Ciao ciao dear reader,
Welcome to ‘Loose Egusi’: a monthly African music radio show and accompanying blog by me, The Repeat Beat Poet (PJ), a writer, broadcaster, and Hip Hop artist.
Season 1 of ‘Loose Egusi’ began in February 2023, broadcast on The BoatPod, London.
Each episode blends Afro-roots, Afro-fusions, and African folk musics with the vast array of music from the Black diaspora, and highlights the music and culture of one African country per episode in the 'Ear To The Ground' section.
About The Repeat Beat Poet
Peter deGraft-Johnson is the Repeat Beat Poet, a Ghanaian writer, broadcaster, Hip Hop artist, living in the UK. His debut pamphlet, 'A Testament To Life And Death' was published in February 2022, his poems have been published by Penguin Random House, commissioned by Amnesty International, and exhibited by The U.N during COP26. In 2021 he was a writer-in-residence at The Library Of Africa & the African Diaspora in Accra, Ghana, and he is a graduate of the Obsidian Foundation for African Poets, BBC 1xtra's Words First, and the Roundhouse Collective's poetry programmes. Peter is the co-founder of leading Hip Hop & Poetry open mic night Pen-Ting, and was nominated for a Jerwood Compton Poetry Fellowship.
As the Repeat Beat Poet, Peter is an accomplished and prolific performer, appearing multiple times at London’s Southbank Centre, Royal Albert Hall, and Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, playing leading UK festivals including WOMAD, Love Supreme, We Out Here, Wilderness, and the Edinburgh Fringe. He has shared bills alongside writers like Margaret Atwood, TS Eliot Prize-winners Roger Robinson and Joelle Taylor, and Salena Godden (FRSA), as well as collaborating musically with Fela Kuti’s musical director and saxophonist, Bukky Leo, Grammy Award-winning jazz musicians Thundercat and Blue Lab Beats, and African multi-instrumental stalwart Kwame Yeboah.
Peter is the showrunner of the multi-award nominated Lunar Poetry Podcast, which is archived in the British Library and has been featured on BBC 4Extra. As a DJ, Peter appears monthly on NYC/London-based Soho Radio with Hip Hop label Imaginary Millions, and from 2017-2020 hosted his poetry and music show, The RepeatBeatBroadcast. His latest venture is Loose Egusi, a radio show + blog celebrating African music.
Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
Why subscribe?
Every new edition of the blog goes directly to your inbox, immediately following each radio show. On the first Friday of each month, you’ll receive an extended breakdown of the show, featuring tracklists, track selections, and highlights.
Join us on the journey!
