A History of Black British Music

"The outlines of Black British history can be drawn by music. It creates the memories attached to a rhythm, the snatches of a melody, the sweaty residue of a dance floor. And as Black Brits have stepped out from under the thumb of a country determined to obscure its colonial past, they’ve carried textures from the Caribbean and Africa, shot through with some black American heft for good measure. The boundaries of genre no longer hold court. Those true to the culture know it permeates far and wide.” —Tshepo Mokoena