Worldwide FM’s newest producer and programmer Will Asare, resident beat tape connoisseur, takes us through his top 10 instrumental hip-hop releases of 2020.

Hip-hop relies on both beats (production) and vocal tracks (rap). Instrumental hip-hop allows the producer flexibility to create more detailed and complex instrumentals. J Dilla, RJD2 and Madlib are some key influencers of the genre.

Knxwledge — 1988 [Stones Throw]

Known for his consistent output and sample mangling he has worked with the likes of Kendrick Lamar and Anderson Paak. This 22-track release sees Knxwledge combines r&b and soul vocal samples, rap a cappella and archive hip-hop interviews (a Knxwledge speciality). …

Altın Gün return with a masterful album that widens their critically acclaimed exploration of Anatolian rock and Turkish psychedelic stylings to include dreamy 80’s synth-pop and dance-floor excursions. Yol (meaning “road”) brings together all vectors of the Altın Gün experience and delivers their most compelling and individual album to date.

Amsterdam’s Altın Gün have built a strong reputation for melding past and present to make brilliantly catchy, psychedelic pop music, as seen with their Grammy-nominated second album, Gece. They are also a renowned live band with strings of sold-out shows on three continents, who have consistently brought a muscular groove…

Meril Wubslin’s story begins in 2010, in duet with Christian Garcia-Gaucher and Valérie Niederoest. With a first album -1- released on the Saïko label in Fribourg, the group has performed in Switzerland and around the world (Warsaw, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Brussels). After spending a lot of time composing film music and other professional activities in the field of performing arts, the Meril call upon the drummer Jérémie Conne to increase in power and rhythmic richness.

In 2016, their second album Sinon was released this time on the Cheptel Records label based in Geneva. There is a shift in the group’s…

The Cape Town drummer’s distinctive, expressive style has earned him the nickname Talking Drum — and this debut album is only the beginning for the rising star.

Tefo Mahola’s drum kit is spread across his bedroom. It takes up more than half the space, with his bed tucked away to one side. The room is filled with various instruments: smaller African drums, a keyboard, speakers and a sound system. Video game controllers lie nearby. On a Tuesday morning, an incense stick cleanses the space while the sound of Donald Byrd’s trumpet drifts in the background. …

We’ve updated our regular Worldwide FM playlist with upfront and reissued music from around the world. Listen throughout the month on air, or to enjoy on the move, subscribe or follow the playlist on Spotify and Soundcloud.

Aaron Taylor — Don’t Leave Me Alone (ft. Lalah Hathaway) [Edenic Records] ACT! — Section 2 (21–40) [Halocline Trance] Adrian Younge — The American Negro [Jazz Is Dead] Al Wootton — Ashe [TRULE] Alostmen — Bayiti [Strut] Altin Gün — Ordunun Dereleri [Glitterbeat Records] Amandra — Kapsalon [AD 93] Apifera — Overstand [Stones Throw] Balkan Taksim — Zalina (Baiuca Remix) [raso.] Binker and…

These old marchinhas are sung at street carnavals in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Minas Gerais. In the northeast region of Brazil you have other genres that are more prevalent, like axé and afoxé in Bahia, and frevo and maracatú in Recife, for example. The street carnavals in Rio and São Paulo were kind of asleep for some time, but turned into a massive event again in the past 10 years.

Marchinhas are still the main soundtrack, but you also have blocos focused on Afro Brazilian chants (or some that do live carnaval versions of Michael Jackson, The Beatles…

Thiago Nassif is a Brazilian musician, composer and producer based in Rio de Janeiro. He presents his Top 10 samba albums, in this list you’ll find a collection of samba, as well as music influenced by samba rhythms and related genres including pagode, baile funk and noise.

Brownswood are proud to present Indaba Is — a compilation of current South African improvised music and jazz — released January 29th 2021. The project is a collaboration with 2 luminaries of the South African music scene: pianist/songwriter Thandi Nthuli and The Brother Moves On’s Siyabonga Mthembu, who act as curators and musical directors on the project.

South African townships were historically cosmopolitan places. Apartheid confined all classes in the same impoverished locations. Migration from across the country and the region meant kasi residents commanded many musical languages. Church music, European classical music, the latest US jazz LPs and Liverpool pop tunes from offshore radio stations fed the mix. The same woman could sing Handel in church on Sunday, traditional lyrics by the evening fireside, local and overseas standards on a community hall bandstand and songs of resistance on a march. There never was just one sound. And it’s the flowers from all those roots, and more…