for myself, I got this amazing tape, and I realized there was so much more to the experience than just a cool party with incredible DJs. It was more like a community-building experience for people to connect with each other and discover amazing music and reconnect to their culture, and so we decided to extend those ideas to different diaspora communities [crosstalk].

Brigid Bergin: A series was born.

Regina de Heer: The series was born.

Brigid Bergin: Let's talk a little bit about the music in this first episode. How would you describe the vibe of the music and the rhythm of Afrobeats?

Regina de Heer: It's funny because, as I say in the episode, it's really hard to describe Afrobeats cleanly. Especially as it grows, as you said, to be one of the most dominant musical genres out there right now, it becomes more broad. I would say it's basically popular music coming out of the African continent, primarily West Africa and its diaspora, so people like me making really cool music, and it's really focused on chanting vocals and these really catchy choruses and then these really amazing beats that they are singing over. It's a really cool genre.

Brigid Bergin: I teased your engagement ceremony story. Congratulations, which I didn't say yet.

Regina de Heer: Thank you.

Brigid Bergin: You describe in the episode that it's maybe a bigger deal to have this engagement ceremony than maybe your actual wedding. Can you tell us a little bit more about what the ceremony involved and why it's so important?

Regina de Heer: Oh, yes. My fiancé really loved me saying that. [chuckles] The ceremony was a traditional Ghanaian engagement ceremony. It's representative of a West African tradition where a man comes to the home of the person he wants to marry and offers his betrothed, their family, a dowry for raising his future spouse, investing the time and energy into the person. For us, the ceremony is more funny games today. It's basically each family has a huge entrance. A designated female representative goes back and forth, basically doing a light roast of each family. Then at the end of the hour-long ceremony, I had my big entrance.

Brigid Bergin: Ah, that's amazing. Listeners, we're speaking about the summer playlist series with associate producer for Notes From America with Kai Wright, Regina de Heer, and we want to hear from you. This episode that we're talking about is specifically about Afrobeats. We want to hear from you and your family, if you immigrated to this country, what is a song that represents your diaspora story and why? Call us or text us at 212-433-WNYC. That's 212-433-9692. You can also write us on social media @AllOfItWNYC.

Specifically, if your family is from West Africa, what do Afrobeats mean to you and your family? What's an artist or a song that reminds you of your parents or memories of childhood, and how does the genre vary from country to country? Again, the number is 212-433-WNYC. That's 212-433-9692. Again, you can find us on social media @AllOfItWNYC. We had that wonderful image of you walking into the room, Regina, and we're going to play a piece of the song that you walked into that room for your engagement ceremony too. You chose the song Sability from the artist Ayra Starr. Before we listen to the song, why did you choose it?

Regina de Heer: She is one of the biggest Afrobeats stars out right now. Afrobeats as a genre is heavily, heavily dominated by male artists. Most people would think Burna Boy, Wizkid who you mentioned earlier. They're all doing really amazing things, we all love them, but for my entrance, I needed a hype girl anthem. You know what I mean? I already knew it was going to be her, but it just came down to which song, which is what took the three months to decide, if you listened to the episode.

I picked Sability because of it has a [unintelligible 00:08:08] meaning. I either have impeccable taste or incredibly mainstream taste because shortly after, former President Obama put it on his 2023 summer playlist. I'm not sure what it means about me or what it means about him, so I'll leave that for listeners to decide.

Brigid Bergin: Well, this is Sability by Ayra Starr.

[MUSIC - Ayra Starr: Sability]

E le oh

Dey Greet everybody for here oh

Padi jo shey shey pęlę oh

Mo ti n so funwon tęlę oh

Belle oh

Deliver like I get belle oh

Them say I Dey go cele oh

Them say I Dey go cele oh

Espiritu Fortuna

I go make you jo dada

Shey you getty the power

Sweet passi, amala ketu

Shinji kagawa

Jesu kristi loba wa

Gat dem falling yakata

You know as e sabi girl dey do

Sabi o

Oooo

Sabi o

Oooo

Sabi o

Oooo

Brigid Bergin: Regina, we talked about how both of your parents were born and raised in Ghana, but you grew up in Cherry Hill, South Jersey. How did it feel to participate in this important ceremony that's a really big part of your heritage, especially someone who grew up in a different environment?

Regina de Heer: It's a big question, multi-layered. First, of course, I was just nervous about having an engagement party, being the center of attention, all the typical things, working your room, all those typical things, but then you add another layer of it, of having this big event, it means so much to my culture, my family. As you said, I grew up a little bit distant from it. Let me back up. Important context to mention is, not to bring the mood down, but I lost three grandparents in the pandemic.

Very important context about that is the last time I saw my grandmother was in Ghana, and Ghana in the past few years in my life has become a much bigger part. I definitely feel much more connected to that part of myself. It really felt indicative of that growth and just having this big moment where, as I say in the episode, it's the most African moment of my life. I will never be that dressed up participating in such a traditional ceremony. I don't know how to say it cleanly. It's both. It was that nerve-racking feeling but also this return to home that is hard to define, but it really was special.

Brigid Bergin: So sorry for your loss, but I think to borrow the name of the show, we appreciate you saying all of it and telling us about all the layers of that experience because I think that's really important. I want to talk a little bit more, and we'll get back to the music, as part of the episode, you went into the history of Afrobeats, including the genre from the 1950s that began in Ghana called highlife. What is highlife, and how did it lay the foundation for Afrobeats?

Regina de Heer: Afrobeats comes from Ghana, which is also where I come from. It started in what is presently Ghana but was once a British colony called the Gold Coast. It's this really cool fusion sound that makes the local rhythm and this Western jazz and Caribbean Calypso sound brought over by soldiers who were manning the colony. What starts off as this real colonial sound ends up becoming the sound of Ghana's independent movement. It's a really cool evolution.

Brigid Bergin: Let's listen to a clip of a song just to hear an example. This is from the album Tempos on the Beat by E.T. Mensah and his Tempos Band.

[MUSIC - E.T. Mensah: Tempos on the Beat]

Brigid Bergin: Regina, I feel like I am pouring into all of your family memories, but does that conjure up growing up in your home in South Jersey with your parents listening to highlife music? Is that something that really connects for you?

Regina de Heer: It definitely connects for me. My mom, who I'm sure is listening somewhere somehow--

Brigid Bergin: Hi, mom.

Regina de Heer: Hi, mom. My mom loves highlife music. She would play it as she cleaned the house. She would play it on long drives. How do I say this nicely? It's not my favorite. It's definitely something that brings back hiding from cleaning or family parties, where all the adults would be dancing and having fun and it would just feel very, very ever-present that I was not African enough and that I was clearly very American in this identity. It definitely brings back that feeling. Thank you for bringing it up. [chuckles]

Brigid Bergin: Wow. These are very loaded questions that-

Regina de Heer: Very much so.

Brigid Bergin: -we're asking today. Well, I appreciate you so much for sharing and being willing to engage in the conversation. Let's go to a lighter topic. Let's talk politics. Another part of the Afrobeats story is obviously politics. Can you talk about how this factors into the music and how we understand the Afrobeats' history?

Regina de Heer: Yes, of course. As I was mentioning, what was once a colonial sound becomes Ghana's independence movement. West Africa is basically going through a very distinct time in history. These genres are inherently political because independence movements are spreading and these countries are trying to define what they would become, what they wanted to be. The idea of Pan-Africanism of country identity are really present in the music. If you can understand it, you can really hear it in the music in the lyrics.

Brigid Bergin: I'm speaking with Regina de Heer. We're talking about this amazing series that she is producing and leading for Notes from America with Kai Wright. We're going to talk a little bit more after we take a short break. You're listening to All Of It on WNYC. Coming right back.

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[music]

Brigid Bergin: It's All Of It on WNYC. I'm Brigid Bergin. I'm speaking with Regina de Heer, the associate producer for Notes from America with Kai Wright, and we're talking about the summer playlist series she's helping to produce on the show and specifically, about the episode that aired yesterday about Afrobeats. We are taking your calls. If you or your family immigrated to this country, what is a song that represents your diaspora story and why? Call or text us at 212-433-WNYC. That's 212-433-9692.

Specifically, if your family is from West Africa, what do Afrobeats mean to you and your family? What's an artist or song that reminds you of your parents or memories of childhood, and how does the genre vary from country to country? Again, the number, 212-433-WNYC. That's 212-433-9692. Regina, I mentioned if you think about this music from another country, and that's because there's Afrobeats but then there's Afrobeat, which you joke in this show as a Ghanaian you're a little reluctant to admit is a powerful genre that comes from Nigeria. First of all, what is the source of that jokey hesitation?

Regina de Heer: Anyone from Ghana or Nigeria knows there's this beef of what the origin of anything is. There's this thing called jollof rice [unintelligible 00:17:49] I'm triggering someone somewhere about this. All that to say, highlife music is this really strong influence of Afrobeat, and that's Afrobeat without an S, not to be confused with the genre we first started talking about. This Afrobeat becomes this global sound, so really, it becomes this thing of, where does Afrobeats come from? Does it come from highlife? Does it come from Afrobeat? Does it come from both? It's a very complex conversation.

Brigid Bergin: Let's listen to a song from Fela Kuti, one of the Nigerian artists most credited with launching the Afrobeat genre. This is Water No Get Enemy.

[MUSIC - Fela Kuti: Water No Get Enemy]

Brigid Bergin: Regina, what was Fela Kuti in this new generation of Nigerian artists doing in the 1960s to lay the foundation for the Afrobeat sound?

Regina de Heer: Nigeria is going through a lot of political turmoil, and Fela Kuti is really leading this Pan-African movement in West Africa. There's Black Americans who are traveling to West Africa and this intellectual exchange is happening. Also, as I mentioned, this is really where the sound goes global. I really think of it as a time that really primed us all to hear what Afrobeats would become as the sounds of West Africa become more respected in the global mainstream.

Brigid Bergin: For this episode, you also spoke with Christian Adofo, who's from the UK, but his parents are from Ghana, and he recently wrote a book. What was illuminating about your conversation with Christian?

Regina de Heer: Christian is just a really cool dude. He knows a lot. He just was so willing to share. I knew a lot about the history he outlined in the book and in our conversation, but I never really thought of how music was a through line in this West African history. A lot of the history is really dark, of course. I mean, we're talking about slave trade, colonial rule, dictatorships, but it's really a testimony of how much the people of the African diaspora have survived and prospered through.

It's cool to think about the evolution. Also, his personal reflections of being a person of the diaspora and that context of pulling away from your culture but also coming back home that he outlines in the book for himself I think is super relatable, and I identify with it completely.

Brigid Bergin: I think, as you've been saying, another part of the series is thinking about the diaspora of this new generation who is coming of age in the 21st century, maybe kids whose parents immigrated from West Africa or other parts of the world. Why do you think music can be a unique lane to help younger generations understand their connection to their own diaspora?

Regina de Heer: Well, that's-- Really, what I see as the whole point of this project because just observing, you turn on the radio and you hear music from all over the world, different languages, you may not be able to understand it, but you like it, you identify with it in some way, it makes you feel something. I just think about how there's all these kids who are coming of age now and can see that and feel proud of their culture, and I hope that it's leading to maybe some more acceptance and people aren't going through that tug and pull feeling of straddling multiple identities, multiple cultures. Maybe it's a little bit easier for everyone coming up now.

Brigid Bergin: What about you personally? How does Afrobeats help you think about your own Ghanaian American identity?

Regina de Heer: A lot of the stars today, the Afrobeats stars, have some connection to another place outside of the continent. It's bringing a lot of tourism, a lot of attention to the continent. When I go to Ghana, it's such a cool place to be. There's a really cool fusion that's still existing in West Africa and transferring all around the globe. I feel like we all can feel like we're a part of it and place ourselves in this moment and just feel proud of this moment in time of representing and being of multiple cultures.

Brigid Bergin: I want to read one of the texts that we got sent. This is a listener, [unintelligible 00:22:49] from Ghana, who lived in Hamburg, New Jersey. The listener wrote, "Listening to Afrobeats when I came over to the US 10 years ago gave me an identity. One thing I realized quickly coming to the States 10 years ago was my country had rich culture, which I didn't realize until I came to the USA." Some of the engagement from listeners. We are coming up into our last minute. Regina, for listeners who want to get involved, who want to participate in the project, what do they need to know?

Regina de Heer: We're asking people the prompt, "What's a song that represents your personal diaspora story?" If you have an answer, please go to notesfromamerica.org, look for the green Record button, send us your message, make sure it's at least a minute long, include your name, where you're from, and a little bit about the song and why you chose it, and you can be included in our playlist, which you can stream now on Spotify.

Brigid Bergin: Ah, it's so cool. Regina de Heer is an associate producer for Notes From America with Kai Wright. She is leading the production of their summer playlist series, Celebrating Diaspora Through Music. You can find the latest episode on the Notes From America podcast feed. Listeners, remember you can submit a song that represents your diaspora story at notesfromamerica.org. Regina, thank you so, so much.

Regina de Heer: Thank you.

 

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