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Hurray For The Riff Raff On World Cafe

Hurray For The Riff Raff performs at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia.
Tiana Timmerberg
/
WXPN
Hurray For The Riff Raff performs at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia.

Hurray for the Riff Raff has always been a voice for the underdogs and the outsiders, and the band delivers that spirit in spades on a new, rousing album called The Navigator. It's based on a fictional character named Navita, whose journey mirrors the one taken by courageous band founder and songwriter Alynda Segarra. She left home at 17 to hop trains, busked on the streets of the Big Easy and made a lasting impression a couple years ago with a well-loved, New Orleans-influenced album called Small Town Heroes.

The Navigator sees Segarra leaving the sound of her adopted home in the South to trace the musical texture of the Bronx (where she grew up), the Puerto Rican identity of her ancestors and the personal politics that she's passionate about right now. "This album is like my life if you put a Wizard of Oz filter on it," she says — and if the soundtrack was scored by a doo-wop, jazz, rock and gospel band of rag-tags from New Orleans.

Hear the complete session above and watch Hurray for the Riff Raff perform "Rican Beach" at World Cafe Live below.

Copyright 2021 XPN. To see more, visit XPN.

Talia Schlanger hosts World Cafe, which is distributed by NPR and produced by WXPN, the public radio service of the University of Pennsylvania. She got her start in broadcasting at the CBC, Canada's national public broadcaster. She hosted CBC Radio 2 Weekend Mornings on radio and was the on-camera host for two seasons of the television series CBC Music: Backstage, as well as several prime-time music TV specials for CBC, including the Quietest Concert Ever: On Fundy's Ocean Floor. Schlanger also guest hosted various flagship shows on CBC Radio One, including As It Happens, Day 6 and Because News. Schlanger also won a Canadian Screen Award as a producer for CBC Music Presents: The Beetle Roadtrip Sessions, a cross-country rock 'n' roll road trip.