Introduction

Music reflects and feeds emotions. It inspires, comforts, offends and entertains. Music awakens memory and punctuates our present. The Music is Black: A British Story traces the roots and routes of music that has descended from African musical practices and gone on to influence and transform British identity over the past 125 years. It explores where Black music in Britain since 1900 has come from - tracking an ever-evolving sound shaped by British colonialism, transatlantic enslavement and voluntary migration. From lovers rock and Brit funk, to 2 Tone, jungle and grime, this exhibition reveals the creation of British­born Black music genres and how they have impacted lives across the country and beyond - how we speak, dress and view the world. The Music is Black is a story of Black struggle, resilience, creativity and joy. It is a story of us all.

Origins of Music

People have always made music - to express their identities and respond to the different environments around them. And so music changes with social, racial, ethnic and tribal traditions, faith practices, language and geographic location. As people move, their identities and music change again. From the 1400s, European nations made contact with West Africa. Within 100 years, British and European powers were trafficking Black men, women and children across the Atlantic Ocean into enslavement. This dispersal created an African diaspora and, with it, new cultural and musical identities.

The Drummer, 1978

Ben Enwonwu

Drums are more than musical instruments. They carry messages, from forewarning danger to heralding important arrivals. Across the African continent, social status often determines who designs and plays drums during cultural events. Artist Ben Enwonwu created this study of a drummer for a larger work commissioned by Nigerian telecommunication company NITEL. Using it as a symbol of communication, he affirms the drum's cultural significance and influence on modern interactions.

Nigeria, Cold-cast bronze, Lent by Gautam Hathiramani & Kanika Kapoor

Nature

Humans have always looked to nature to furnish their need to communicate. Plants, sea life, animal bone, skin, hair and horns have all been used for musical expression, by refashioning and reconstructing them as instruments. At the same time, humans have strived to replicate and adapt the sound of nature itself to create music.

Musical bow (unrecorded date)

Unrecorded maker

Musical bows like this are among the oldest known stringed instruments in the world. Here a gourd fruit shell and a fabric buffer support a stringed arc. Players pluck or strike the string, holding the gourd against their body to amplify the sound. In the 1930s, this single-stringed instrument inspired the Diddley Bow, which had a key influence on the development of blues music in America's Mississippi Delta.

Zambia, Wood, gourd calabash, iron wire, cotton, Lent by The Hunterian, University of Glasgow, GLAHM:138515

British Imperialism and Colonialism

Britain's trade in Black African people and the materials farmed by their enforced labour swelled the power and wealth of its empire. As Britain's empire grew, so did its oppression of Black Africanexpression.

From spoken language to music and dance, enslaved people weresilenced, and rebellion was punished by violence.

Yet people did resist, and their actions are still commemorated today.

‘Reflected Fragments (Koromanti)’, ‘Fragments of Angola’, ‘Passage of Time B (Koromanti)’, 2026

Bankey Ojo

In Jamaica in 1688, British physician Hans Sloane tasked a man with notating speech expressed in songs performed by enslaved Nigerians and set them to music. The works remain the oldest known transcriptions of African music in the Caribbean. British composer Bankey Ojo reinterpreted the transcriptions in the three original compositions you can hear throughout this section.

Original music by Bankey Ojo

Charter of Royal Adventurers of England Trading into Africa, 1663

Royal African Company

King Charles ll's signature on this document made legal the trade of African people. The King was an investor in The Company of Royal Adventurers, governed by his brother James, Duke of York, and granted it a monopoly over gold mines and trading throughout West Africa. The Company exchanged goods and weapons for captured Black Africans and then transported them for enslavement in the Americas and Caribbean. This forced migration resulted in the African diaspora.

England, Reproduction, From the British Library archive/Bridgeman Images

Letter from Samuel Galton to James Farmer, 1752

Samuel Galton

This letter shows how Britain's global economic dominance was tied to the 'slave economy'. Industries across the country relied on the labour of enslaved people, as well as the raw materials they produced.

James Farmer and Samuel Galton ran one of Birmingham's most successful gunmaking companies. Here they discuss preparing orders for their client, a British merchant travelling to Africa to exchange Farmer & Galton guns for enslaved Black African people.

England , Reproduction, Birmingham Library and Archive Services

Transcript of letter

Mr Farmer

I have your favour of 6^th. Observe your expectation of orders for Angolon [sic] Musqts is not very immediate but have I almost finished the order for Adlington.

Have stocked here about 500 Angolo Musqts and I will get more stocked but will keep of the finish of as much as possible till nigh the time they will be wanted.

Mr Parr writes that Mr Chalmer hath a small vessel building at Liverpool for the Coast of Africa and will take about 500 Guns to Captain Grimshaw who is to have her proposed to be ready in a month if Mr Chalmer provides the cargo in time. Mr Chalmer is now in London and hath an abstract of the cargo. I hope you'll have the order for of guns and shall be glad to know the ports as soon as possible.

Mr Parr writes that Mr Bostock hath allowed 7 ½ for money to theowners of Sterling Castle who hath afford the same discount to pay us. Mr Parr and Crafsbie met Mr Bostock on charge and I told him their sentiments but he persists in his notion that it will have a good effect and did not know but would allow 7½ and is not yet determined.

Manumission papers supplied to Edward Addo Brathwaite, 1817

J. H. Pinder

Addo Brathwaite was freed from slavery in Barbados at the age of 73 for 'good conduct'. He was still required to carry these documents, known asmanumission papers, at all times to confirm his status and had to present them if challenged. This document was given to Addo 16 years before Britain's Abolition of Slavery Act in 1833. The British empire still forced enslaved people to work under 'apprenticeships' until 1838.

Barbados, Reproduction, Lent by Peter Brathwaite

Sample of Penistone cloth, 1783

Unrecorded maker

After being manufactured and dyed in South Yorkshire, this cloth was sentto Turner's Hall, the Fitzherbert family's slave plantation in Barbados. Attached to the fragment is a note that reads:

"Penistone sent for negro clothing 1783 which for substance, strength and unchangeable colour, is best adapted to that purpose."

The Fitzherberts' purchased large quantities of this cloth to make garments for enslaved workers to wear on their plantation.

Derby, UK, Paper, textiIe, ink, On loan from Derbyshire Record Office, D239/M/E/20785

Letter to Josiah Wedgwood on the abolition of the slave trade, 1793

Olaudah Equiano

Olaudah Equiano was a Sierra-Leonean-born abolitionist, author and campaigner, following his own freedom from enslavement. In this letter to British ceramist Josiah Wedgwood, he shares his fears of being kidnapped and sold back into slavery while travelling to the port city of Bristol. This illustrates the trust between the pair, as well as the risks Equiano faced in campaigning against slavery while living as a free Black man in Britain.

London, Ink on paper, V&A Wedgwood Collection. Presented by Art Fund with major support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, private donations and a public appeal V&A: E31-24058

Transcript of letter

London, August 21st, 1793

D[ea]r Worthy Sir,

I am with great respects - hope you are well -

D[ea]r Sir I hope you do remember that you did once tell me if that I was to be molested by the press gang to write to Mr Phillip Steven - at the.Admiralty-

I will now take it a great favour to inform me, if I may act so in case I am molested - I mean next week to be in Bristol - where I have some of my narrative engaged - I am very apt to think I must have enemys [sic] there

Dear Sir, I leave London - on Friday 23^rd inst- therefore will take it a particular favour if you will be kind enough as to direct to me few lines at the post office - till called for - Bristol -

Worthy Sir,

I am with all the respects ever yours to command, Gustavus Vassa,

The African

Anti-slavery medallion, 1787

William Hackwood for Josiah Wedgwood and Sons

Alongside the kneeling figure in chains on this medallion reads the plea 'Am I not a man and a brother?' This medallion became a popular symbol of abolition. The design was replicated across accessories from bags to hairpins, appealing to a growing number of people who opposed slavery. While British ceramicist Josiah Wedgwood supported abolition, his company still sold products, like sugar bowls, that met demands for goods produced by enslaved people.

Etruria, Stoke-on-Trent, UK, Jasperware clay with applied relief, V&A Wedgwood Collection. Presented by Art Fund with major support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, private donations and a public appeal, V&A: WE.7831-2014

Haytian stamps

These stamps commemorate key events in the Haytian Revolution, a rebellion against slavery and French colonial rule. One depicts the Bois Caiman ceremony, a Vodou ritual that preceded the first battle in 1791. The other shows Haytian revolutionary Marie-Jeanne Lamartiniere on the battlefield during the Battle of Crete-a-Pierrot in 1802. After a series of organised conflicts, Hayti gained independence in 1804, becoming the first country to overthrow European colonialism and slavery in a slave-led revolution.

Stamp depicting the Bois Caiman ceremony, 1968

Raoul Dupoux (artist), Austrian State Printing House (printer)

Hayti Reproduction, Courtesy of the Haiti Philatelic Society

Stamp depicting the Battle of Crete-a-Pierrot for the 150th anniversary of Independence, 1954

Georges Remponeau (artist), Waterlow & Sons Ltd (printer)

Hayti Reproduction, Courtesy of the Haiti Philatelic Society

Banknote, 2002

Bank of Jamaica

Over 11 days in December 1832, enslaved Baptist preacher Samuel Sharpe led the Baptist War in Jamaica. Word had reached the Caribbean island of the debates in British parliament about freeing enslaved people. More than 60,000 enslaved people took part in the war, and Sharpe was later executed for his role. Slavery was abolished across the British empire a year later, although many were forced to work under 'apprenticeships' until 1838. Sharpe is honoured here on Jamaica's $50 note.

Jamaica, Paper

The Soucouyant Visitation, 1985

John Lyons

A soucouyant is a Trinidadian folklore spirit who shapeshifts from her human form. She is depicted here as a fireball entering a sIeeping victim's home. Like many folklore characters, the soucouyant emerged from the mixing of folklore and African Orisha tales from different ethnic, tribal and regional origins, which happened when Black African people from across the continent were trafficked into slavery. These folklore spirits continue to inspire new storytelling and carnival characters today.

England, Oil on canvas, Lent by John Lyons, courtesy of Felix & Spear

Red Coats and Flags, 2023

Sokari Douglas Camp

Enslaved plantation workers marked their limited 'leisure' time with musical masquerade ceremonies that recalled African traditions. Workers disguised themselves in costumes and performed dances that subverted the authority held over them. Honouring this resistance amid adversity, contemporary sculptor Sokari Douglas Camp dressed these metal figures as British military guards, mocking their colonial authority. These sculptures trace the links between African masquerades, Caribbean carnival traditions and carnival celebrations around Britain.

England, Mild steel, acrylic paint, gold leaf, Courtesy of the artist and October GaIlery, London

Green Across,
2025

Sir Frank Bowling

Renowned abstract artist Frank Bowling has celebrated Guyana's landscapes and vibrant colours throughout his career. He created Green Across for this exhibition. Bowling says the painting 'is like a square being torn apart'. The word 'across' in the title invites reflection on the voluntary and involuntary movement of people.

London, Acrylic on canvas with marouflage, Courtesy of the artist

Europe's enrichment from African chattel transatlantic enslavement

These graphs visualise research into ships departing from the West African coast carrying Black Africans across the Atlantic ocean forenslavement in the Americas and Caribbean. More African people were taken to Brazil than any other country.

Following the 1807 abolition of slave trading across the British empire, indentured labourers on British owned slave plantations throughout the Caribbean were recruited from India and China.

Images and recordings provided by: slavevoyages.org

Rice University

Original music by Bankey Ojo, 'Voyages (Papa)', 2026

Running time: 2 minutes and 30 seconds

Religion

British and other European empires used religion to extend their control in colonised countries, sending religious representatives, known as missionaries, to uphold colonial views of faith. Britain produced new religious publications to 'normalise' slavery and forced millions of enslaved Africans to convert to a denomination of Christianity.

Resistance to this oppression inspired songs of rebellion and hybrid faiths, like Africanised Christianity. From this emerged the gospel voice, which set the vocal standard for all contemporary music to come.

Christianity in Ethiopia

Christianity has been practised in Ethiopia since the fourth century AD, long before European contact.

Research for this exhibition revealed that Aleka Zeneb, scribe of Emperor Tewodros of Ethiopia, wrote this songbook in Ge'ez, the sacred languageof the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. British soldiers looted the songbook and case from Maqdala in Ethiopia during their raid on the palace in 1868.The objects were sold to the V&A a year later.

Psalter (songbook)with canticles,Song of Songs and praises of the Virgin Mary, 1800s

Aleka Zeneb (scribe)

Ethiopia, Ink on parchment, leather V&A: MSL/1869/185/1

Leather carrying case, 1800s

Unrecorded maker

Ethiopia, Leather, V&A: MSL/1869/185/2

King James Version, first edition, 1611

Robert Barker (printer)

Christian faith practices, from prayer rituals to annual celebrations, are often illuminated by song. In 1604, King James VI and I called for an updated English translation of the Holy Bible. Named after him, it remains the most widely-read version in the world. The Holy Bible has inspired hymns, classical music and popular songs that both affirmed faith and challenged the authority of organised religion. This large-scale version was used in church services.

London, Printed ink on paper, leather, Lent by University of Glasgow Library, Archives and Special Collections, Sp Coll Euing Dr-a.3

Select parts of the Holy Bible, for the use of Negro Slaves in the British West India-islands, 1807

Law and Gilbert (printer)

Referred to as the 'Slave Bible', this abridged version was published in 1807 - the year Britain abolished slave trading. Passages were deliberately removed, including Old Testament books like Exodus, in which Moses leads slaves out of Egypt, as well as Psalms, which inspires songs of salvation and praise.

Representatives of the church sanctioned these deletions to spread a colonial interpretation of Christianity and coerce enslaved people into believing that their captivity was God's will.

London, Printed ink on paper, pasteboard, Lent by University of Glasgow Library, Archives and Special Collections, Sp Coll Euing Da-g.23

Sermon book, 1773

John Newton

John Newton, an English slave trader turned clergyman, wrote this book of sermons. In the 1740s and '50s, he took part in voyages to trade African people into slavery. After surviving a violent storm at sea, Newton renounced his involvement and went on to support abolition.

Newton became a priest in 1764. He wrote these sermons, which inspired the hymn 'Amazing Grace'. Its message of personal salvation and remorse has remained hugely popular with worshippers worldwide.

Buckinghamshire, UK, Paper, ink, cloth,gold foil, Courtesy of Lambeth Palace Library MS 2490

The Ordinance of Baptism, as administered by missionaries connected with the Baptist Missionaries Society to 135 persons near BrownsTown, Jamaica in 1842, 1843(published)

George Baxter (print maker)

Mass conversions to Christianity were common throughout the Americas and Caribbean before, during and after slavery. Colonisers believed that rebellion against their authority would be less likely if the enslaved population followed the same faith as them. This painting shows a mass baptism taking place 10 years after the abolition of slavery, reflecting the ongoing efforts to maintain power through religion.

England, Printed ink on paper, Bequeathed by Francis William Baxter, V&A: E.2777-1932

A dance for Oxum, Goddess of the Waterfalls, 2007

Roderick Steel

The Candomble religion emerged among enslaved Africans in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil. Banned from following their personal religions, many were forced to convert to the faiths of their European colonisers and enslavers. As a combination of retained West and Central African religious practices and European Catholicism, Candomble marks a rejection of colonial power. This photograph captures dancing at the Festa das Ya bas, a feast celebrating Oxum, Candomble's Goddess of Waterfalls.

lle Alaketu Axe Aira, Brazil, Reproduction, Courtesy of Roderick Steel

Untitled (Parodi /'en/er/Paradis et En/er/ Heaven and Hell), 1946

Hector Hyppolite

Haytian Vodou emerged from the mixing of faith and spiritual practices of enslaved people from African countries who were trafficked to Hayti. There, it took on influences from European religions, imposed by colonisers and slave traders. Haytian Vodou's existence shows a determination by enslaved people and their descendants to retain elements of their indigenous identities, despite facing violent punishments. In this painting, Hector Hyppolite, a third-generation Haytian Vodou priest, depicts the final destinations of the faithful or the unfaithful.

Hayti, Oil on board, Courtesy of The Museum of Everything

Allah Akbar, about 1940

Paul E. Guillot

Different faiths inspire different musical responses. The image's title recalls the spoken Islamic devotion Allahu Akbar (God is Most Great!). While music is not integrated into formal Islamic worship, the recitation of Arabic religious devotions follows a melodious rhythm, sometimes supported by percussion. The composition of this photograph romanticises Muslims in prayer, representing stereotypical ideas of Muslim Arabs crossing deserts using camels as transport and wearing traditional dress.

Unrecorded location, Reproduction of carbon print photograph, The Royal Photographic Society Collection at the V&A, acquired with the generous assistance of The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Art Fund, V&A: RPS.2536-2024

Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia, 1924

Bassano Ltd

Haile Selassie, born Tafari Makonnen with the noble title Ras Tafari, was the last emperor of Ethiopia. He spoke out against the threat of European invasion ahead of the Second World War and later fought Italian occupiers. He is revered by followers of Rastafarianism, who believe he was the living embodiment of Jah (God), a belief drawn from Old Testament prophecies of a Black messiah descended from King Solomon and Queen Sheba. Selassie is celebrated in music throughout the African diaspora, with his titles 'the Conquering Lion of Judah', 'Jah Rasta Tafari' and 'Selassie I' woven into lyrics.

London, Bromide print photograph, Lent by the National Portrait Gallery, London. Acquired, 1996, NPG x84381

Systema Naturae, 10th edition, volume 1, 1758-9

Carl Linnaeus

Swedish naturalist and taxonomist Carl Linnaeus coined the name Homo sapiens for human beings. His landmark publication ranked humans into 'varieties', based on geography and perceived traits. Although Linnaeus didn't use the word race and his system came at a time when slavery was already widespread, his classifications were exploited to support race science and eugenics. Linnaeus's work still directly influences how certain races, cuItures and their artistic expressions are seen as inferior today.

Sweden, Leather, board paper, ink, Lent by the Linnean Society of London BL.18

Sound experience Track list

'Reflected Fragments (Koromanti)', Bankey Ojo, 2026

'Fragments of Angola', Bankey Ojo, 2026

'Passage of Time B (Koromanti)', Bankey Ojo, 2026

'Hark My Soul! It is the Lord' Newton & Cowper, The Coventry Singers, 2013

'Allegri: Miserere Mei, Deus' (Psalm 51), The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge, Richard Marlow, 1993

'Abatatchin Hoy, Alemu Aga (Beguena)', 2022

'Woke Up this Morning (With my Mind Stayed on Freedom)', Resistance Revival Chorus, 2020

'Amazing Grace', The Singing Stewarts, 1976

'Az-Zumar, Chapter 39 verse 53', AI-Qur'an Al-Karim (The Holy Koran), Shaykh Ali AI-Hudhaify, 2011

By 1900, Britain was the seat of the most powerful empire in the world, ruling over vast territories. Its industrial might and wealth were built on domestic and colonial labour alike – workers who, despite exploitative conditions, found strength, escape and entertainment in music and song.

Music permeated every aspect of life. Black music makers and entertainers from Africa, Europe, the Caribbean and the USA found new performance and recording opportunities in Britain. After the two World Wars ended, Commonwealth citizens brought more styles to Britain, transforming the country’s musical and social landscape.

Sound experience track list

‘Dixie Jass Band One-Step’, The Original Jazzland Jass Band, 1916

‘Traditional: Deep River (Arr. Isata Kanneh-Mason for Ensemble)’, The Kanneh-Masons, 2025

‘Memphis Blues’, Harlem Hellfighters (led by James Reese Europe), 1916 –17

‘My Landlady (ft. Freddy Grant’s Caribbean Rhythm)’, Lord Kitchener, 1952

‘Victory Test Match’, Lord Beginner, 1950

‘Calypso Blues’, Mona Baptiste, 1951

‘Ping Pong Samba (Instrumental)’, Sterling Betancourt with Russell Henderson’s Calypso Band, 1952

‘Ghana Freedom’, E.T. Mensah, The Tempos, 1957

‘Music for Gong Gong’, Osibisa, Universal Music Operations Ltd, 1971

‘Let's have a Party (Pt. 1)’, Winifred Atwell, 1953

‘Bo Diddley’, Bo Diddley, 1958

‘Angi’, Davy Graham, 1963

‘This Train’, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, 1939

‘Hound Dog’, Big Mama Thornton, 1953

‘Hound Dog’, Elvis Presley, 1956

‘Gee’s Boogie’, Rico’s Combo, 1960

‘Goldfinger’, Shirley Bassey, 1964

‘Diamonds are Forever’, Shirley Bassey,1971

‘Moonraker’, Shirley Bassey, 1979

‘Albe-Jo Sho’, Amie Kallon, 2011

‘Modern’ Britain: 1900–1948

Music accompanied Britain’s journey through conflict and progress. New technologies – from gramophones and radios to cinema and television – began to inform and entertain millions across the empire, but this progress was repeatedly disrupted.

Global wars, political upheaval, pro-independence movements and economic strife erupted alongside race, class and gender inequalities within British society.

Genres like gospel, blues and jazz reflected the tensions of the time while offering hope and resistance. Music became not just a response to Britain’s journey, but the soundtrack to its transformation.

Phonographic message to Queen Victoria from Emperor Menelik II, 1898

Emperor Menelik II

American inventor Thomas Edison revolutionised sound recordings when he created the first wax cylinder in the 1870s. His invention captured soundwave vibrations to be replayed on a phonograph (an early form of the gramophone). In 1898, on a visit to Ethiopia, a British delegation played a recording of Queen Victoria for Emperor Menelik II and Empress Taytu. The pair recorded a response for the Queen on the cylinder in this case, marking an early use of audio technology in international relations.

Ethiopia, Strawboard, paper, His Majesty The King, RCIN 5100159

The early music industry

Gramophones revolutionised access to music, enabling people to own and replay recorded music at home for the first time. Engineers and recording agents like Fred Gaisberg travelled the European colonial route to record music and songs from North and East Africa and India, as his diary reveals. Theatre also benefited from developments in technology, using pre-recorded sound effects to enhance live performances.

Two sound effect recordings from a set of ten, 1920s, The Columbia Gramophone Co., Ltd., London, Incised shellac. Given by John Merison, V&A: S.551:1 to 11-2017

Berliner Gramophone, 1895, Berliner Gramophone Company, Philadelphia, USA, Metal, papier mâché, ebonite, oak. Courtesy of EMI Archive Trust, EMIAT.151

Diary belonging to Frederick William Gaisberg, 1899–1903, Frederick William Gaisberg, London, Ink on paper. Courtesy of EMI Archive Trust, EMIAT.3036

‘Dixie Jass Band One-Step’, 1916

The Original Dixieland Jass Band

You are listening to the first widely recognised commercial jazz recording from 1917 by the Original Dixieland Jass Band, a quintet of white male musicians. The group recorded this song for the Victor Talking Machine Company, a pioneering sound recording company and phonograph manufacturer.

Victor Talking Machine Company, 1917

Newspaper cutting, Astley’s – Mr. Pablo Fanque and his trained steed, 1847

Illustrated London News

Norwich-born William Darby, known professionally as Pablo Fanque, was Britain’s first Black circus owner. He began as an apprentice at William Batty’s circus and rose to fame as an equestrian performer, as illustrated in this cutting. Music was central to circus experiences. Brass band parades announced the arrival of a circus in town, while live music accompanied acrobatics, comedy and dramatic acts during the show.

London

Printed ink on paper

V&A: THM/LON/ASTL

Cunard Line: To All Parts Of The World, about 1920

Ulrich Gutersohn, Thomas Forman & Sons Ltd (printer)

By the 1920s, ships were increasingly used for leisure travel. As shown here, a ship’s structure reflected the social class divisions of the day, with separate areas providing distinct travel experiences. By the 1920s, jazz music had become a popular form of onboard entertainment. As music recording technology advanced, sea (and later air) travel became increasingly important for musicians’ careers.

Overseas work helped boost their reputation, and many performed on ships along the way.

Nottingham, UK

Paper

Gift of the American Friends of the V&A; Gift to the American Friends by Leslie, Judith and Gabri Schreyer and Alice Schreyer Batko

V&A: E.1829-2004

Batons belonging to Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, early 1900s

Unrecorded makers

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor trained at London’s Royal College of Music and was soon in high demand as a composer and conductor. In 1900,

he was commissioned to compose music for the first Pan-African Conference, a global pro-independence movement. These varied composer batons pay tribute to Coleridge-Taylor’s talent, reflecting the breadth of his practice. While adhering to the ideas and expectations of his classical music education, he also composed and collaborated on music related to his African-descendant identity.

UK

Wood, paper, glass

On loan from the Royal College of Music

PPHC000128

‘Daddy Your Mama Is Lonesome’ single as performed by Mamie Smith, 1921

Okeh Records

African American singer and actress Mamie Smith made history in 1920 when she became the first blues artist to record a song, ‘Crazy Blues’. The following year her label, Okeh Records, began issuing recordings by African American artists under the category of ‘race records’, as written on the front of this single. Until 1949 America’s Billboard music chart categorised the sale of Black music under ‘race’ and ‘sepia’ titles.

New York, USA

Shellac, paper

Record sleeve for Blackbirds of 1928, 1930s (recorded)

Sutton Records

Blackbirds was a revue (multi-act) musical led by African American performers. After launching in New York, it opened at the London Pavilion in September 1926 starring famous singer and dancer Florence Mills. The production fuelled British audiences’ fascination with jazz and its dance crazes. This sleeve is for a compilation of songs inspired by the musical, recorded by esteemed gospel, blues and jazz singer Ethel Waters. Jazz pioneers like Duke Ellington also recorded Blackbirds songs.

USA

Paper

Given by the Bunnett Muir Musical Theatre Archive Trust

V&A: BMT/2/1/259b

Evolution of Swing, 1939

Raymond Steth

Artist Raymond Steth submitted this print to an art project run by US President Roosevelt to support unemployed artists during the Great Depression. It illustrates the development of swing, a Black musical style, and its journey through the African diaspora. The bottom right corner depicts its origins, showing a cultural event in rural Africa. In the centre, Steth depicts the horrors of enslaved African people being trafficked across the ocean. In the top left, swing musicians and dancers perform in an urban metropolis in modern America.

USA

Reproduction of lithograph

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Pennsylvania W. P. A.

1943 (43.46.55)

Sheet music for Stardust, 1929

Mitchell Parish (lyricist), Hoagy Carmichael (composer), Lawrence Wright Music Co. (publishers)

The career of Grenadian-born Leslie Hutchinson, known as ‘Hutch’, testifies to the popularity of jazz in the years between the two world wars. Starting out in America before moving to Paris, he soon received invitations to London’s West End. From theatre, music halls and cabaret to radio and cinema, Hutchinson’s appeal lay in his skilled interpretations of the mood, message and style of popular jazz composers and lyricists. Hutchinson’s appearance on this sheet music shows that the performer was as central as the music.

London

Printed ink on paper

Gabrielle Enthoven Collection

V&A: S.729-2014

Correspondence and musical manuscripts from Count Basie’s New Testament band, 1940s–50s

Various artists

Count Basie was a pianist and band leader central to making swing music – jazz’s early upbeat subgenre – hugely popular. Jazz captivated young people globally, transforming how they dressed, spoke and viewed the world. Among these was Charlie Watts, drummer for The Rolling Stones, whose passion for jazz inspired him to collect memorabilia like this correspondence with jazz legend WC Handy and manuscripts handwritten by members of Basie’s New Testament band.

USA

Ink on paper

Courtesy of Seraphina Watts in loving memory of her beloved father, Charlie Watts

Folder for sheet music owned by Leslie ‘Jiver’ Hutchinson, 1950s

Unrecorded maker

Leslie ‘Jiver’ Hutchinson’s career connects military bands and jazz in Britain. Born in Jamaica in 1906, Hutchinson learned the trumpet while serving with the British West India Regiment and played at the 1924 British Empire Exhibition. Hutchinson performed across London’s jazz scene with a variety of talents, including conductor Ken ‘Snakehips’ Johnson, bandleader Bert Ambrose, singer Adelaide Hall and pianist Fela Sowande. In 1944, he launched his All Star Coloured Band. This book held musical scores for the band’s tenor saxophonist.

Probably UK

Faux leather, cotton, paper

Courtesy of Elaine Delmar

V&A: S.64-2026

Photograph of Rudolph Evans and Stanley Carter, about 1930s–40s

Comm. Carlo Gherlone

Rudolph Evans, known as André de Dakar, was a jazz performer. Born in Panama and raised in Jamaica, Evans was among many Caribbean men who joined the British West Indies Regiment during the First World War. In 1944, he opened the Caribbean Club in London’s Piccadilly. The club entertained Black members of the British, Caribbean and American armed forces, showcasing live jazz, calypso and international music. Here Evans is seen alongside Guyanese pianist Stanley Carter.

Turin, Italy

Reproduction

Courtesy of Rhoda Dakar and family

The Drop, 2019

Michael Elliot

After the Second World War, Britain appealed to its empire to come and ‘rebuild the Mother Country’. The 1948 British Nationality Act enticed many with the promise of a new Commonwealth citizenship. Over 1,000 people arrived on British shores aboard the HMT Windrush in June 1948. This painting’s underwater setting evokes tensions between identity, belonging and migration. The luggage tags tethered to teabags – a marker of British culture – invite reflection on the weight of the 2017 Windrush scandal, when administrative failures and hostile immigration policies by the British government led to wrongful deportations.

Jamaica

Acrylic on canvas, varnish

Michael Elliot. Courtesy of the artist

Bowtie belonging to Lord Woodbine, 1950s–60s

Unrecorded maker

Calypso musician Harold Phillips, known as Lord Woodbine, settled in Liverpool after travelling from Trinidad to Britain on HMT Windrush. He founded the All Caribbean Steel Band and managed several music venues in Liverpool, where he was renowned for his debonair style and often wore this bowtie. While managing The New Cabaret Artists’ Club, Woodbine hosted The Silver Beetles before they became The Beatles. Woodbine drove the band to Hamburg in Germany to perform live, which became a major event in their development.

Unrecorded location

Velvet, satin, elastic

Carol Phillips and the Phillips family

Calypso in the UK

‘My Landlady (feat. Freddy Grant’s Caribbean Rhythm)’, 1952 by Lord Kitchener

‘Victory Test Match’, 1950 by Lord Beginner

‘Calypso Blues’, 1957 by Mona Baptise

Over 1,000 passengers arrived in Britain on HMT Windrush in 1948. Among them were Trinidadian singers and musicians who would go on to popularise calypso in the UK, including Aldwyn ‘Lord Kitchener’ Roberts, Egbert ‘Lord Beginner’ Moore and Mona Baptiste.

Melodisc Music Limited, 1952

Too Much Ltd t/a Honest Jon’s Records, 1950

Kollective Neighbouring Rights Records B.V., 1957

Acetate recording of live performances by Charlie Parker, late 1940s

Charlie Parker (performer), Norman Granz (producer), Dean Benedetti (recorder)

This acetate (initial pressing of live studio recording) records groundbreaking live performances by renowned saxophonist Charlie Parker. Alongside musicians Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk, Parker was a pioneer of Bebop, a free-owing, expressive jazz style that de ed conventional performance rules and time limits. Charlie Watts, drummer for the Rolling Stones, bought a collection of these recordings for his collection of jazz memorabilia.

USA

Acetate records

Courtesy of Seraphina Watts in loving memory of her beloved father, Charlie Watts

Diary belonging to Arthur Roberts, 1921

Arthur Roberts

The two world wars invite reflection on African and Caribbean-descendant volunteers from countries colonised by Britain who fought to protect Britain from a similar fate. One such person was Arthur Roberts, who was raised in Glasgow and joined the Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1917. This diary vividly documents his time fighting in the First World War, including a chilling account of his involvement in the Battle of Passchendaele in western Belgium, which came at the cost of 250,000 casualties.

Scotland

Paper, ink, watercolour, pencil

IWM (Imperial War Museums)

Documents.24472/A

Photograph of James Reese Europe entertaining injured soldiers, 1918

Unrecorded US Army Signal Corps photographer

James Reese Europe was a musician, conductor and US Army lieutenant. Stationed in Paris during the First World War, he led his regiment’s Harlem Hellfighters’ band, lifting morale and introducing many to new music. Before the war, Europe had led his own orchestra, helped popularise new dances like the Foxtrot, and brought early jazz to New York’s Carnegie Hall. Blending ragtime, military band and classical music, he contributed to the foundation of modern jazz.

Paris

Reproduction

Retrieved from the Library of Congress

Royal Air Force uniform jacket worn by Flight Lieutenant Cyril ‘Cy’ Grant, 1943

Austin Reed Taylors

Guyanese-born musician, actor and author Cyril ‘Cy’ Grant was the rst Black person to perform regularly on British TV, often singing the news in a calypso style. While serving as a navigator in 1943 during the Second World War, Grant was shot down and spent two years in a prisoner of war camp in Germany. A newspaper article about his capture referred to him as ‘A Member of the RAF of Indeterminate Race’ – a phrase he later incorporated into as the title of his 2006 memoir

UK

Wool, silk, brass

By courtesy of the Trustees of the Royal Air Force Museum

Photograph of Auxiliary Territorial Service volunteers, 1944

Unrecorded photographer

This photograph shows volunteers from British Honduras (now Belize) at the Auxiliary Territorial Service training camp outside London during the Second World War. The Service recruited women from across the British empire to support the war effort, in roles from ammunition inspectors and mechanics to butchers and bakers. Second from the right in the second row is Nadia Cattouse, who later became a folk singer, musician, actor and activist, appearing on BBC shows for over 30 years.

Guildford, UK

Reproduction

Courtesy of Pepita Bird and Michael Lindup

Jazz in Britain

Trace the evolution of jazz in Britain from the early 1900s to the 1970s. Animated stills, archival footage and film clips document jazz taking root in Britain and becoming a vehicle for creative expression, cultural defiance and social transformation.

Images and recordings provided by:

BBC

Brighton Dome

British Pathé

Retro AdArchives/Alamy

V&A

Running time: 7 minutes

Jazz in Britain AV Transcript:

British Jazz | Panorama: The Jazz Club

1959

BBC

[Interviewer]: What does jazz mean to you? I mean, what do you feel about it?

[Interviewee]: Erm, well, it’s sort of a feeling. Something that you express.

[Interviewer]: A feeling that you can’t get in any other way or not?

[Interviewee]: Er, not really. Unless you’ve got some sort of object in life.

[Interviewer]: Well what sort of object in life have you got?

[Interviewee]: Just music.

British Jazz | Panorama: The Jazz Club

1959

BBC

[Interviewer]: Why do you play jazz?

[Interviewee]: Well, because I like it an, er, it’s a way of relaxing and the music’s good.

[Interviewer]: You like it better than other music?

[Interviewee]: Yes, yes I do.

[Interviewer]: Why?

[Interviewee]: Because there’s a certain amount of freedom in jazz and, er, self-expression that there isn’t in other kinds of music.

British Jazz | Panorama: The Jazz Club

1959

BBC

[Interviewer]: What brought you into jazz?

[Interviewee]: Well, I, erm, I drifted into it. I started off playing ‘legitimate’ music.

[Interviewer]: What do you mean by legitimate music?

[Interviewee]: Erm, music, shall we say, written music. My father was a trumpet player. I started off playing in a pit band. In an orchestra.

British Jazz | Panorama: The Jazz Club

1959

BBC

[Interviewer]: What do you get out of jazz?

[Interviewee]: Well, first of all, I think I get complete satisfaction out of doing something, which is... I’m creating something all the time. I, every note I play I do something that is completely my own and I think it’s more or less original and I’m very happy about that.

At ‘Home’ in Britain: 1948–1969

Britain’s postwar recovery created a new social rhythm, soundtracked by music that offered an escape from the disillusionment of continued rationing, intergenerational conflict and racial tensions. Optimism arrived with new music reflecting young people’s viewpoints. The rise of the teenager fuelled rebellion, while affordable records and the first charts sparked a musical revolution.

Jazz, folk, blues, soul, and rock ’n’ roll challenged everything from traditional values to conservative dress styles, while the Swinging Sixties brought more imported music from Africa, Brazil and the USA. ‘Home’ was on the dancefloor, on the radio and on television screens.

Winifred Atwell’s ‘other’ piano, early 1900s

Chappell Pianos

Trinidad-born pianist Winifred Atwell made history in 1954 as the first Black British artist to top the UK Singles Chart with her ragtime hit ‘Let’s Have Another Party’, just two years after the charts began. Onstage, she switched between a grand piano and her famous ‘other’ piano, blending classical skill with modern air. Atwell encouraged fans to carve their names into the sides of this piano. Look closely and you can see these lasting symbols of her connection with audiences.

UK

Bronze, brass, steel, leather, wood, ivory

Sir Richard Stilgoe

Dancing in Time: The Swim, 2026

LR Vandy

This sculpture captures the energy of a defining musical moment. It celebrates The Swim, a dance made famous by Bobby Freeman’s 1958 rock ‘n’ roll hit ‘C’mon and Swim’. Travelling across the Atlantic, rock ‘n’ roll had a profound influence on Britain in the Swinging Sixties, sparking new youth subcultures and styles. Freeman’s song played regularly at Manchester’s Twisted Wheel club, where DJ Roger Eagle’s all-night soul and R&B sessions helped lay the foundations for the northern soul movement.

Kent, UK

Manila rope, wood, metal, jute

V&A: S.14-2026

Guitar owned by Davey Graham, 2007

C F Martin

Leicestershire-born multi-instrumentalist and arranger Davey Graham shaped the folk revival in post war Britain. His performance in a 1959 Ken Russell documentary inspired the future generation of rock guitarists. Graham recorded and performed with influential British talents Nadia Cattouse, Alexis Korner, Long John Baldry, Martin Carthy and Shirley Collins, as well as travelling widely to immerse himself in global musical traditions. His track ‘Angi’ became a folk staple, famously reinterpreted by American folk rock duo Simon and Garfunkel.

UK

Sitka spruce, East Indian rosewood, black ebony

Lent by Carol Ballard

Les Paul guitar, 1964–78

Gibson

Bo Diddley, born Ellas Bates, was a pioneering guitarist and singer who bridged blues and rock ‘n’ roll. Known as ‘The Originator’, he established the ‘rhythm stomp’ and introduced distortion and reverberation as part of song play. In 1958, Diddley co-designed an electric guitar shaped like a cigar box. British musician Pete Townshend, co-founder of The Who, responded to the rebellious power of the electric guitar with his signature ‘windmill’ style of play, destroying his instrument as he did this model at the end of a performance.

USA

Rosewood, mother of pearl, plastic

Given by Allan Smith & Pete Townshend through John Entwistle

V&A: S.12-1978

John Lee Hooker and the evolution of the blues, 1951

Clemens Kalischer

Here, John Lee Hooker, one of the most influential blues musicians, sits in front of a blackboard diagram exploring the roots of the blues. Born in Mississippi, he popularised the state’s Delta blues music. His electric boogie-woogie style was rooted in the field songs of enslaved African Americans, modernised on the electric guitar. British artists like The Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton began their musical journeys with the blues, taking inspiration from Hooker.

Stockbridge, Massachusetts, USA

Reproduction of photograph

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African

American History and Culture, © Clemens Kalischer Photos

Sound system pre-amplifier, 2024

Percival Miller

Percival Miller, known professionally as Metro, became one of Britain’s most respected sound system engineers. Born in Jamaica in 1941, he moved to England as a teenager and quickly honed his technical skills. The intricate inner workings of this pre-amplifier show the complex engineering skills behind the enjoyment of amplified sound from speaker boxes. Miller’s technical prowess shaped the British reggae and sound system scene.

London

Metal, wood, wire, glass

The Family of Percival Miller

V&A: S.527-2025

Record box, 2000s

Vincent Forbes

Vincent Forbes, known as Duke Vin, introduced Britain to sound system culture. After starting out as a DJ in Kingston, Jamaica, he moved to England in 1954 and launched his own sound system. Forbes was highly revered, appearing across venues like London’s Marquee Club and the Flamingo Club, with an annual spot at Notting Hill Carnival from the 1960s. He decorated pizza boxes like this one and used them to store his seven-inch records.

London

Cardboard, paper, adhesive

Courtesy of David Hill

Reggae and sound system culture

By the 1960s reggae music and culture was thriving in Britain. Sound system operators competed to play the best Caribbean and British records while Black entrepreneurs set up independent labels to record and distribute songs neglected by the mainstream. Frequently facing discriminatory policing, venue owners worked tirelessly to continue operating for their communities. Clubs and venues like The New Four Aces and The Cue Club created safe spaces to enjoy Black music and culture.

‘Gees Boogie’ / ‘Hitch & Scramble’ vinyl record by Rico’s Combo, 1962

Rico’s Combo, Planetone Recording Co. Ltd

Vinyl record, paper

Club sign for The New Four Aces, about 1985

Newton Dunbar

Plastic

Lent by Natalie and Nicholas Dunbar, children of Newton Dunbar

Search warrant issued to the Four Aces Club, 1997

Metropolitan Police

Ink on paper

Lent by Natalie and Nicholas Dunbar, children of Newton Dunbar

Stokely Carmichael at The Cue Club, 1967 (taken), 2024 (printed)

Charlie Phillips

Inkjet print

Funded by the Photographs Acquisition Group

V&A: PH.443-2025

Rock ‘n’ roll

Rock ‘n’ roll’s musical roots lie in rural Black queer communities. Musicians and singers like Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Big Mama Thornton fused gospel’s unrestrained vocals with the blues’ social criticism and the raw energy of rural sounds like skiffle and country. As rock ‘n’ roll reached wider audiences, fans like Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis came to be seen as its global representatives. Elvis famously reworked Thornton’s ‘Hound Dog’ while Lewis replicated Little Richard’s onstage exuberance.

Photograph of Sister Rosetta Tharpe performing at Drury Lane Theatre, 1959

Harry Hammond

London

Reproduction from negative

V&A: S.12200-2009

Press photograph of Big Mama Thornton for Arhoolie Records, about 1958–70

Jim Marshall

USA

Reproduction

© Jim Marshall Photography LLC / Courtesy of Jim Marshall Photography LLC

Four Fingers, 1956

Alfred Wertheimer

USA

Reproduction

Post-war Black music in Britain

Many teenagers across Britain, Europe and America were disillusioned in the years after the First and Second World Wars. Watch a montage of the musical styles – pop, folk, blues, R&B, rock ’n’ roll, ska, rocksteady and funk – that reflected their critical and rebellious views during this period of major social change.

Images and recordings provided by:

Adrian Boot

Brian Shuel

British Pathé

Derek Preston

The Freddy Bannister Estate

Getty Images

Paul Popper

Pop Weekly

Popperfoto

Redferns

V&A

Running time: 7 minutes

Post-war Black music in Britain AV Transcript

News | The Notting Hill Riots: Notting Hill. Shameful Episode

1958

British Pathé

Something new and ugly raises its head in Britain. In Notting Hill Gate, only a mile or two from London’s west end, and the quietest street may flare up at any moment.

Most disturbing feature of the riots is the suspicion that not all the troublemakers are locals. Some of the gangs who break windows or throw bottles or burning torches have arrived by car. Opinions differ about Britain’s racial problems, but the mentality which tries to solve them with coshes and broken railings has no place in the British way of life. This violence is evil.

News | The launch of Radio Caroline: Pirate Radio Afloat

1964

British Pathé

Riding at anchor of Harwich and safely outside the three-mile limit, the innocent looking ex-ferry boat Caroline is causing quite a stir in official circles. She’s a floating broadcasting station hoping to make a big thing out of commercial radio and waiting for the advertisements to roll in. “I’m no pirate,” insists Captain Mckay, even if the radio crew are. No danger to his ship so far.

[…]

Generators supply power for the wireless transmitter. Caroline radio is on the air 12 hours a day, 6am to 6pm. Between those hours they think there’s a public large enough to attract local advertising revenue. Crew technicians have comfortable off-duty quarters and to all indications, Caroline is a happy ship. The radio company believe it’s all perfectly legal. In the ship’s studio they broadcast with no more concern than if it were all in Broadcasting House.

[DJ Simon Dee]: “This is Radio Caroline on 1-9-9, England’s first commercial radio station. My name’s Simon Dee, with you for the next two hours.”

Dame Shirley Bassey and James Bond

Cardiff-born Shirley Bassey has been recording for seven decades. As a teenage jazz singer in 1956, the BBC banned her first single ‘Burn My Candle’ due to its suggestive song lyrics.

She went on to define the sound of the James Bond films, recording more theme songs than any other artist. Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever and Moonraker set the standard for cinematic vocals. She performed in this striking gown during the 2013 Academy Awards’ James Bond tribute.

Poster for Goldfinger film, 1964 (made), 2025 (printed)

EON Productions Ltd

UK

Printed ink on paper

© 2026 MGM. All Rights Reserved

Dress worn by Shirley Bassey at the 85th Academy Awards, 2013

Isabell Kristensen

Monaco

Tulle, sequins

Courtesy of Isabell Kristensen

Carnival paintings

These works by Sierra Leonean painter Olayinka Burney-Nicol and British painter Tam Joseph capture Carnival’s dual expression of African identity – both indigenous and diasporic. Burney-Nicol’s Goboi Devil Dancer shows a popular masquerade figure in Sierra Leone while Joseph’s The Spirit of the Carnival shows a Trinidadian masquerade performer in Britain encircled by a throng of police, inviting reflection on their continual presence at this cultural event.

Goboi Devil Dancer, 1972

Olayinka Burney-Nicol

Sierra Leone

Oil on canvas

Bristol Museums & Archives, A/SIER/185

Spirit of the Carnival, 1988

Tam Joseph

UK

Screenprint

V&A: E.1233-1995

‘Albe-Jo Sho’, 2011

Amie Kallon

The Goboi Dancer is a revered eastern Sierra Leonean cultural figure, brought to life at public events from celebrations to tributes, by the Mende people. Sierra Leonean folk musician Amie Kallon reiterates the importance of retaining memory and tradition through song in her work.

Supersound Ltd, 2011

The World Today is Indebted to Us for the Benefits of Civilisation, 1986

Eddie Chambers, Philip Taylor Sky, U-Print Collective

Bearing the colours of Pan-Africanism, this poster shows Marcus Garvey in a repeated pattern alongside Benin’s Queen Mother Idia. Garveyism refers to the Black nationalist politics of Marcus Garvey and Amy Ashwood Garvey, founders of the Universal Negro Improvement Association. The movement sought political and social freedom from colonial and post-colonial control. Marcus’ writing and Amy’s activism in the UK and US remain highly influential and are often referenced in reggae and rap music.

UK

Screenprint

V&A: E.68-1988

Three steel pans, 1950s

Unrecorded photographer

Steel pans are an anti-colonial creation and the only non-electronic musical instrument invented in the last 100 years. Formed from oil drums in Trinidad in the 1930s, the pans photographed here are evidence of rebellion against British colonial restrictions on public music performances. Hammering the base of an oil drum creates indentations that produce different musical notes when struck with rubber-topped sticks.

Probably Trinidad and Tobago

Reproduction

West Indiana & Special Collections, University of the West Indies

Steel pan owned by Russell Henderson, unrecorded date

Unrecorded maker

Russell Henderson led children on the first steel pan march through the streets of London’s Notting Hill during a performance with fellow Trinidadian musicians Sterling Betancourt and Ralph Cherrie. A celebrated jazz pianist, Henderson embraced the steel pan after seeing the Trinidad All Steel Pan Percussion Orchestra at the 1951 Festival of Britain. He collaborated with Trinidadian guitarist Fitzroy Coleman, Jamaican saxophonist Joe Harriott and British jazz saxophonist Ronnie Scott, championing Caribbean music across Britain.

England

Steel

Lent by Angus Henderson

The funeral of Kelso Cochrane, 1959

Unrecorded photographer

This photograph captures the burial of Antiguan carpenter Kelso Cochrane. He was stabbed to death in Notting Hill in May 1959. His murder shocked Britain, coming just months after race riots in the area, which also spread to Nottingham. Activists Amy Ashwood Garvey and Claudia Jones protested against this race-driven violence and demanded laws against inciting racial hatred. Jones also worked on creating an indoor carnival as a means of social cohesion.

London

Reproduction of digital file

PA Photos / TopFoto

The first masquerade band to parade in Notting Hill Carnival

These sketches explore costume and design ideas for the first masquerade band at London’s Notting Hill Carnival. Guyanese-born artist Peter Minshall was raised in Trinidad and trained at London’s Central Saint Martin’s art college in the 1960s. Returning home, he shaped the visual identity of masquerade costumes across Trinidad and Tobago. His work celebrates African diasporic identity with cultural precision and creative flair. Minshall has also designed costumes for Olympic opening ceremonies.

Design for Metronome Steel Band logo, 1976

Peter Minshall

London

Reproduction of original design

Courtesy of Peter Minshall

Costume design for Sky Tribe, 1976

Peter Minshall

London

Reproduction of original design

Courtesy of Peter Minshall

Notting Hill March, 1963

John ‘Hoppy’ Hopkins

In 1963, Trinidadian activist Claudia Jones and Tobagonian actor Pearl Prescod led a London march in solidarity with the American Civil Rights Movement’s March on Washington, with Prescod’s live rendition of ‘We Shall Overcome’ filling the streets. Similar protests unfolded across Britain, including the five-month Bristol Bus Boycott the same year, which forced the company to end its discriminatory ban on non-white conductors and drivers. It wasn’t until 1965 that the UK introduced race equality legislation.

London

Reproduction

© 1963 ESTATE OF J V L HOPKINS

Notting Hill Carnival, 1968

Charlie Phillips

In the aftermath of the 1958 race riots in London, activist Claudia Jones organised Britain’s first Caribbean carnival as an indoor celebration of music and culture. In 1966, social worker Rhaune Laslett brought that spirit to the streets of Notting Hill with an outdoor festival celebrating the area’s diversity. This photograph, taken just two years later, shows Notting Hill Carnival’s rapid growth – a celebration that is now Europe’s biggest street festival.

London

Inkjet print

Funded by the Photographs Acquisitions Group

© Charlie Roots Photo Archive

V&A: PH.445-2025

Flag of Ghana, 1957

Theodosia Okoh

On 6 March 1957, Ghana became the first African nation to gain independence from Britain under President Kwame Nkrumah. Artist Theodosia Okoh designed their new flag, featuring the Pan African colours and a central black star. Music soundtracked pro-independence movements across Africa and the diaspora. Musicians Alfred Payne and Kofi Mensah recorded ‘Freedom for Ghana’ with Calypsonian Young Tiger while highlife musician E.T. Mensah’s ‘Ghana Freedom’ became the country’s unofficial anthem. Jamaica and Trinidad followed with independence in 1962.

Ghana

Reproduction

YAY Media AS /Alamy

Reading Music Festival contact sheet, 1971

Michael Putland

Black rock-fusion group Osibisa performed at the first Reading Music Festival in 1971. Bringing together musicians from Ghana, the Caribbean and Britain, Osibisa energised audiences with their fusion of highlife, soul, rock and funk. Facing opposition to his National Jazz & Blues Festival from local politicians, promoter and Marquee Club owner Harold Pendleton transferred the festival to Reading, where councillors offered him a site to mark the city’s 850th anniversary.

Reading, UK

Reproduction

© Michael Putland Archive

Sound experience track list

Reggae

‘My Boy Lollipop’, Millie Small, 1964

‘Ah Weh, Blackbeard’, Dennis Bovell, 1978

‘Wake Up Jah-man-can’, The Cimarons, 1976

Lovers rock and Brit Funk

‘Hurt So Good’, Susan Cadogan, 1974

‘Silly Games’, Janet Kay, 1982

‘Spell’, Sylvia Tella, 1981

‘Hopelessly in Love’, Carroll Thompson, 1981

‘Dim the Light’, Winston Reedy, 1983

‘Spend the Night’, The Cool-Notes, 1985

‘Boogie Nights’, Heatwave, 1976

‘19’, Paul Hardcastle, 1985

‘London Town’, Light of the World, 1992

‘Somebody Help Me Out’, Beggar & Co, 1981

‘Something About You’, Level 42, 1985

‘Tribute (Right On)’, The Pasadenas, 1988

‘Apparently Nothin’ [12″ Mix]’, Young Disciples, 1991

‘When You Gonna Learn’, Jamiroquai, 1992

2 Tone

‘On My Radio’, The Selecter, 1979

‘Ghost Town’, The Specials, 1981

‘Let’s Do Rock Steady’, The Bodysnatchers, 1980

Jungle and drum & bass

‘Spliffhead’, The Ragga Twins, 1991

‘Open Eyes’, Cleveland Watkiss, 2002

‘Voodoo Ray’, A Guy Called Gerald, 1989

‘Circles’, Adam F, 1997

‘Raggamuffin’, Shy FX, 2019

‘Inner City Life’, Goldie, 1994

‘Original Nuttah’, Shy FX and UK Apachi, 1995

‘Incredible’, M-Beat ft. General Levy, 1994

‘We Are I.E’, Lennie De Ice, 1991

‘Kemistry (Doc Scott Remix)’, Kemistry & Storm with Goldie, 1996

Trip hop The Bristol Sound

‘The Sea’, Morcheeba, 1998

‘Unfinished Sympathy’, Massive Attack, 1991

‘Destiny’, Zero 7, 2001

‘Anyone’, Smith and Mighty, 1988

‘Hell is Round the Corner’, Tricky, 1995

‘Anything’, Martina Topley-Bird, 2003

‘Sour Times’, Portishead, 1994

UK Garage and grime

‘21 Seconds’, So Solid Crew, 2001

‘My Love (10° Below Vocal Mix)’, Kele Le Roc, 1999

‘Re-Rewind’, Artful Dodger ft. Craig David, 1999

‘All I Want’, Mis-Teeq, 2001

‘Sincere’, MJ Cole ft. Jay Dee and Nova Caspar, 2000

‘Crazy Love’, MJ Cole ft. Elisabeth Troy, 2000

‘Eskimo’, Wiley, 2004

‘Unorthodox Daughter’, No Lay, 2008

‘Red Card’, Frisco ft. Skepta, Jammer, JME & Shorty, 2020

‘One Wish’, Shystie, 2004

‘96 Bars of Revenge’, JME, 2011

‘Champagne Dance’, Pay As U Go Cartel, 2007

‘Stand Up Tall’, Dizzee Rascal, 2004

‘It Ain’t Safe’, Skepta ft. Young Lord, 2016

Reggae: A reintroduction

Reggae is Jamaica’s musical gift to the world. To understand Black music in Britain is to recognise reggae’s profound footprint and connections to African music that came before. Emerging from faster-paced and jazz-influenced ska and rocksteady music reggae slowed the tempo. It brought to the forefront lyrics that engaged deeply with political and colonial authority, as well as racial, social and gender inequality. Reggae’s rise led to new subgenres, including dub, reggae dancehall, bashment and Britain's homegrown lovers rock.

Reggae sound systems refer to both the equipment and the crew of people. Music-loving friends pooled finances and technical expertise to build amplifiers, which were placed in homemade speaker boxes linked to record turntables. These systems played and mixed the records chosen, with some members talking, rapping or toasting over them.

The guitar sound: From ska to reggae to dub

Jamaican guitarist Ernest Ranglin established ska’s signature sound with his guitar playing on Millie Small’s defining hit ‘My Boy Lollipop’. He is pictured here with his nephew, British jazz bassist Gary Crosby. This acoustic guitar belongs to Locksley Gichie, co-founder of the UK’s first reggae band, The Cimarons. Next to it is a guitar owned by Dennis Bovell, the leading songwriter, producer and label owner central to the journey of bass sounds through reggae to dub poetry.

Ernest Ranglin and Gary Crosby, 1993

Janine Irons

London

Reproduction of photograph

Janine Irons, OBE, FRSA

Acoustic guitar owned by Locksley Gichie, about 1960s

Córdoba Classic Guitars

Spain

Wood, plastic

On loan from Locksley Gichie

Fender Stratocaster guitar owned by Dennis Bovell, 1976

Fender

California, USA

Wood, metal

Dennis Bovell, Fender Stratocaster, 1976

The development of reggae’s guitar sound

‘My Boy Lollipop’, 1964 by Millie Small;

‘Ah Weh’, 1978 by Blackbeard/Dennis Bovell;

‘Wake Up Jah-Man-Can (On the Rock)’, 1976 by The Cimarons

These three songs illustrate the development of guitar playing from ska to dub and reggae.

Universal Music Operations Ltd, 1964

BMG Rights Management (WW) Ltd, 1978

Vulcan, 1976

Founding members of The Cimarons: Locksley Gichie, Franklyn Dunn, Carl Levy, Maurice Ellis and Winston Reedy, 1978

Dennis Morris

Starting out in London in 1967, The Cimarons are believed to be Britain’s first reggae band and the first to play in the Republic of Ireland and tour West Africa. They worked as session musicians until 1974 when they released their debut album In Time. The band recorded a cover of Bob Marley’s ‘Talkin’ Blues’, which hit Number 1 in Jamaica. They have also collaborated with Paul and Linda McCartney.

London

Silver gelatin print

Purchase funded by the Photographs Acquisition Group

V&A: PH.531-2025

Bob Marley and Britain

Bob Marley discovered and worked with singer and songwriter Delroy Washington in the UK in the early 1970s until Washington released his debut album I-Sus in 1976. After surviving an assassination attempt in Jamaica in 1976, Marley returned to London and recorded his Exodus and Kaya albums. Marley stands here alongside British Jamaican filmmaker and DJ Don Letts, who linked London’s punk and reggae scenes. Marley wrote ‘Punky Reggae Party’ after hearing punk rock band The Clash’s cover of reggae singer Junior Murvin’s ‘Police & Thieves’.

Bob Marley with Don Letts, 1977

Jeanette Lee

London

Reproduction of polaroid photograph

Courtesy of Don Letts

Delroy Washington, 1977

Dennis Morris

UK

Reproduction of photograph

© Dennis Morris

Bob Marley at the Lyceum Theatre, 1975

Dennis Morris

In July 1975 Jamaican singer, songwriter and producer Bob Marley and his band The Wailers performed two landmark concerts at London’s Lyceum Theatre. Their live performances generated mainstream coverage of reggae music across the UK, transforming Marley’s musical and lyrical status within the genre. This image of Marley mid-performance captures the warmth and intensity that defined his stage presence and was later used on the cover of his Live! album. British Jamaican photographer Dennis Morris formed a close creative relationship with Bob Marley, documenting his rise to fame.

London

Silver gelatin print

Purchase funded by the Photographs Acquisition Group

V&A: PH.532-2025

Dub in Britain

Dub is the amplification of reggae basslines combined with sound effects, which British musicians and producers sought to prove they could make outside of Jamaica. Pictured at work on his sound system in London, Jah Shaka revolutionised the sound of dub as a leading producer and label owner. George Price’s celebrated West London record shop Peckings provided a direct link to Jamaican reggae pioneers like Coxsone Dodd. Mad Professor used this processor to colour the mixes on his collaborations with renowned Jamaican dub producer Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry. Linton Kwesi-Johnson released dub poetry’s landmark albums Dread Beat & Blood and Forces for Victory.

Jah Shaka Sound System, 1990s

Normski

London

Inkjet print

V&A: S.26-2025

Linton Kwesi Johnson and Darcus Howe at the Race Today offices, Railton Road, Brixton, 1979

Adrian Boot

London

Inkjet print

V&A: S.3-2025

George ‘Peckings’ Price with Coxsone Dodd, 1974

Unrecorded photographer

London

Reproduction

Courtesy of Peckings Records

M100 Multi-Effects Processor owned by Mad Professor, 2001

TC Electronic

China

Metal, plastic

Courtesy of Neil Fraser/Mad Professor

Record box used by Festus, 1965

World Range London

This record box was decorated and used by Festus, operator of the celebrated British reggae sound system Coxsone Outernational, which was founded by selector and operator ‘Sir’ Lloyd Coxsone in 1960. Festus selected and cued vinyl records with extensive musical knowledge and electronic creativity. He complemented exclusive dubplates with carefully deployed sound effects and bass amplification, setting new standards for sound clarity. Coxsone Outernational elevated the distribution of and connection to reggae, dub and lovers rock in Britain.

London (purchased)

Metal, plastic

Courtesy of Festus Coxsone

Reggae, race and representation

Many young people in Britain’s impoverished inner cities identified with ska’s off-kilter rhythms and rebellious humour. Trojan Skins captures ska fans, one with a tattoo of Trojan Records, the British label that introduced the country to reggae. His ‘skinhead’ hairstyle, originally deemed an economic and hygienic choice, would later be associated with the far-right National Front party. Ska’s evolution into reggae enabled Black British artists to confront national issues. Birmingham reggae band Steel Pulse performed their single ‘Ku Klux Klan’ wearing white hoods, confronting the normalisation of racist violence in Britain.

Trojan Skins, late 1980s

Red Saunders

London

Reproduction

© Red Saunders

Steel Pulse, Ku Klux Klan, 1977

Dennis Morris

London

Silver gelatin print

Supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund

V&A: E.1492-2010

Dubplate featuring Garnett Silk singing ‘Give Me V-Rocket’ and Spanner Banner singing ‘My First Real Sound’, 1991

Garnett Silk, Spanner Banner

Jamaican British musician Lady V is a leading member of V Rocket, a Nottingham-based sound system founded in 1964. This dubplate was created exclusively for V Rocket, featuring the vocals of renowned reggae singer Garnett Silk. Dubplates testify to a sound system’s relationship with a reggae artist and are used competitively during sound system clashes (live competitions that test skill and creativity).

Digital B Studio, Jamaica

Acetate record

Lent by Valerie “Lady V” Robinson, Manager, V. Rocket International

Reggae Klub t-shirt, 1976

Maureen and Jeffrey Daley

Jamaican-born Jeffrey and Maureen Daley launched one of the first reggae club nights in Scotland. The pair were regulars at Dundee nightclub The Barracuda (later The Coconut Grove). They ran their Reggae Klub nights there, with Jeffrey DJing under the title I’Man Slygo. This t-shirt bears the Reggae Klub name alongside a figure reappropriated from the artwork on Bob Marley and The Wailers’ album Uprising, which was designed by Neville Garrick.

Dundee, Scotland

Cotton

Lent by Nicholas Daley Studio

Disco in Wolverhampton, 1978

Chris Steele-Perkins

In 1978, photographer Chris Steele-Perkins captured these young people dancing to reggae in a Wolverhampton church youth club. The Times newspaper sent him to document the city on the tenth anniversary of former MP Enoch Powell’s ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech, which called for the repatriation of Commonwealth immigrants. The scenes Steele-Perkins captured show the intimacy of dancing for pleasure and the importance of social spaces for young people.

Wolverhampton, UK

Reproduction of photograph

© Chris Steele-Perkins / Magnum Photos

Agreement for David Rodigan to perform at the PSV Club in Manchester, 1983

PSV Club, Keithly Brandy

This contract is an example of the independent live music circuit operating outside of the major label industry. The PSV Club was founded by local Caribbean public service vehicle drivers. This document was used to book British reggae DJ David Rodigan, now one of the country’s most respected reggae selectors, radio broadcasters and an internationally celebrated sound clash champion. Factory Records co-founders Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus ran a popular club night at the venue in the 1970s.

Hulme, Manchester, UK

Ink on paper

Courtesy of Keithly Brandy and the University of Manchester

Zoo Meets Factory Half-Way (FAC 15) poster, 1979

Tony Wilson (designer)

Broadcaster Tony Wilson and artist manager Alan Erasmus founded Manchester’s Factory Records in 1978 and signed local roots reggae band X-O-Dus the following year. X-O-Dus are listed on this poster advertising a music festival in Leigh, Greater Manchester, featuring other Factory Records artists and ‘rivals’ from Liverpool’s independent label Zoo. In 1980, X-O-Dus released the single ‘British Black Boys’ and went on to tour the UK with 2 Tone and indie acts.

Manchester, UK

Paper

Courtesy of University of Manchester

FAC 15

Photograph of George ‘Ras Levi’ Oban, Angus ‘Drummie’ Zeb, Tony Gad and Brinsley Forde from Aswad with Chris Blackwell, 1980

Adrian Boot

British reggae band Aswad are pictured signing their recording contract with Island Records founder, Chris Blackwell. They were the first British reggae band to sign a major label record deal. Creatively open-minded and politically engaged, Aswad released major roots reggae instrumentals, like ‘Warrior Charge,’ and toured on the Rock Against Racism roster as well as with reggae titan Bob Marley. They achieved mainstream success with hit singles including ‘Don’t Turn Around’.

London

Reproduction

© Adrian Boot / urbanimage

Poster for Capital Music Festival featuring UB40, 1984

Dewynters Ltd (designers), Capital Studios (printers)

Founded by brothers Robin and Ali Campbell, British reggae band UB40 married reggae’s memorable melodies with political and social commentary. The band’s name references the code printed on the unemployment benefit form issued in Britain at the time and they titled their debut album Signing Off. Just four years after their launch, they supported celebrated American folk artist Bob Dylan and rock guitarist Carlos Santana at London’s Wembley Stadium.

London

Printed ink on paper

V&A: S.652-1985

Electric violin made for the Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra, 1989

Zeta

Mykaell Riley founded the Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra in the 1980s, after working as the songwriter and percussionist in reggae band Steel Pulse. The orchestra brought together classically trained musicians from Caribbean and South Asian backgrounds, blending reggae with classical music in two album releases. Riley commissioned custom electronic instruments, including this violin. The orchestra featured on singles by Soul II Soul, Gabrielle and Maxi Priest, as well as on albums by Jamiroquai, China Black and East 17.

USA

Wood, plastic, metal

Lent by Prof. Mykaell Riley

Jacket worn by Dennis Brown at Reggae Japansplash, 1991

Unrecorded maker

Dennis Brown was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, producer and record label owner who moved to the UK on the recommendation of fellow reggae artist Alton Ellis. He went on to record over 75 albums and was affectionately referred to as the ‘crown prince of reggae’ by Bob Marley. He performed in this jacket, bearing the red, gold and green colours of Rastafarianism and Pan-Africanism, at the 1991 Reggae Japansplash concert in Tokyo, an offshoot of Jamaica’s Reggae Sunsplash.

Probably Jamaica

Cotton

Lent by Yvonne Brown

From the 1970s, across the country, a new generation of Black Britons began to find their feet musically.

Informed by contemporary politics and rooted in the places around them, these musicians, singers and rappers responded emotionally and rhythmically to life in Britain, eager to prove their artistry at home and abroad.

From this foundation emerged a succession of brand new genres that together tell the story of Black British music.

LOVERS ROCK

THE LOW DOWN

The first reggae subgenre created outside of Jamaica

TIMELINE

Britain in the 1970s amid industrial decline, national strikes, power cuts, police tensions and the rise of the far-right National Front party

INFLUENCES

Gospel, soul, rocksteady, reggae, dub

SOUNDS

Slow rhythms, heavy basslines, exquisite vocals

ARTISTS

Louisa Mark, Janet Kay, Caroll Thompson, Winston Reedy, Sylvia Tella, Caron Wheeler, Simplicity

MESSAGING

Romantic and providing escapism while socially and politically observant

LOVERS ROCK

IMPACT

Proved that reggae and its subgenres could be commercial hits against a backdrop of mainstream exclusion

FURTHER LISTENING

Jean Adebambo, Lorna Gee, Peter Hunnigale, Ginger Williams, Sandra Cross, Don Ricardo, Judy Lodge, 15, 16, 17

Lovers Rock, 1998

Dame Sonia Boyce

Interdisciplinary artist Sonia Boyce played a leading role in the British Black Arts Movement, which sought to foreground art engaging with African diasporic histories and social issues. Boyce embossed the lyrics of ‘Hurts So Good’ by Jamaican lovers rock singer Susan Cadogan onto rolls of this wallpaper. Facing racial exclusion, many Black people partied in each other’s homes. As party tempos slowed, lovers rock invited intimacy – dancers pressed up close together, leaving the wallpaper gently marked by the weight of their bodies.

UK

Blind embossing on wallpaper

V&A: E.466-1999

Policing and stop and search

Discriminatory policing of Black people in public spaces persisted through the 1970s and ’80s in Britain. As reports and debates over street robberies (referred to as ‘muggings’) increased, police powers expanded, and ‘Sus’ laws allowed officers to stop and search anyone they claimed to suspect. These powers were disproportionately applied to Black people. In 1981, riots erupted nationwide after intensive ‘Sus’ policing. These two artworks highlight creative responses to this era of over-policing.

Police in Blues Club, about 1981

Denzil Forrester

London

Charcoal on paper

Private collection – London

Poster advertising a stage production of Sus, 1980

X3 Posters

London

Printed ink on paper

V&A: S.111-2025

Identities in Britain

Fowokan George Kelly is a self-taught sculptor, drawing on his experience in British reggae, funk and rock group Cymande. Natty Bongo presents a man with dreadlocks, a hairstyle embraced by Rastafarians – followers of a movement that emerged in Jamaica to resist British colonial culture and religion in the 1930s. Author and activist Stella Dadzie also explores Black identity. She created this painting for the cover of Heart of the Race, the first book to examine British colonial legacies from a Black British female perspective.

Natty Bongo, 2012

Fowokan George Kelly

UK

Bronze on marble base

Lent by the artist, courtesy of Felix & Spear

Motherland, 1985

Stella Dadzie

London

Acrylic, oil pastel, pen and pencil on canvas

Donated by Stella Dadzie

V&A: E.366-2025

Fur coat worn by Carroll Thompson, unrecorded date

Faulkes Furriers

Singer and songwriter Carroll Thompson wore a fur coat similar to this one on the cover of her 1981 debut album Hopelessly in Love. Thompson made history as the first Black British woman to co-write and co-produce a lovers rock album. It sold over one million copies. Before its release, she built her career singing with disco, soul, funk, reggae and lovers rock artists and with revered reggae singers Alton Ellis and Sugar Minott.

Birmingham, UK

Fur

Carroll Thompson

A new platform for a new generation

Reggae and lovers rock provided new opportunities for Black British singers. Child vocalist Deborahe Glasgow went on the release her debut album with reggae producer Mad Professor. Her single ‘Champion Lover’ was sampled for by Shabba Ranks’ dancehall hit ‘Mr. Loverman’. Caron Wheeler signed to the celebrated Lovers Rock record label as a teenager. She later saw success with band Soul II Soul before launching her soul and funk album UK Black. Winston Reedy’s time as lead singer in reggae band The Cimarons set up his

solo career, with hits including ‘Dim the Lights’ and ‘Paradise in Your Eyes’

Poster advertising a performance by Winston

Reedy with Carroll Thompson and Sir Coxsone,

about 1977

Publicity & Display Ltd

Godalming, UK

Printed ink on paper

V&A: S.4699-1995

Caron Wheeler, 1989

Lawrence Watson

London

Inkjet print on coated paper

V&A: S.20-2025

Deborahe Glasgow, early 1990s

Michele Poorman

London

Inkjet print on coated paper

V&A: S.25-2025

Lovers rock and Brit funk

Step into 1970s Britain – a time of racial tensions, economic instability, power cuts, strikes and social change. Lovers rock and Brit funk emerged from this social backdrop as a new generation of Black British musicians created sounds that were both a reflection of their reality and a refuge from it.

Images and recordings provided by:

BBC

DACS

Denis Thorpe

Guardian News & Media Ltd

Isolde Films/Tony Palmer

Pogus Caesar

The Guardian

Tippa Irie

V&A

Running time: 5 minutes and 30 seconds

Lovers rock and Brit funk AV Transcript:

News | Open Space: The Mangrove Nine Trial

1986

BBC

[Frank Crichlow]: The demonstration was held and we had about 500 people on the demonstration walking through from All Saints Road to Notting Hill police station and then unto Harrow Road police station. So we was going through the Black community to get them to join the protest against police harassment. On our way to Harrow road police station there was trouble.

[Darcus Howe]: There was some fighting on the way. None of the proportion that happens now in St Pauls or Birmingham or anywhere. Some scuffling. So nine weeks pass and one or two people had some small cases and then on one sunny day they kicked my door down, arrested me took me to Harrow Road [police station]. I saw Frank, Arun Gordon, Barbara Beese.

[Frank Crichlow]: And we were charged with very serious charges inciting members of the public to riot.

[Darcus Howe]: Inciting people to kill police officers

[Frank Crichlow]: Threatening behaviour. Offensive weapons.

[Darcus Howe]: Committing an affray and several grievous bodily harm.

[Frank Crichlow]: These are very serious charges.

[Darcus Howe]: We were utterly shocked. That something we did simply, that something that English people did over the years for traffic lights could bring down such a heavy hammer on us.

[Voiceover]: In 1970, Frank and others connected with the Mangrove [restaurant, owned by Frank Chrichlow] faced a major crisis. What happened shocked many people: it led to the trial of the Mangrove Nine.

[Darcus Howe]: But we fought them and won the case.

Reggae & Lovers Rock | Oxford Road Show: Pirate Radio & The Dread Broadcasting Corporation

1959

BBC

[Voiceover] DBC is based in an ordinary suburban house in north west London. It’s the first Black pirate station in Britain and until recently it bombarded the capital every Sunday afternoon with a wide variety of Black music, from reggae and soul to calypso and soca.

[Ranking Miss P]: On rebel radio. This is our new signature tune which will be in your shops soon. Check it out.

[Voiceover]: Like all pirates, they talk their own language and have their own special style of delivery. Here, its Jamaican patois.

[Ranking Miss P]: A murder we charge for.

[Voiceover]: Pirate stations are not known for chat shows or phone ins. Their listeners are the weekend Funkateers who fill the clubs and discos around the country. Stations like Invicta, Horizon and DBC command large audiences which the legal stations would like to win over.

Northern Soul | Wigan Casino

1977

Isolde Films

“On a regular Saturday night there’s probably about 10% of the kids which come from Wigan - the Wigan area - I say Wigan, I’m talking in terms of a 15-mile radius of Wigan.

Now the Saturday night thing is well advertised. People know we are in existence every week. They organise coaches. They organise train parties. They organise aeroplane charter flights – literally. They fly in from Manchester. They come from as far away as the very south of England, Cornwall, or the north of Scotland.

News | The Bristol Riots

1980

BBC

[Newsreader/Richard Baker]:

The West Indian community in Bristol tonight to try and quell the worst street violence the city has ever seen. Hundreds of angry youths have been fighting police since early this afternoon when police tried to carry out a raid on a drinking spot. So far nine police officers have been reported injured and unconfirmed reports say as many as five police cars may have been set on fire.

News | The Brixton Riots

1981

BBC

[Newsreader/Jan Leeming]: From early afternoon gangs of youths, some white but predominantly Black, held the police at bay. Petrol bombs, stones and bottles were thrown. Buildings and vehicles wrecked and set on fire.

[BBC Journalist] the arguments about how and why the violence erupted will continue, inevitably with both sides blaming the other. A police superintendent summed it up tonight. “In a word,” he said, “it’s frustration.”

Photograph of ‘Sir’ Lloyd Coxsone and Simplicity, 1979

Jean Bernard Sohiez

Here Lloyd Coxsone works with Simplicity, a lovers rock group formed in London in 1977 by Sandra Blake, Millicent Tagge, Yvonne Webley and Patricia Rowe. Coxsone arranged the vocals on some of the group’s material including their first single, ‘To Be in Love’. He is shown assessing Simplicity’s performance for a home recording, reflecting his role not only as a producer but also as a mentor, all while running the Coxsone Outernational sound system.

London

Inkjet print on coated paper

V&A: S.17-2025

Photograph of Louisa Mark, 1977

Trojan Records

This photograph accompanied a press release promoting Louisa Mark’s new lovers rock single, ‘Keep It Like It Is’. A striking vocalist, Mark gained recognition as a teenager with her landmark lovers rock cover of R&B hit ‘Caught You in a Lie’. She performed with producer and musician Dennis Bovell’s Jah Sufferer sound system and won talent shows at The Four Aces Club in London. Mark went on to record with Bovell and ‘Sir’ Lloyd Coxsone and sign to British record label Bushay.

London

Reproduction

Courtesy of Clem Bushay

Dress worn by Janet Kay, 1980–82

Unrecorded maker

Janet Kay is a multi-award-winning singer, songwriter and actress who made history in 1979 as the first Black British-born artist to reach Number 2 on the UK Singles Chart with her song ‘Silly Games.’ After three years of popularity on reggae pirate radio and the sound system circuit, the track has become a defining lovers rock classic. Kay wore this dress in a photoshoot for a British music magazine in 1985.

London (purchased)

Polyester

Lent by Janet Kay MBE

Ensemble worn by Sylvia Tella, 1993

Oba Abdul Wahabie Tella

Singer and songwriter Sylvia Tella accepted the Best Reggae Artiste of the Year award in 1993 wearing this ensemble. At 15, Tella joined disco group Boney M as a singer on their tour, launching a career that moved fluidly across musical styles. She has collaborated with many artists, from reggae singer Bob Andy to postpunk band The Blow Monkeys. Tella released the lovers rock single ‘Spell’ in 1981, and wrote her own album, Tella Like It Is, in 2006.

Manchester, UK

Silk, satin, gold thread

Sylvia Tella

BRIT FUNK

THE LOW DOWN
Proof that Brits can make funk

TIMELINE
Britain in the 1970s following the musical success and confidence of the Swinging Sixties

INFLUENCES
Soul, funk, bossa nova, samba, disco, jazz funk, jazz funk fusion

SOUNDS
Vibrant jazz instrumentality, foot-stomping funk, evocative call and response chants

ARTISTS
The Olympic Runners, The Average White Band, Heatwave, Eddy Grant, Light of the World, Beggar & Co, Central Line, Hi-Tension, Linx, Paul Hardcastle, The Cool Notes

MESSAGING
Upbeat social critiques, youthful escapism, proud romanticism and displays of instrumental talent

BRIT FUNK

IMPACT
Went on to spawn British subgenres like jazz funk and acid jazz

FURTHER LISTENING
Freeze, Scritti Politti, Spandau Ballet, Haircut 100, Phil Fearon & Galaxy, Kid Creole & the Coconuts, A Certain Ratio, Galliano, Jamiroquai, the Brand New Heavies, the James Taylor Quartet, Level 42, Corduroy, the Young Disciples, the Pasadenas, the Jazz Defektors, Incognito, D’Influence, the Chimes, Hue & Cry, Chapter & the Verse, Wham!, Curiosity Killed the Cat

Promotional photograph of The Olympic Runners, 1977

Transatlantic Records

This is the original lineup of British soul and funk band The Olympic Runners. They became known for intricate musicianship, which contrasted with their suggestive song titles and risqué album covers – a style popular among funk bands at the time. Talented members moved between the band and other projects. Keyboardist and singer Pete Wingfield scored a solo international hit with ‘Eighteen with a Bullet’ in 1975

UK

Reproduction

© 1977 Handle Artists Management Ltd

The Average White Band, 1973

Brian Cooke

Here Dundee-founded soul and funk group The Average White Band celebrate their new record deal in a West London pub, joined by a curious regular. They shot to international fame with huge hits like ‘Pick Up the Pieces’ and ‘Lets Go Round Again’ and are renowned for their horn and bass-driven instrumentals. The Average White Band is a tongue-in-cheek acknowledgement of the inferiority they felt compared to their African American musical idols.

London

Reproduction

Photo by Brian Cooke/Redferns/Getting Images

Heatwave, Rod Temperton and Michael Jackson

Rod Temperton was the keyboard player and lead songwriter for Brit funk band Heatwave, driving global hits like ‘Boogie Nights’, ‘Always & Forever’ and ‘Mind-Blowing Decisions’. Founded by American brothers Johnnie and Keith Wilder, Heatwave united musicians from the UK, the USA, Spain and Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic and Slovakia). Temperton left to work with producer Quincy Jones, creating songs for Michael Jackson’s albums Off the Wall and Thriller – including the iconic title track handwritten here.

Photograph of Heatwave, 1976

Michael Putland

Probably London

Reproduction

©Michael Putland Archive

Handwritten lyrics for Michael Jackson’s single ‘Thriller’, 2010

Rod Temperton

USA

Ink on paper

On loan from L. La Penna

‘Walking on Sunshine’ record sleeve, 1979

Eddy Grant, Ice Records Ltd

‘Walking on Sunshine’ showcased Eddy Grant’s early embrace of synthesised soul, a sound that led to the success of a popular cover version by Rockers Revenge and Donnie Calvin. Grant first rose to fame in the 1960s as a member of the British rock group The Equals. His solo work as a musician and producer spanned multiple styles, from reggae to ringbang (the calypso-influenced genre he created) and pop.

London

Vinyl record, paper, card

Hi-Tension, 1979

Adrian Boot

Brit funk group Hi-Tension scored two Top 20 singles in 1978: ‘Hi-Tension’ and ‘British Hustle’. Their founder, singer and keyboardist David Joseph, continued collaborating with former bandmates during his solo career, achieving his biggest success in 1983 with ‘You Can’t Hide (Your Love from Me)’. With its more electronic sound, the track was later remixed by groundbreaking New York-based DJ and producer Larry Levan.

London

Reproduction of photograph

© Adrian Boot / urbanimage

Central Line, 1983

BBC

Founded by former members of Light of the World and Imagination, London quartet Central Line crafted a dynamic blend of soul and Brit funk. They achieved international success with ‘Walking into Sunshine’, which was remixed by New York DJ Larry Levan, and scored a UK Top 20 hit with ‘Nature Boy’. Central Line also performed live with jazz funk icons Roy Ayers and Grover Washington Jr, cementing their place in 1980s dance and club culture.

London

Reproduction print

Courtesy of BBC Archives

Sheet music for ‘You’re Lying’ by Linx, 1981

Chrysalis Records

Brit funk singer-songwriter David Grant and bass guitarist Peter ‘Sketch’ Martin are pictured here emerging from Tottenham Court Road station, with Grant carrying two white-label 12-inch mixes of their band Linx’s single ‘You’re Lying’. They personally funded 1,000 copies, hoping independent sales would cover recording costs. The track became Linx’s first Top 20 hit, followed by their biggest success, ‘Intuition’. Grant later collaborated with soul singer Jaki Graham on a string of hit singles.

London

Paper

Lent by David Grant MBE

Photograph of Imagination, 1981

Ian Watts

British soul and funk trio Imagination featured singer-songwriter Leee John, bassist Ashley Ingram and drummer Erroll Kennedy. Dressed in flamboyant costumes, their provocative look contrasted the supremely confident and polished soul-funk they produced. Imagination achieved mainstream chart success with Top 5 hit singles including ‘Body Talk’, ‘Just an Illusion’, ‘Flashback’ and ‘Music and Lights’. They also appeared on US TV programme Soul Train.

London

Reproduction of photograph

Photograph by Ian Watts

Prejudices, partying and public spaces

Door entry refusals and police raids pushed DJs and club promoters to be inventive, using community centres, warehouses and homes as venues. Creative decorations, like this customised ‘King of Clubs’ banner for Norman Jay’s Shake and Finger Pop parties, helped venues establish a visual identity and loyal fanbase. Ambitious club promoters secured weeknight residencies, like Monday night at The Wag, which encouraged competitiveness on the dancefloor. R&B group The Pasadenas starting out as dance group Finesse in venues like these, paying tribute to their clubbing days in this music video scene.

Shake & Finger Pop banner, 1987–8

Unrecorded artist

UK

Paint and ink on cotton duvet cover

Lent by Norman Jay MBE

Brothers in Jazz: Irven and Wayne, Monday night at The Wag, 1989

Adam Friedman

London

Silver gelatin print

V&A: S.2-2025

The Pasadenas at the video shoot for ‘Tribute (Right On)’, 1988

Unrecorded photographer

Battersea, London

Photograph print

Lent by Andrew Banfield

Sign for The Blue Note club, 1993

Tom Hingston

Eddie Piller, co-founder of Acid Jazz Records, opened The Blue Note club in east London’s Hoxton Square in 1993. He named it after jazz label Blue Note Records and the international Blue Note jazz club chains. Hosting nights from acid jazz to drum & bass, the venue became a key force in east London’s regeneration and cultural revival. Despite its influence, targeted pressure from new council regulations forced the club to close in 1999.

London

Fibreboard, plastic, metal, paint

Donated by Eddie Piller

V&A: S.552-2025

Photograph of a dancer at Wigan Casino, 1981

Francesco Mellina

The Casino Club, popularly known as Wigan Casino, was a nightclub and venue operating from 1965 to 1981 in Greater Manchester. After holding its first northern soul all-nighter in 1973, the venue became a hub for clubbers who were fans of rare-to-find vintage soul music, attracting clubgoers from across Britain and Northern Ireland. This dancer shows the high-energy acrobatics that took place on the dancefloor until the early hours of the morning.

Wigan, UK

Reproduction

Photograph by Francesco Mellina

From Brit funk to jazz funk to acid jazz

Brit funk’s musicality inspired a new generation whose reinterpretations evolved into subgenres like jazz funk and acid jazz. London trio Young Disciples, with members Femi Williams, Carleen Anderson and Marc Nelson, combined traditional funk with hip-hop and soulful gospel vocals. Williams, the band’s percussionist and DJ, wore this Sierra Leonean Ronko gown on the cover of their debut album, Road to Freedom. The independent record label Acid Jazz signed an array of musically bold groups including Jamiroquai. Jay Kay, lead singer and founder of the band, wore this jacket, inspired by Indigenous American art, in performances.

Ensemble worn by Femi Williams, 1991

Unrecorded maker

Sierra Leone

Cotton

Courtesy of Femi Williams ex Young Disciples

Jacket worn by Jay Kay, 1992

Pendleton

USA

Wool

Courtesy of Jason Kay

Dress worn by Heather Haywood to perform on Top of the Pops, 1985

Anima

Heather Haywood, co-lead singer of The Cool Notes, wore this dress to perform on British TV shows Top of the Pops and 620 Soul Train. Its style reflects the group’s sleek image, polished sound and flirty lyrics. Originally a reggae band founded by schoolmates Stephen McIntosh, Joseph Charles and Charles Keymist in the 1970s, The Cool Notes were musically open minded, with funk and soul inspiring their biggest hits ‘In Your Car’ and ‘Spend the Night’ in 1985.

UK (purchased)

Lurex

Lent by Heather Haywood of The Cool Notes

JD800 synthesiser owned by Paul Hardcastle, about 1970s–80s

Sequential

British musician and producer Paul Hardcastle used this synthesiser on the remix of his 1985 hit single ‘19’. Sampling a Vietnam War documentary, the lyrics critiqued the recruitment and treatment of American veterans, set against electronic rhythms and a dramatic build, helping the track reach Number 1 in the UK. Hardcastle’s wide-ranging career spans post-disco, soul, smooth jazz, his Jazzmasters albums and a reworking of the theme tune for TV show Top of the Pops.

Japan

Plastic, electronics, resins

Lent by Paul Hardcastle

Trumpet owned by Kenny Wellington, 1970s

Yamaha

This trumpet belongs to Kenny Wellington, one-third of Brit funk trio Beggar & Co. After leaving Light of the World, Wellington joined David Baptiste and Breeze McKrieth to form Beggar & Co in the early 1980s. The group quickly built a following with their high-energy, soulful funk, releasing singles ‘Time’ and ‘London Town’. Wellington used this trumpet on many of the band’s recordings, as well as his collaborations with artists including Osibisa, Gabrielle, The Jam, Jamiroquai and Spandau Ballet.

Japan

Brass

Courtesy of Kenny Wellington

Z#360 electric guitar owned by Bluey Maunick, 2015

Atelier Z Guitar Works

Guitarist, songwriter and bandleader Jean Paul ‘Bluey’ Maunick is a key link between US and Latin soul and funk, British jazz and Brit funk. He co-founded Light of the World before forming Incognito with Paul ‘Tubbs’ Williams, where jazz took on a stronger role alongside funk and soul. Incognito became trailblazers of London’s acid jazz scene and signed to Gilles Peterson’s Talkin’ Loud label. Bluey also founded Brit funk group Freeze and continues to perform with Incognito and Citrus Sun.

Japan

Wood, metal

Courtesy of Jean-Paul Maunick and Atelier Z guitar

Supernatural Classic SA003 bass guitar owned by Mark King, 1980

Jaydee Custom Guitars

This guitar belongs to Mark King, lead singer and co-founder of British jazz funk group, Level 42. Along with keyboardist and singer-songwriter Mike Lindup and musicians Phil and Boon Gould, King enjoyed international success following the release of hit singles, ‘Living it Up,’ ‘Running in the Family’ and ‘Something About You’. He is renowned for his signature style of slap bass playing with this guitar worn high on his chest.

Wood, metal, mother of pearl, lacquer

Lent by Mark King

2 TONE

THE LOW DOWN
A rebel yell, launched from the imagination of musician and producer Jerry Dammers

TIMELINE
Emerged from Coventry in the late 1970s and spoke to concerns across Britain

INFLUENCES
Jazz, ska, rock-steady, reggae, punk

SOUNDS
Driving guitars; warm and authoritative saxophones; keyboards; organs

ARTISTS
The Specials, The Selecter, Madness, The Bodysnatchers, Bad Manners, The Beat, Chapter 5, The Equators

MESSAGING
Scathing criticisms of failing family, society and government authorities

IMPACT
Confronted Britain with its own reflection

2 TONE

FURTHER LISTENING
The Riffs, The Hotknives, The Potato 5, The Deltones,

The Loafers

From Jamaica to Coventry

2 Tone was Coventry’s rebel yell, launched from the imagination of musician and producer Jerry Dammers. The style blended ska, reggae and punk to address social and personal politics. Dammers also ran the 2 Tone record label. In these original sketches, he took inspiration from this photograph of reggae band the Wailers. Dammers reimagined bassist Peter Tosh as a

character called Walt Jabsco. Alongside the black and white checkerboard representing racial unity, Jabsco became the iconic symbol of 2 Tone.

Original sketches for 2 Tone Records, 1979

Jerry Dammers

Coventry, UK

Pencil, ink and paint on paper

Lent by Jerry Dammers

Bunny Wailer, Bob Marley and Peter Tosh,

about 1964

Michael Ochs Archive

Unrecorded location

Reproduction print

Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

2 Tone

Discover the backstory to the Rock Against Racism movement and how 2 Tone musicians linked political activism and performance. Caryl Phillips recalls attending Eric Clapton’s concert in Birmingham in 1976 where Clapton expressed support for calls to repatriate Commonwealth citizens. Artist and activist Red Saunders reads his open letter, denouncing Clapton and calling for a nationwide youth and musical protest movement.

Images and recordings provided by:

Chrysalis Records Limited / Courtesy of the BFI National Archive

University of Westminster

Virginia Turbett

V&A

Running time: 5 minutes and 30 seconds

2 Tone AV Transcripts

News | Caryl Phillips recalling attending Eric Clapton’s 1976 Birmingham concert

2017

BMRU at University of Westminster

When you were a kid it was like, ‘have you seen Queen?’ ‘Nah,’ ‘Check, I have.’ ‘Have you seen this? Yeah, I’ve seen them.’ Er, OK, but have you seen…?’ y’know, so it’s like, y’know I can check off Clapton on that list now. Erm, so yeah, I went along. And y’know, very soon into the gig he started to make these really ugly racial, racist comments about ‘send them home’ and y’know, there was a weird, stunned, silence in the audience, then he’d play another song and then he’d start up again and it went on like this. And I was the only Black person there, I’m pretty sure of that. I never saw any other Black – maybe there were somebody else – but I remember what it did, actually, the gig for me, is it destroyed a friendship because we couldn’t really talk about it. We never found a way to actually have a conversation. We rode home on the top deck of the bus to King’s Heath in Birmingham, which is about a 25-minute, 20-minute bus ride from downtown after the gig, and I remember the sense of discomfort and embarrassment on both sides and we never spoke about it.

News | Red Saunders (co-founder of Rock Against Racism), reading from his open letter to the music press about Eric Clapton’s concert

2017

BMRU at University of Westminster

‘When we read about Eric Clapton’s Birmingham concert, when he urged support for Enoch Powell, we nearly puked. Own up, half your music is Black. You’re rock music’s biggest colonialist. You’re a good musician, but where would you be without the blues and r&b? You’ve got to fight the racist poison, otherwise you degenerate into the sewer with the rats and all the money men who have ripped off rock culture with their chequebooks and plastic crap. Keep the faith. Black and white, unite and fight. We wanna organise a rank-and-file movement against the racist poison in rock music. We urge support. All those interested, write to Rock Against Racism, Box M. 6 Cotton Gardens, London E2. P.S. Who shot the sheriff, Eric? It sure as hell wasn’t you, mate. September 1976.”

Prince Buster and The Beat Girl

In 1964, Jamaican ska singer and producer Prince Buster arrived to tour the UK. At the airport, he danced the twist with ska singer and performer Brigitte Bond, as photographed here. Inspired by Bond’s energy, British cartoonist Hunt Emerson captured her in motion, placing her beside a jukebox to create a character called The Beat Girl. The 2 Tone label used this design to promote their music, sometimes alongside Jerry Dammers’ Bert Jabsco character.

Prince Buster with Brigitte Bond, 1964

Unrecorded photographer

London

Reproduction

PA Images/Alamy

The Beat Girl design for The English Beat’s Here We Go Love album, 2018

Hunt Emerson

Birmingham, UK

Digital print on paper

Courtesy of Hunt Emerson

Styling The Specials

Founded by 2 Tone label owner Jerry Dammers, The Specials became the genre’s most acclaimed band, recording anthems of social conscience and youthful frustrations. The band’s percussionist and vocalist Neville Staple wore this Jamaican Rude Boy hat on arrival in the UK. Singer-songwriter and producer Terry Hall, photographed here, fronted The Specials. Their hit cover of ‘A Message to You, Rudy’ inspired this customised jacket.

Trilby hat owned by Neville Staple, 1975

Jaxon & James Hats

UK (purchased)

Felt

Neville Staple Original Specials Trilby lent by Sugary Staple

Terry Hall, 1984

Lawrence Watson

Chrysalis Records, London

Inkjet print on coated paper

V&A: S.21-2025

Rudi at Christmas, 2019

Rene Matic

Coventry, UK

Inkjet print on board

V&A: S.31-2025

The Equators, 1970s

Unrecorded photographer

The Equators were a Birmingham ska and reggae band featuring siblings Brian, Donald, Leo and Rocky Bailey, along with Alfonso Redford, Cleveland Clarke and Dennis Fletcher. Signed to indie label Sti Records, they built a strong reputation opening for touring reggae acts. Their 1981 debut album Hot blended ska’s light energy with reggae’s fuller and slower pace, using accelerated drums, organ and keyboard patterns to create music that was both joyful and socially critical.

Reproduction

Courtesy of Brian Bailey

Chapter 5 performing at a reggae festival, 1975

Stratton Robert Matthews

Reggae’s rise to mainstream popularity among young people in Britain in the 1970s provided the fan base and musical inspiration for 2 Tone to emerge later in the decade. This shot captures Chapter 5 performing at a reggae festival in Coventry, with Neol Davies, founder of 2 Tone group The Selecter, standing on the far right.

Coventry, UK

Reproduction of photograph

Courtesy of Charley Anderson

Poster for The Beat’s debut studio album I Just Can’t Stop It, 1980

Hunt Emerson

Formed in Birmingham in 1978, 2 Tone sextet The Beat featured vocalists Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger, who sang in the reggae-influenced style ‘toasting’. This poster for their debut album recreates Hunt Emerson’s design, adding vivid pink to 2 Tone’s established monochrome checkerboard motif and featuring his Beat Girl character. The band achieved international success with covers of traditional love songs like Andy Williams’s ‘Can’t Get Used to Losing You’ and Smokey Robinson’s ‘Tears of a Clown’.

Birmingham, UK

Printed ink on paper

Courtesy of Hunt Emerson

Rico Rodriguez and his band, 1978

Dennis Morris

Cuban Jamaican trombonist Rico Rodriguez’s unique musical talents saw him work with a range of artists, from Prince Buster and Duke Reid to Bob Marley and Joan Armatrading. In Britain, his work with 2 Tone groups like The Specials and The Selecter brought him widespread recognition. His soulful trombone on The Specials’ 1981 single ‘Ghost Town’ added an emotional melody to its sharp social critique. He is pictured with his touring band, following the release of his landmark solo album, Man from Wareika.

London

Silver gelatin print

Purchase funded by the Photographs Acquisition Group

V&A: PH.533-2025

Protest and activism in the 1970s

Rock Against Racism emerged after racist onstage remarks by British musician Eric Clapton prompted artist and activist Red Saunders to rally young people against rising far-right politics. The movement’s newsletter, Temporary Hoarding, helped to galvanise the message. The movement’s marches and concerts featured rock, punk, reggae and 2 Tone artists. In 1978, more than 100,000 people marched from Trafalgar Square to Victoria Park for a landmark protest concert.

Steel Pulse performing at a Rock Against Racism concert, 1978

David Corio

London

Reproduction photograph

© David Corio

First issue of Temporary Hoarding, 1977

Rock Against Racism

London

Printed paper

V&A National Art Library

NAL: 34132271

Africa Liberation Day March Handsworth, 1977

Vanley Burke

This photograph documents the first African Liberation Day march in Birmingham organised by Pan-African groups from the city’s African Caribbean Self-Help Organisation. The event took place against the backdrop of nationwide and Commonwealth celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign. The march took inspiration from Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first President, who had called for an African Liberation Day following Ghana’s independence from Britain in 1957.

Birmingham, UK

Reproduction of photograph

Courtesy of Vanley Burke

Ensemble worn by Pauline Black

Lead singer Pauline Black wore this outfit during performances with 2 Tone band The Selecter. The sharp tailoring, checkered pattern and flashes of red are classic 2 Tone styles evoking Jamaican Rude Boy and British Mod influences. Alongside singer-songwriter Rhoda Dakar, Black became one of the genre’s few frontwomen. After founder Neol Davies and bassist Charley Anderson left The Selecter, Black and singer Gapps Hendrickson continued until his death in 2024.

Suit, 2011

Marc Griffith London

London

Wool mohair blend

Pauline Black 2-Tone Collection

Shirt, 2010s

Fred Perry

UK

Cotton

Pauline Black 2-Tone Collection

Hat, 2006

Unrecorded maker

Argentina

Wool felt with silk ribbon

Pauline Black 2-Tone Collection

Saxophone owned by Lee Thompson, 2012

Unrecorded maker

London six-piece band MADNESS were the self-styled ‘Nutty Boys’ of 2 Tone, releasing 13 albums and 31 singles. Saxophonist Lee Thompson decorated this instrument in Union Jack flag colours to perform at the London Olympics. Beneath their slapstick onstage behaviour and witty lyrics, the band’s songs ranged from emotive covers of Labi Siffre’s ‘It Must Be Love’ to social and political tracks, like ‘Embarrassment’ and anti-apartheid song ‘(Waiting for) the Ghost Train’.

Unrecorded location

Painted brass

Given by MADNESS

V&A: S.109-2019

Rhoda Dakar

Singer-songwriter Rhoda Dakar wore this outfit while performing with all-female 2 Tone group The Bodysnatchers. Formed in 1979 by bassist Nicky Summers, the band debuted with a cover of Dandy Livingstone’s ‘Let’s Do Rock Steady,’ which they performed twice on British TV show Top of the Pops. The retro, monochrome style of this dress reflects 2 Tone’s embrace of the Jamaican Rude Boy style and British Mod aesthetic.

Dress, 1977–8

Charmont

UK

Synthetic fabric

Rhoda Dakar and family

V&A: S.553-2025

Boots, 1977–8

Unrecorded maker

Probably UK

Leather, fabric paint

Rhoda Dakar and family

V&A: S.554-2025

DISCO, HOUSE, RAP AND RAGGA

After 2 Tone, a flurry of new genres and technologies paved the way for jungle and drum & bass. Disco fused gospel vocals with synthesised melodies. DJ producers like Frankie Knuckles and Larry Levan advanced these visions, re-editing records on tape and later remixing electronically. Jazz drumming like the Winston Brothers’ recording ‘Amen Brother’ was sampled to create a foundational break beat. Rap brought entertaining critiques and the use of record turntables as instruments. Reggae’s digitisation, led by Jamaican producer King Jammy, introduced Jamaican dancehall and its rougher vocal successor, ragga.

JUNGLE AND DRUM & BASS

THE LOW DOWN
Jungle and drum & bass were reconfigurations of traditional song formats using technology to experiment with sound, samples and the voice

TIMELINE
Emerged alongside the UK rave scene in the late 1980s and 1990s

INFLUENCES
Disco, house, jazz drumming, rap, reggae, reggae dancehall, ragga, Jamaican sound system culture, British pirate radio stations

SOUNDS
Distorted, extended or chopped basslines; gospel, acapella and soul vocals; commanding call and responses by skilled emcees and singers; instrumental storytelling

ARTISTS
A Guy Called Gerald, Shut Up and Dance, the Ragga Twins, Rebel MC, Shy FX, UK Apache, Stevie Hyper D, M-Beat, General Levy, Marcus Intalex, Fabio & Grooverider, Randall, Kemistry and Storm, Goldie, Adam F, Cleveland Watkiss, Kenny Ken, Ray Keith,

JUNGLE AND DRUM & BASS

DJ Rap, Skibadee, Eksman, Roni Size & Reprazent, Marc Mac, Dego, Ian Bardouille, Peshay

MESSAGING
Encouraged defiance of how music was made, who was allowed to make it, what it was allowed to say and where dancers were allowed to enjoy it

IMPACT
Changed the British record industry and club culture, despite government opposition

FURTHER LISTENING
Lenny De Ice, Jumpin’ Jack Frost, Doc Scott, Dillinja, LTJ Bukem, Krust, Die, Duv, Dynamite MC, DJ Hype, Andy C, Ed Rush, Optical, Nicky Blackmarket, DJ Flight, Bailey, Sappo, Carl Cox, Paul Oakenfold, MCs: Mad P, Det, Navigator, Moose, GQ, Flux, Fearless, Harry Shotta, Chickaboo, Spyda, Herbie, Pete Bouncer, Singing Fats, Onallee, Gail McClean, Viveen, DJ Aphrodite, Nia Archives

Shut Up & Dance Records t-shirt, 1989

Michael Hyman, Shut Up & Dance Records

Shut Up & Dance is a British duo and record label founded by Philip ‘PJ’ Johnson and Carl ‘Smiley’ Hyman. Emerging from an east London sound system, they soon began producing their own tracks. Drawing on British reggae and American rap, Shut Up & Dance combined fast-paced rapping with breakbeats and dub-heavy basslines. Their innovative style laid early foundations for the development of jungle and drum & bass.

London

Cotton

Courtesy of Shut Up and Dance Records (Music),

(PJ & Smiley)

Label MD’s & music producers

Dancehall Niceness, 1990s

Danijah Tafari

Jungle and drum & bass proudly reflect their musical influences while bursting with originality. This photograph, part of the Music Culture series, captures a sound system in action during a sound clash at the Sobell Leisure Centre in Islington, north London. The fierce musical competitiveness – driven by reworking songs on record turn tables and rapid-fire call and responses from emcees – is directly linked to the Jamaican sound system culture that shaped these genres.

Islington, London

Inkjet print on uncoated paper

V&A: S.6-2025

E-mu Vintage Keys sound module owned by Shy FX, 1995

E-mu Systems

Songwriter, producer and label owner Shy FX is celebrated for jungle and drum & bass anthems that fuse reggae basslines with rapid, choppy breakbeats and intense emotions. He used this sound module to produce tracks including ‘Wolf’, ‘This Style’ and ‘Chopper (Remix)’. It allowed him to modify keyboard sounds into his signature deep, resonant basslines. His hits include ‘Original Nuttah’ with UK Apache, ‘Shake Your Body’ with T-Power and ‘Bambaata’.

London (purchased)

Metal, plastic

Courtesy of Shy FX

Floppy disc, 1990s

3M

Floppy disks emerged in the 1970s, allowing computer users to simplify tasks. Music producers like Marlon Hart, known as M-Beat, adopted this technology and used floppy disks to store and transfer sound files. M-Beat used samples to infuse his jungle tracks with reggae, dancehall, ragga and soul sounds. He also kept studio recordings on floppy disks, like his production of the jungle anthem ‘Incredible’, featuring rapper and reggae artist General Levy, and his Top 20 hits with singer Nazlyn and acid jazz band Jamiroquai.

USA

Plastic, metal

Roland TB303 bass machine owned by A Guy Called Gerald, 1986

Roland

Manchester-born DJ, producer and songwriter A Guy Called Gerald has played a central role in the UK’s electronic music scene. He used this bass machine on his 1988 track ‘Voodoo Ray’. Inspired by the growing Chicago acid house scene and his love of jazz, jazz-funk, reggae, dub, house and electro, he crafted a uniquely British, iconic sound. Voiced by Manchester singer Nicole, the track slowed acid house’s pace but with fresh and equally intoxicating production.

Japan

Plastic

Courtesy of Gerald Simpson (A Guy Called Gerald)

VP-330 Vocoder Plus owned by Adam F, 1979–80

Roland

Songwriter, DJ and multi-instrumentalist Adam F was one of the UK’s earliest producers to succeed in the US across multiple dance styles. He used this vocoder, which was previously owned by jazz musician Herbie Hancock, to shape voice and string effects. Adam’s debut album, Colours, featured the foundational drum & bass track ‘Circles’. He has produced albums for LL Cool J and Redman and songs for Missy Elliott and worked with Goldie, Pink Pantheress on albums fusing drum & bass, rap and dub step.

Japan

Wood, electronics, plastic

Lent by Adam F

Cassette tape, Reggae Owes Me Money by The Ragga Twins, 1991

The Ragga Twins, Shut Up & Dance Records

Twin brothers David and Trevor Destouche have performed together as the Ragga Twins for over 30 years. This cassette is their 1991 Top 20 debut, Reggae Owes Me Money, whose title playfully reverses the direction of reggae’s influence on new British electronic music. Singles like ‘Spliffhead’ and ‘Illegal Gunshot’ reflect this influence, with the twin’s ragga-style delivery helping to shape early jungle vocals. Their music comments on societal pressures, state abuses of power and anti-social behaviour.

London

Plastic

Jungle Soundclash belt won by Kenny Ken, 1994

Unrecorded maker

British DJ and producer Kenny Ken won this replica championship boxing belt at the 1994 Jungle Sound Clash in north London. Ken began DJing in 1989 and soon became a key figure in London’s Jungle scene, with residencies at A.W.O.L. and Roast club nights. The belt reflects how sound clashes shaped music culture beyond reggae, becoming a rite of passage for jungle and drum & bass emcees and DJs, affirming their status and respect among peers.

London

Leather, metal

Courtesy of UMC Management, lent by DJ Kenny Ken

The Singer and the Voice: Vocal Physiology and Technique for Singers, 1978

Arnold Rose

Acclaimed singer, composer, arranger and educator Cleveland Watkiss used this book to study vocal techniques. A classically trained vocalist, he has performed across genres from folk and pop to jazz and opera, and provided vocals for many reggae, jungle and drum & bass artists and producers. He regularly took on MC duties at the Metalheadz’ Sunday Sessions at The Blue Note Club in Hoxton, showcasing his vocal versatility.

UK

Printed ink on paper

Lent by: Cleveland Watkiss

Kemistry and Storm (The Diptych), 1995

Eddie Otchere

These photographs show drum & bass pioneers DJ Storm (left) and DJ Kemistry (right) at The Blue Note club in Hoxton. After meeting Goldie, Kemistry inspired him to explore drum & bass, and the trio co-founded the Metalheadz record label in 1994. Their Sunday Sessions at The Blue Note became foundational to the drum & bass scene, cementing its position as a British music revolution. These photographs capture the warmth, energy and intensity of these nights, showing Kemistry lost in thought.

London

Inkjet print on coated paper

V&A: S.10,11-2025

Jungle and drum & bass

Watch club and performance footage and interviews of dancers, jungle artists, and drum & bass MCs and DJs sharing their passion for these musical forms, which emerged from the influence of jazz drumming, disco, rap house, ragga, acid and techno.

Images and recordings provided by:

BBC

D&B TV Live: Drum&BassArena

DJ Krust, Jamie Ross-Hulme, Darrell Austin

DJ Krust – Warhead

Garry Clarke

General Levy

Karma London

Metalheadz/Charlie Turbs Moran, Blueprint Media Ministry of Sound Recordings

Radar Radio

THUMBSFOOTAGE photography © Brian Walsh

Tom Cordell

V&A

Running time: 5 minutes

Jungle and drum & bass AV transcripts

News | The Criminal Justice Bill

1994

BBC

‘The Criminal Justice Bill was introduced last December to strengthen police powers. It will become an offence for New Age Travellers to stay on any land police order them to leave. Squatting will, for the first time in English history become not just a civil but a criminal offence. The police will have greater Stop and Search powers, and they’ll be able to close down unlicensed raves and concerts and confiscate equipment.

Jungle | Stevie Hyper D, HYPER: The Stevie Hyper D Story

2024

Archive material: Tom Cordell, Gary Clarke | Music: Krust, Warhead

Stevie Hyper D onstage clip:

Junglists are you ready?!

Stevie Hyper D speaking to camera:

What it needs now is like the vocals to start coming in more, but from the UK. They need to be UK made vocals, rap, singers, it needs to be slammed down on drum and bass jungle and make our mark like just hip hop’s made their mark and reggae music’s made their mark, we have to make our mark with drum and bass jungle.

Drum & bass | Ray Keith interviewing DJ Randall on Radar Radio

2017

Radar Radio

[Ray Keith]: You became, rapidly, the DJs DJ.

[DJ Randall]: Well, you know, the music was just being made to blend in my ears, obviously every tune was to me like a story. I used to listen to music over and over again. New tapes. I’d just listen to the tapes in my house and when we’d go on the road, listen to the tapes, so I knew this music inside out. Every break, every noise in every tune, I knew it. I knew where to bring it in, when not to bring, nat-a-mean?

Drum & bass | Metalheadz Night, Blue Note Club, London

1996

Metalheadz/Charlie Turbs Moran, Blueprint Media

[DJ Kemistry]: Everybody brings their own background, their own individual influence to the scene and is allowed to, y’know, let that grow.

[DJ Peshay]: Played, kind of a lot of places over the world, but there’s something about returning to Blue Note Metalheadz, its just such personal thing with the crowd, its just unbelievable. The beauty about Metalheadz is that you can just go in there and you can play what tunes you want, when you want because they’re into everything. They’re not just into one sound; they’re into the whole spectrum.

Bluespot radiogram owned by Hewan Clarke, 1960s

Blaupunkt

Radiograms like this were vital home comforts for many Caribbean and African families in Britain after the Second World War. Often racially excluded from social spaces, Black people used Bluespots to socialise and host parties at home. Radiograms shaped DJ Hewan Clarke’s early career, as he played with record speeds as a child – skills he later used professionally. Clarke became the Haçienda nightclub’s first resident and first Black DJ. His jazz, jazz funk and house experiments helped spark Manchester’s house music scene.

Unrecorded location

Lacquered wood, plastic and metal

Courtesy of Hewan Clarke

V&A: S.557-2025

Kool FM MA1 jacket, 1994

Austin Haynes

This custom MA1 jacket features the logo of Hackney-based pirate radio station, Kool FM. Founded in 1991 by DJs Eastman and Smurf, Kool FM specialised in jungle and drum & bass. Their on-air talent included an array of DJs and emcees, including award-winning double-time rapper Skibadee and DJ Wildchild. Nationwide, land-based pirate radio stations like PCRL, Soul Nation, Kiss FM and BAD supported Black music sidelined by mainstream media. Rinse FM, a pirate station until 2010, acquired Kool FM in 2023

Brixton, London

Leather

Kool FM jacket is Courtesy of Martin Oscar aka DJ Ital

Timeless: Technology and voice

Goldie is an internationally acclaimed producer, rapper and label owner. His 1995 debut album, Timeless, brought mainstream attention to jungle and drum & bass. DJs-turned-producers Marc Mac and Dego used this computer to produce Timeless songs ‘Angel’, ‘You & I’ and ‘Still Life’, and later for their remix of ‘Inner City Life’ as 4hero. ‘Inner City Life’ was co-written by Goldie with producer Rob Playford and soul singer Diane Charlemagne, who is pictured performing on TV show Solid Soul.

Photograph of Goldie, 2000

Phil Knott

London

Reproduction

© Phil Knott

Atari ST 1040 Computer owned by Marc Mac,1991

Atari

USA

Metal, plastic

Courtesy of 4hero/Reinforced Records

Diane Charlemagne performing on Solid Soul

TV show, 1986

David Corio

London

Contact sheet

© David Corio

The journeys of Fabio & Grooverider

Fabio & Grooverider are revered godfathers

of jungle and drum & bass, uniquely skilled at

using equipment like turntables as instruments.

This Technics SL-1200 was Grooverider’s first

turntable. The pair are captured here among fans

outside acid-house night The Trip in London’s

Astoria nightclub. They went on to set visionary

DJ standards at club nights like Rage before

hosting their own radio shows on BBC Radio One

and Kiss FM.

Technics SL-1200 turntable owned by Grooverider, 1990 (purchased)

Technics

Japan

Metal, plastic, rubber

Courtesy of Fabio and Grooverider

Cassette tape of Fabio & Grooverider’s last show on Kiss FM, 1997

Fabio & Grooverider

London (recorded)

Plastic

Courtesy of Fabio and Grooverider via Marcus Barnes

Cassette tape of Fabio & Grooverider’s first show on Radio One, 1998

Fabio & Grooverider

London

Plastic

Courtesy of Fabio and Grooverider via Marcus Barnes

Fabio & Grooverider observe the street party euphoria on Tottenham Court Road, 1988

Dave Swindells

London

Inkjet print on uncoated paper

V&A: S.8-2025

Letter of recommendation for Zubaida Patel, 1953

Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo

UK Apache is a London-born rapper and producer. In 1994, he collaborated with Shy FX on the jungle anthem ‘Original Nuttah’. Apache’s rap on the track explores linguistic identities through Jamaican ragga and British cockney slang. His grandparents were anti-apartheid activists – Apache’s grandmother Zubaida Patel worked for activist and former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela, who wrote this reference letter for her.

Johannesburg, South Africa

Paper, ink

Lent by UK Apache

TRIP HOP THE BRISTOL SOUND

THE LOW DOWN
A modern, multi-cultural export from Bristol, one of imperial and colonial Britain’s vital port cities. Bristolian music-makers routinely reject the term ‘Trip Hop’ and call it 'the Bristol sound'.

TIMELINE
Bristol in the early 1990s

INFLUENCES
Dub, soul, reggae, rap and sampling across a broad musical spectrum

SOUNDS
Instrumental backdrops imbued with warmth; honest and insightful emotional revelations and the ultimate chill-out soundtracks

ARTISTS
Massive Attack, Shara Nelson, Smith & Mighty, Tricky, Martina Topley-Bird, Morcheeba, Portishead, Zero-7

MESSAGING
Gave voice to the wounds caused by the world outside

TRIP HOP THE BRISTOL SOUND

IMPACT
Opened ears to the power of frank emotional perception, exploration and confession

Remix Culture II, 2013

Zak Ové

Zak Ové is a London-born multi-media artist. Recasting a Congolese Kifwebe Luba mask and pairing it with DJ turntables, this work explores the journey of Black music from African tribal rituals to the modern day. Ové says his work is ‘shaped by resistance, technology and renewal. The mask introduces guardianship and ancestral presence, grounding contemporary rhythms in a deeper cultural lineage.’

UK

Vintage turntable, cast jesmonite

Loan courtesy of the artist, Zak Ové

The Bristol sound goes international

The Wild Bunch were a Bristol collective drawing on reggae, dub, punk, rap and turntablism, later giving rise to Massive Attack and Tricky. Known for national DJ sets and performances at the Dug Out club, the group evolved into a trio whose landmark single ‘Unfinished Sympathy’ was cowritten and sung by Shara Nelson, who starred in its award-winning video. The later successes of Massive Attack and Nelson’s solo career affirmed their confidence in uniting musical in influences and emotional depth.

The Wild Bunch, 1984

Beezer

Bristol, UK

Inkjet print on coated paper

V&A: S.5-2025

Shara Nelson, 1993

Phil Knott

USA

Reproduction of photograph

Photo by Phil Knott

Art in memorium

These works reflect the loss of parents and how grief can impact the creative expression of their children. Rapper, producer, actor and author Tricky released his debut album Maxinquaye in 1995. It is a bold and honest tribute to his mother, Maxine Quaye. Ceramicists Vicky Lindo and William Brookes created works honouring Lindo’s estranged father Michael, from exploring newspaper reports of his death to reflecting on him as an individual before parenthood.

Tricky, 2008

Jake Walters

London

Chromogenic print on RC paper

V&A: S.15-2025

‘My Dad’ from the series Dead Dad Book, 2019

Vicky Lindo and William Brookes

Bideford, UK

Earthenware with sgraffito decoration

V&A: C.40-2020

‘Wexford People’ from the series Dead Dad Book, 2019

Vicky Lindo and William Brookes

Bideford, UK

Earthenware with sgraffito decoration

V&A: C.44-2020

Smith & Mighty, 1988

Antonio Mattesini

Bristol-based musicians and producers Rob Smith and Ray Mighty were central to the emergence of trip hop and produced Massive Attack’s first single. Utilising reggae, dub, classic soul and rap influences, they journeyed into new dance music territory with breakbeat reworkings of Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s soulful hits. The duo worked alongside singers Jackie Jackson, Gina Fost and Marilyn McFarlane. Producer Peter D. Rose later joined them as a full-time member. He went on to form the jungle music duo, More Rockers, with Smith in the 1990s.

Bristol, UK

Reproduction of photograph

Photo by Antonio Mattesini

Martina Topley-Bird, 2010

Robin Little

Martina Topley-Bird is a singer, songwriter and musician. Working with fellow Bristolians Tricky, on his defining album Maxinquaye, and band Massive Attack, her warm and vulnerable vocals helped to shape the template of trip hop. Topley- Bird went on to release a solo album Quixotic and appear on tracks with the Gorillaz and US rapper Common. She has released five albums to date.

London

Reproduction of photograph

Photo by Robin Little/Redferns

Portishead band members Beth Gibbons, Geoff Barrow and Adrian Utley, 2008

Michael Robert Williams

Portishead’s 1994 debut album, Dummy, was an international sensation, blending cinematic tension, slowed-down electro-jazz and jagged rap textures. Singer-songwriter Beth Gibbons’s raw vocals resonated with listeners confronting life and heartbreak, particularly on tracks like ‘Sour Times’, ‘Numb’ and ‘Glory Box’. The band has won multiple awards, including the 1995 Mercury Prize, and pursued side projects alongside their four album releases.

Paris

Reproduction of photograph

Photo by Michael Robert Williams

Photograph of Zero 7 with Lou Stone, 2020

Ben Ingham

After meeting as recording studio engineers, Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker formed Zero 7. Their collaborations with Australian singer songwriter Sia over three albums brought them international attention. Zero 7 later partnered with Zimbabwean singer-songwriter Eska on a fourth album. Their music has been fronted by vocalists including Britain’s Sophie Barker, Jamaica’s Mozez and Sweden’s José González. The duo have also remixed the work of artists from Radiohead to Terry Callier.

London

Reproduction of photograph

Courtesy of Ben Ingham

Ensemble worn by Skye Edwards

Skye Edwards is the lead singer and songwriter of London-based trip hop band Morcheeba. The band’s celebrated song ‘The Sea’ illustrates their elegant fusion of rap temperament, electro-blues and evocative vocals. Edwards has established a reputation for wearing striking handmade and avant-garde costumes on stage, which elevate her performance presence. She handcrafted this red leather bodice and ostrich feather skirt, which she paired with captivating bespoke accessories.

Hat, 2022

Max-A-Hatter

Brentford, UK

Felt, Ankara

Custom-made shoes, 2022

Carolin Holzhuber

London

Leather, carbon fibre, wood, copper

Handmade bodice, 2019

Skye Edwards

UK

Leather

Handmade skirt and underskirt, 2010

Skye Edwards

UK

Ostrich feathers, silk, synthetic fabric

Skye private collection

Electro Steel guitar owned by Ross Godfrey, 1963

Rickenbacker

This lap steel guitar has featured across many of trip hop band Morcheeba’s albums. Originating in Hawaii, lap steel guitars found popularity with American country and western musicians, and later with psychedelic guitar styles. Drawing on these influences, Morcheeba’s co-founder Ross Godfrey uses the instrument to create the band’s signature ambient and expressive sound.

USA

Maple, varnish, metal

Lent by Ross Godfrey – Morcheeba

UK GARAGE

THE LOW DOWN
A fresh and energetic execution of musical influence by a bold new music-making and club-going generation

TIMELINE
London in the early 1990s

INFLUENCES
Reggae, ragga, jungle, drum & bass, rap, gospel, soul and rave

SOUNDS
Mixers, synthesisers and turntables; confident producers, emcees and singers; mammoth and chopped basslines; accelerated beats and vocals; collaborations across genres; bootleg remixes

ARTISTS
Ms Dynamite, Norris Da Boss Windross, Jason Kaye, Sticky, So Solid Crew, the Artful Dodger & Craig, David, Mis-Teeq, Nova Casper, MJ Cole, Elisabeth,Troy, Kele Le Roc, Wookie, Daniel Bedingfield

MESSAGING
Aspiration and materialism could provide escapism

UK GARAGE

and soundtrack generational change in the British club scene

IMPACT
Rap and soul records became incomplete without a ‘UKG’ remix; inspired the development of subgenres 2-step, speed garage, UK funky and Bradford’s bassline

FURTHER LISTENING
MC Creed, Indo, Karl ‘Tuff Enuff’ Brown, Matt Jam Lamont, Grant Nelson, Scott Garcia, Heartless Crew, Todd Edwards, Xavier, Oxide & Neutrino, Architechs & Nay Nay, Dem 2, Amira, Shola Ama, Sadie Ama, Jodie Aysha, Sweet Female Attitude, DJ EZ, the Dreem Team, DJ Pied Piper & Unknown MC, MC DT

First dubplate cut of ‘Booo!’, 2001

Ms Dynamite, Sticky, Jason Kaye

Dubplates are one-off recordings of custom vocals endorsing a DJ or sound system. This dubplate of the UK Garage anthem ‘Booo!’ was first played at Twice as Nice club night by DJ and promoter Norris ‘Da Boss’ Windross. The crowd demanded that he rewind the track seven times. Co-written by rapper Ms Dynamite and producers DJs Richard ‘Sticky’ Forbes and Jason Kaye, ‘Booo!’ was released commercially in 2001 and became a Top 20 hit.

London

Vinyl

Norris Da Boss Windross

Photograph of Ms Dynamite, 2001

Gemma Booth

Ms Dynamite is a rapper, singer, songwriter and producer who built her reputation on London’s pirate radio, with memorable rap battles and live nightclub performances. She collaborated with So Solid Crew on celebrated track ‘Envy (They Don’t Know Vocal Remix)’ and co-wrote the hit UK Garage single, ‘Booo!’ with DJs Richard ‘Sticky’ Forbes and Jason Kaye. Her debut album A Little Deeper won the Mercury Music Prize in 2002.

London

Reproduction of photograph

Courtesy of Gemma Booth

So Solid Crew

UK Garage collective So Solid Crew revolutionised the structure of music groups, with its male and female members of varied ages and racial heritages. Its founder, Mega, envisaged a strategy to cultivate local young talent. To give as many crew members a chance as possible, Mega allocated each of them 21 seconds to rap or sing their talents for their 2001 hit ‘21 Seconds’. Taken in South London’s Battersea Park, here crew members pose alongside two Audi TT cars, sharing in their successes while marking their local roots.

So Solid Crew, 2001

Eddie Otchere

Battersea, London

Inkjet print on coated paper

V&A: S.12-2025

Hat worn by Mega while performing with So Solid Crew, about 2000

Unrecorded maker

London (purchased)

Wool felt and fabric ribbon

Founder of ‘So Solid Crew’ Mega

Nova polyphonic synthesiser, 1999

Novation

Richard ‘Sticky’ Forbes is a DJ, producer and songwriter. He used this Novation Nova sound module throughout his career, notably on the hit single ‘Booo!’ featuring Ms Dynamite. The module shaped his basslines, which were thunderous on ‘Booo!’ but smoother on Kele Le Roc’s ‘Things We Do For Love’, and jagged on Tubby T’s ‘Tales of the Hood’. His double-timing and layering of bass were crucial to the development of 2-step, a subgenre of UK Garage.

UK

Plastic, metal

On Loan from DJ Sticky (Producer/ DJ) London

Twice as Nice bottle of champagne, 1990s

Médot

Like house, rap, jungle and drum & bass before it, UK Garage elevated DJs from sharers of pre-recorded music to producers, talent scouts and artists. This customised champagne bottle was given to DJ Spoony by the venue owners hosting the weekly club night Twice as Nice where he was a regular host. UK Garage club nights provided aspirational escapism, with this new generation of clubbers wearing designer clothing and drinking luxury branded alcohol.

France

Glass, paper, cork

Lent by DJ Spoony

Chain owned by Craig David, 1999

Tina David (designer) and Dahlers Jewellers (commissioners)

Craig David has worn this initial chain, designed by his mother, in many performances and public appearances. It pays tribute to his career, which was launched as the vocalist on Artful Dodger’s UK Garage hit Re-Rewind (The Crowd Say Bo Selecta). The song is rooted in reggae sound system culture where a ‘selecta’ repeats a track on the crowd’s request and ‘bo’ is a yelp of endorsement. After his debut solo album Born to Do It, David has achieved global success.

London

White gold, diamond

Loaned by Craig David

Mis-Teeq, 2003

Soulla Petrou

Mis-Teeq were a UK Garage and R&B trio formed in London in 1999 by Alesha Dixon, Sabrina Washington and Su-Elise Nash. They combined R&B harmonies with Dixon’s fast raps delivered with the authority of fellow UK Garage emcees. Pictured promoting their 2003 single ‘Scandalous’, the trio wear vibrant pop-inspired clothing, offering a refreshing view of Black female performers from an underground music scene.

London

Inkjet print on coated paper

V&A: S.36-2025

Girls at Notting Hill Carnival, 2010

Johny Pitts

London

Inkjet print

Acquired through donation

V&A: S.19-2025

The ‘featured singer’

Featured singers became central to dance music, providing emotional warmth and power on original recordings. Some talents also revoiced vocals when copyrights for original recordings couldn’t be cleared. Though billed as ‘featured’, many have also pursued solo careers. Nova Casper and Elisabeth Troy lent authority to MJ Cole’s garage anthems ‘Sincere’ and ‘Crazy Love’, while MOBO-winning Kele Le Roc recorded enduring dance hits like ‘Things We Do For Love’ and ‘Romeo’ with Basement Jaxx.

Photograph of Nova Casper, 1990s

Unrecorded photographer

UK

Reproduction

Courtesy of Nova Casper

Skirt made and worn by Elisabeth Troy, 2000

Elisabeth Troy

London

Leather

Elisabeth Troy

Dress worn by Kele Le Roc, 1999

Kele Le Roc (designer), Juliet Biggs (maker)

London

Faux leather

Courtesy of Miss Kele Le Roc

GRIME

THE LOW DOWN
An ever-evolving and ambitious confrontation of the failures of society, friends and family

TIMELINE
East London in the early 2000s

INFLUENCES
Jamaican sound system culture, reggae, rap, jungle, drum & bass, UK Garage, speed garage

SOUNDS
Proud, unpolished homemade beats, Wiley's chilling ‘eski’ sounds, intense and rapid vocal delivery

ARTISTS
Wiley, Dizzee Rascal, Kano, Nolay, Jammer, Pay As U Go, Roll Deep, Lady Fury, Lethal B, Devlin, Lady Leshurr, Rapid, D Double E, JME, Temps, Skrillex, Fred Again & Flowdan

MESSAGING
Varied depending on whether the MC rejected or embraced the materialism of UK Garage and lyrical challenges from musical rivals

GRIME

IMPACT
Reawakened Britain to its social and political complacency. Survived the threat of control posed by risk assessments like the Metropolitan Police-issued Form 696

FURTHER LISTENING
Dot Rotten, Crazy Titch, Ghetts, Scorcher, Nasty Crew, Flirta D, Bashy, More Fire Crew, Lioness, Meridian, Ruff Sqwad, Black Da Ripper, Devilman, Bruza, Sir Spyro, Terror Danjah, P Money, Newham Generals, MTP crew, Manga Saint Hilare, TravsPresents

UK Garage and grime

Watch UK Garage and grime develop in confidence via a new generation, inspired by the competitive entrepreneurial spirit of jungle and drum & bass. Artists and producers were equally driven to confront the restrictions of broadcast media, legislation and targeted political commentary.

Images and recordings provided by:

Atlantic/Owsla

BBC

Chad Stennett

Jamal Edwards MBE for SBTV

JME (Man Better Know)

Mighty Moe

Muks Rabadia–NuthingSorted

Olivia Rose

Premier Class Ltd. T/A Soul 2 Soul

Roony Keefe AKA Risky Roadz

Sony Music Entertainment (UK) Ltd.

Tim and Barry

Tempa T

Troy A. Plus Miller

V&A

Running time: 6 minutes

UK Garage and grime AV transcript

News | Newsnight

2003

BBC

[Kirsty Wark]: Tonight, five years jail for possessing an illegal firearm. Britain is to get unprecedented and draconian gun laws in an attempt to cut the kind of gun crime that killed the two Birmingham girls. Controversial enough, but much more so is the Home Office view that Black rap music should take some of the blame. I’ll be asking Home Office minister John Denham what evidence he has that ‘macho idiot rappers’ cause killings.

UK Garage | Sidewinder UK Garage Awards, London

2002

Nuthingsorted

[DJ CK Flash]: First of all, I’d like to say who has been raving to Garage from day one? I dunno if anybody’s here… is anybody here that used to go the London Adrenaline Village? There’s only a few of you. Yeah? There are some DJs on here that are not here tonight, but you know what? Some of them are the pioneers. They’re not here tonight. I want you to make noise for Norris ‘Da Boss’ Windross, Pied Piper, Dreem Teem: Spoony, Mikee B and Timmi Magic.

Grime | DJ Slimzee installing a rooftop aerial for pirate radio broadcast

2004

Troy ‘A. Plus’ Miller

[Slimzee]: ‘There’s bare floors, boy.

[Troy]: I can feel the wind moving that lift.

[Slimzee]: 03:15 You can see the outside…

03:18 [Troy]: You’re mad

03:20 [Slimzee]: What?

03: 20 [Troy]: You can’t go ‘round there

03:21 [Slimzee]: Why, what do you mean? Look, there’s our manor there, look

Dizzee Rascal and Wiley, 2002

Dave Tonge

Here, the creator of grime and the genre’s most commercially successful MC sit together in front of the ‘Three Flats’ tower blocks in east London. Grime pirate radio station Rinse FM sometimes broadcast from the blocks and many grime talents lived nearby. Rapper, producer and songwriter Wiley created grime and developed its icy Eski sound. He has released ten solo albums and been a member of groups Pay As You Go Cartel and Roll Deep. Dizzee Rascal became the first grime MC to win the Mercury Prize with his 2003 debut album Boy In Da Corner.

Bow, London

Inkjet print on coated paper

V&A: S.9-2025

Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Mario Paint game owned by Jme, 1992

Nintendo

Early videogame software gave many future grime producers their first tools, before they could afford professional software. Starting out as an MC and producer, Jme used this games console to experiment with producing music in Mario Paint. Jme built on these informal foundations for his production and performance role in the group Boy Better Know (BBK), which featured his brother Skepta among its roster.

Japan

Plastic

Courtesy of Jamie Adenuga (Jme)

Script for episode 2 of Dubplate Drama, 2005

Luke Hyams

Dubplate Drama was an interactive MTV series that invited viewers to vote on how each storyline unfolded. Grime MC Shystie (Chanel Cali) led the cast as Dionne, alongside British rappers Big Narstie and Skinny Man, and N-Dubz members Tulisa and Dappy. Shystie first rose to fame with her response track to Dizzee Rascal’s ‘I Luv U’ hit single. She released her debut album Diamond in the Dirt in 2004

UK

Printed ink on paper

Lent by Shystie

Jammer and crew, 2016

Ewen Spencer

In 2004, MC and producer Jammer launched Lord of the Mics with Chad ‘Ratty’ Stennett. The pair recorded competitions between emcees, an approach inspired by reggae sound clashes, and released them on DVD. As grime was neglected by mainstream radio and labels, these DVDs were sold directly through independent record shop networks. This approach became crucial for distributing grime music and giving emcees visual exposure. Jammer is captured with friends in east London’s Cable Street music studio.

London

Inkjet print on coated paper

V&A: S.13-2025

Lansbury Youth Club from the series Lost Dreams, 2005–07

Simon Wheatley

Many young grime fans became involved in the genre through local youth clubs. They practised writing, rhyming and emceeing among their peers and gained respect through battle rhymes. These battles saw emcees competing lyrically, taking inspiration from the origins of the competition in reggae sound clashes. This photograph captures the energy of aspiring emcees engaged in a battle rhyme at Lansbury Youth Club in east London.

Bethnal Green, London

Inkjet print on coated paper

V&A: S.34-2025

Nolay and Top Boy

Nolay began her music career as member of grime collective Unorthodox before achieving solo success in the male-dominated genre. Her sharp lyrics address topics from inner city life and peer rivalry to misogyny and domestic violence, reflecting grime’s roots in social commentary. Recognition on independent music channels Channel U and SBTV led to her starring in Channel 4 and Netflix series Top Boy. She wore this crew jacket on set during the final season

Nolay, outside ID Live at Cargo, 2005

Sam White

London

Inkjet print on uncoated paper

V&A: S.32-2025

Top Boy cast and crew jacket owned by Nolay, 2022

Unknown London

London

Polyester, nylon, cotton

Donated by Nolay

V&A: S.547-2025

School blazer and tie belonging to DJ Target, 1995

Mar Mair (blazer), unrecorded maker (tie)

DJ Target grew up in east London and wore this school uniform when he started learning to DJ after school. He went on to co-found the influential grime collectives Pay As U Go Cartel and Roll Deep Crew, and was one of the original DJs on noted pirate radio station Rinse FM. Target later published a best-selling memoir, Grime Kids, which inspired a BBC television series of the same name.

London

Polyester

Courtesy of DJ Target

Promotional sign for Dizzee Rascal’s album Showtime, 2004

Dirtee Stank Recordings, XL Recordings

This billboard promoted Dizzee Rascal’s second album, Showtime. It replicates the colours, font and design of London Metropolitan Police information appeal boards, subverting their authority and questioning social desensitisation to their demands. Rascal established his musical reputation on east London’s pirate radio stations, as well as in grime clashes and his landmark work with grime’s founder, Wiley.

London

Plastic

Anonymous Lender

Showered with joy, 2016

Laura ‘Hyperfrank’ Brosnan

British rapper Skepta has been a central figure in grime since its early days, making his mark as a solo MC, producer and member of the Meridian and Roll Deep Crews. In 2016, he claimed the Mercury Prize for his fourth album, Konnichiwa. This photograph captures the moment his name is announced at the award ceremony, as his family and friends erupted in celebration.

London

Inkjet print on uncoated paper

V&A: S.14-2025

Sound experience track list

‘La traviata: È STRANO’, Nadine Benjamin, Borja Gómez-Ferrer, Kamal Khan, The NB Opera Ensemble, 2018

‘Ballade in A Minor, Op. 33: Pt. 2’, Samuel Coleridge Taylor, performed by Chineke! Orchestra, conductor Kalena Bovell, 2022

‘Be Thou My Vision, Triptych for Orchestra’, Antonio Pappano (performed for The Coronation of their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla), 2023

‘See the Day’, Dee C Lee, 1986

‘I’m Gonna Get You’, Bizarre Inc ft. Angie Brown, 1992

‘Lola’s Theme’, The Shapeshifters, 2004

‘If We Lose Our Way’, Paul Johnson, 1994

‘Red Alert’, Basement Jaxx, 1999

‘There’s Nothing Like This’, OMAR, 1990

‘Love and Affection’, Joan Armatrading, 1976

‘Overload’, Sugababes, 2000

‘Sails’, Elton John, 1968

‘Rip It Up’, Orange Juice, 1982

‘Johnny Come Home’, Fine Young Cannibals, 1985

‘Caroline’, Arlo Parks, 2021

‘(Remember the Days of) The Old Schoolyard’, Linda Lewis, 1996

‘Oh, Bondage! Up Yours’, X-Ray Spex, 1977

‘Caribbean Queen (No More Love On the Run)’, Billy Ocean, 1984

‘Mama Used To Say’, JI, 2012

‘That’s the Way It Is (7” Version)’, Mel & Kim, 1987

‘Crazy’, Seal, 1990

‘I Know Where It’s At (Original Mix)’, All Saints, 1997

‘I’m Kissing You’, Des’ree, 1996

‘You Got the Love’, Graeme Park, Mike Pickering, Manchester Camerata, Tim Crooks, Rowetta, Audrey Mattis, AMC Choir, 2016

‘Rain or Shine’, Five Star, 1986

‘A Change Is Sure To Come’, Courtney Pine, 2017

‘Fair Play’, Soul II Soul, 1989

‘So Good (Deluxe Edition)’, Mica Paris, 1989

‘Wishing Well’, Sananda Maitreya, 1987

‘Hangin’ On a String’, Loose Ends, 1992

‘The Sweetest Taboo’, Sade, 1985

‘Look Who’s Loving Me’, Eshe Escoffery, Sandra Escoffery, 2015

‘Amen, This Little Light of Mine’, Karen Gibson and The Kingdom Choir (performed for The Royal Wedding), 2018

‘A Deeper Love (C+C Radio Mix)’, Aretha Franklin, 1993

‘Doin’ the Do (7” Version)’, Betty Boo, 1990

‘Born This Way’, Cookie Crew, 1988

‘The Show’, Slick Rick, Doug E. Fresh, 2022

‘Buffalo Stance’, Neneh Cherry, 1989

‘Good Groove’, Derek B, 1988

‘Bring Forth the Guillotine’, Silver Bullet, 1991

‘Buffalo Gals’, Malcolm McLaren, 1983

‘Speech Therapy’, Speech Debelle, 2009

‘Big For Your Boots’, Stormzy, 2017

‘Gorilla’, Little Simz, 2022

‘Night’, Benga, Coki, 2008

‘Midnight Request Line’, Skream, 2006

‘Beasts of No Nation’, Fela Kuti, 1989

‘Letter to TINA’, Fuse ODG, 2014

‘Free Mind’, Tems, 2020

‘Whiskey in the Jar’, Thin Lizzy, 1973

‘6 A.M.’, V9, 2024

‘Intellectualise My Blackness’, Skunk Anansie, 1995

Identity and expression

Here we explore the stories of Black British musicians reinterpreting musical styles and traditions descending from Africa and the diaspora in a uniquely British context. These traditions have not always been understood or encouraged in a music industry driven by profit.

But artists working across musical scenes have proved that commercial success does not have to mean ‘selling out’ culturally. Embracing the challenge of remaining true to yourself is part of the making and the selling of Black British music.

Statement from Buckingham Palace confirming the appointment of Errollyn Wallen to the role of Master of the King’s Music

Buckingham Palace

Errollyn Wallen, a composer, musician, singer and songwriter has long blazed trails in British music. She became the first female classical composer to win an Ivor Novello Award, and her works, from chamber music to operas and concertos, were commissioned for Queen Elizabeth II’s Jubilees and the 2012 London Paralympic Games. This letter confirms her appointment as the first Black titleholder of Master of the King’s Music. She inherited the role from the first female holder, Judith Weir.

London

Printed ink on paper

Property of Errollyn Wallen © HM The King 2025

Opera: Roles and opportunities

Opera is the dramatics of theatre put to music. Given their European origins, opera and classical music traditionally foregrounded stories and roles from a European perspective. Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi wrote opera La Traviata in 1853, inspired by Haitian French author Alexandre Dumas’ play La Dame aux Camélias. Over 160 years later, Nadine Benjamin played Violetta in a new staging of La Traviata, likely becoming one of the first Black British soprano to perform this leading role.

French Fiction, depicting Alexandre Dumas, 1879

Theobald Chartran (artist), Day & Son Vincent Brooks

(lithographers), Vanity Fair (publishers)

London

Chromolithograph

Harry R. Beard Collection, given by Isobel Beard

V&A: S.596-2010

Print depicting Giuseppe Verdi, 1887

Paine of Islington (photographers), P. Thomson

(engravers)

UK

Ink on paper

Gabrielle Enthoven Collection

V&A: S.474-2015

Nadine Benjamin and Benjamin Sloman in

La Traviata, 2016

Tai Collins

UK

Reproduction of photograph

Photo: Tai Collins

Conducting baton owned by Shirley J. Thompson, 1985

Unrecorded maker

Composer and educator Shirley J. Thompson uses this baton to conduct orchestras. After studying composition and musicology, she began crafting works that responded to issues from the arrival of the Windrush Generation to the South African anti-apartheid movement. Her innovative compositions have since been performed across the world to critical acclaim. In 2023, Thompson was one of 12 musicians commissioned to write new music for the coronation of King Charles III.

Unrecorded location

Ebony, oak

Courtesy of Professor Dr Shirley J. Thompson OBE, Opera

Composer, Conductor, Artistic Director, Scholar

Custom bow for double bass owned by Chi-chi Nwanoku, 1930–40

Louis Morizot

This bow belongs to double bassist Chi-chi Nwanoku and is the tool she uses to shape her music. Her illustrious career spans performance, recording, broadcasting and presenting. Determined to open doors for others, Nwanoku founded the Chineke! Foundation to ‘provide career opportunities for Black and ethnically diverse classical musicians’. Debuting in 2015, the foundation became Europe’s first ensemble with predominantly Black and ethnically diverse musicians.

France

Wood, metal, mother of pearl, bone, wire, leather

Courtesy of Chi-chi Nwanoku CBE

Opera: Roles and opportunities

Othello is the only one of Shakespeare’s works to feature a lead character widely interpreted as a Black man. In 1833, African American actor Ira Aldridge made his West End debut as Othello, becoming the first Black actor to play the role. His performance received mixed, sometimes hostile, reactions from London’s mostly-white audience. Nearly 100 years later, actor Paul Robeson honoured Aldridge by performing the role wearing Aldridge’s earrings, gifted by his daughter Amanda. Decades on, Black British actors like Willard White continue to explore new stagings of Othello.

Paul Robeson’s correspondence with Amanda Aldridge, 1920s

Paul Robeson

London

Reproduction of letter

Courtesy of Northwestern University Libraries

Willard White as Othello with the Royal Shakespeare Company, 1989

BBC

London

Reproduction of photograph

Courtesy of BBC Archives

(More than) backing and featured singers

Backing and featured singers are often unknown to us despite being a key part of a song. Their versatility across time and genres has meant that they have often been teachers to their famous collaborators as well as providing vocals and arrangements. We celebrated a range of these British talents in a special photoshoot to create this graphic.

Joan Armatrading

Joan Armatrading’s music spans blues, folk, rock, soul, pop and opera – going beyond perceived limits of the kind of music that Black women make. The singer, songwriter, instrumentalist and award-winning producer rose to fame in 1976 with her widely adored single ‘Love & Affection’. This notebook shows the chords she handwrote while creating the song. This guitar is the instrument she first learned to play on as a child, bringing her vivid songwriting to life.

Acoustic guitar, 1964 (purchased)

Unrecorded maker

Birmingham, UK (purchased)

Wood, metal

Donated by Joan Armatrading

V&A: S.525-2025

Chord book, 1980s

Collins (manufacturer), Joan Armatrading

UK

Paper, pencil

Donated by Joan Armatrading

V&A: THM/652

Score for The Knife of Dawn chamber opera annotated by Peter Brathwaite, 2020

Hannah Kendall, Tessa McWatt, Martin Carter

Chamber opera The Knife of Dawn tells the story of Guyanese activist and poet Martin Carter protesting his imprisonment after the British authorities overthrew British Guiana’s (now Guyana) newly elected government in 1953. Internationally acclaimed opera singer Peter Brathwaite played Carter in a 2020 production. His annotated score highlights the skill and insight needed to artistically reinterpret often underreported historical events.

London

Paper, ink

Lent by Peter Brathwaite

Innovative creations

Instruments like this illustrate African musical innovation. Created by enslaved African people in the USA, the banjo went on to become a mainstay instrument in blues, country and folk music. A Sanza, or thumb piano, is an ancient percussive instrument that has long been made and used across Africa. The more recent example in the display to your left is unusual as it features a British Huntley & Palmers biscuit tin repurposed as a backing for the keys.

Banjo, about 1840

Unrecorded artist

USA

Wood, vellum, bone, brass, gut strings

V&A: 226-1882

Sanza or thumb piano, early 1900s

Unrecorded maker

Africa

Wood, metal

Lent by Reading Museum

1997.162.18

Bass guitar owned by Omar, 2023

Squier by Fender

Omar, a classically trained British producer, singer, songwriter and musician, owns this bass guitar. His father’s independent record label published Omar’s debut album in 1990, which brought him international acclaim with ‘There’s Nothing Like This’. Its opening bassline remains one of the era’s most recognisable. Across more than ten albums, Omar travels through jazz, soul, funk, Latin, rap and 2-step, collaborating widely, including with Stevie Wonder, who once joked, ‘When I grow up, I want to be Omar!’

China

Wood, metal, plastic

Omar Lyefook

MOBO trademark registration certificates, 1999

Trade Marks Registry

These documents certify the trademarking of the MOBO name and logos. In 1996, Kanya King founded the MOBO – Music of Black Origin – Awards to celebrate artists influenced by Black music and culture. At a time when mainstream platforms overlooked Black talent, the MOBOs championed emerging artists and genres. Held annually across the UK, they have become one of the country’s most significant celebrations of Black music culture.

London

Reproduction

Courtesy of MOBO Organisation

The Sugababes, 2012

Catherine Servel

This photograph captures the original Sugababes line-up: Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhán Donaghy. The trio were just 15 and 16 years old when they released their debut single, ‘Overload’, which was praised for rejecting the typical teen-pop mould. In the years that followed, the Sugababes went through many line-up changes until none of the founding members remained. Following a lengthy effort to reclaim their identity and the rights to their name, the original trio triumphantly returned as the Sugababes in 2021.

UK

Reproduction

Catherine Servel / Trunk Archive

Learning and sharing

Aspiring musicians have long sought opportunities to open for major artists on tour. Early in his career with band Bluesology, Elton John – pictured here behind the keyboard – served a musical apprenticeship with African American singers like Patti LaBelle. Many have also taken up opportunities to support their idols as instrumentalists and session players. The acute talents of instrumentalists like Caleb Quaye and Zeke Manyika became highly sought after for the distinctive styles of play that enriched their collaborators’ work.

Sir Elton John performing with Patti Labelle, 1969

Alan Finch

Unrecorded location

Reproduction

Photo by Alan Finch

Guitarist Caleb Quaye in the studio with Sir Elton John and Tony Murray, 1969

David Larkham

Dick James Music studio, London

Reproduction

Photograph by David Larkham © HST Global Limited

Drummer Zeke Manyika performing with Orange Juice, 1983

Steve Rapport

Unrecorded location

Reproduction

Courtesy of Steve Rapport

Magazine wall

In 1926, Melody Maker launched in Britain as one of the world’s first weekly music magazines. Within decades, print media rivalled radio and television in shaping music taste and fan cultures. These magazines often reflected and reinforced social prejudices in deciding who would (or wouldn’t) sell a magazine by appearing on its cover. The frequent exclusion of Black music makers inspired the launch of many of these magazines from the 1960s onwards, later evolving into online magazines and fan forums. All the while, Black British artists kept making front-cover-worthy music – and sometimes claimed the spotlight.

Photographers

Salifu Idriss

Leo Asemota

Colin Streater

Michael G Williams

Hussen Iqbal

Please note that this list is not exhaustive

Dress worn by Linda Lewis, early 1970s

Unrecorded maker

Singer, songwriter and musician Linda Lewis wore this fringed dress to perform at Reading Festival in 1972 and London’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane in 1974. With a five-octave vocal range, she moved effortlessly through folk, pop, disco, soul and rock. Lewis performed with blues legend John Lee Hooker as a child and later collaborated with Cat Stevens (now Yusuf Islam), David Bowie, Joan Armatrading and Jamiroquai. Her commercial hits included ‘Rock-a-Doodle-Doo’, ‘The Old Schoolyard’ and ‘It’s in His Kiss’.

UK

Embroidered fabric with fringe and elastic

The Linda Lewis Estate

Ensemble worn by Poly Styrene

Poly Styrene was a singer and songwriter who co-founded the punk band X-Ray Spex in 1976. She wore this shift dress with an orange bodysuit and a second-hand combat helmet. X-Ray Spex combined punk’s brash instrumentation with confrontational critiques of inequalities, materialism and consumerism. The band’s single, ‘Oh Bondage! Up Yours’ united these topics around a feminist battle cry in an honest reflection of Poly Styrene’s politics.

Dress made and worn by Poly Styrene, 1970s

Marianne Elliott-Said (Poly Styrene)

London

Synthetic fabric

Lent by Celeste Bell/Poly Styrene Archive

Helmet worn by Poly Styrene, 1940s–70s

Danish Civil Defence

Denmark

Steel, fabric

Lent by Celeste Bell/Poly Styrene Archive

Ensamble worn by Billy Ocean, 1980s

Willi Smith (jacket), John Varvatos (shirt)

Singer-songwriter Billy Ocean achieved his first international hit single in 1976 with ‘Love Really Hurts Without You’. He followed with a string of soulful, poetic love songs and wrote ‘When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going’ for The Jewel in the Nile film soundtrack. The title of Ocean’s 1984 hit song ‘Caribbean Queen’ was changed to ‘African Queen’ and ‘European Queen’, illustrating his international appeal as well as the pressures from the music industry to adapt to global markets.

London

Linen, rayon

Billy Ocean

Ensemble worn by Seal, 1991

Chrome Hearts

Seal first gained attention in 1990 as the featured vocalist on DJ-producer Adamski’s acid house-tinged single ‘Killer’. His talents and determination enabled him to develop beyond lending his voice to one-off collaborations. These two leather pieces, worn for album shoots and live performances during the 1990s, are reflective of the strong and authoritative style cultivated by Seal to accompany his transition from the dance music genre to a global music star. His powerful lyricism has earned Ivor Novello, Brit and Grammy Awards across 12 albums.

Coat worn by Seal, 1994-5

Carpe Diem

Italy

Leather

V&A: S.12-2026

Donated by Seal

Trousers worn by Seal, 1990-1

Chrome Hearts

US

Leather

V&A: S.13-2026

Donated by Seal

Performance costumes worn by Mel and Kim

Sisters Mel and Kim Appleby wore these contrasting leather jackets, trousers and hats to promote their single, ‘F.L.M (Fun, Love & Money)’. It followed the global success of their debut ‘Showing Out (Get Fresh at the Weekend) and ‘Respectable’. Their youthful, free-spirited blend of soul, house and pop gained international popularity. Their work with hitmakers Pete Waterman, Mike Stock and Matt Aitken included ‘That’s the Way It Is’ in 1988.

Hats, 1987

Bernstock Speirs

London (purchased)

Cotton

Two elasticated waist belts, 1987

Unrecorded maker

London (purchased)

Cotton, elastic

Jackets, 1987

Unrecorded maker

London (purchased)

Leather

Trousers, 1987

Unrecorded maker

London (purchased)

Cotton

Kim Appleby

Dress worn by Rowetta, 2017

Rowetta

Singer-songwriter Rowetta wore this dress in tribute to the victims and survivors of the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017. Her design is inspired by Manchester’s worker bee symbol, evoking the city’s industrial legacy and the unity of its workforces. Rowetta performed at Glastonbury Festival alongside fellow Mancunian artists Peter Hook, Haçienda Classical, Manchester Camerata Orchestra, and the Academy of Contemporary Music Gospel Choir. She is a former featured vocalist of indie-electronic group Happy Mondays.

Manchester, UK

Cotton, faux feathers

Donated by Rowetta

V&A: S.550-2025

Dress worn by Des’ree, 1997

Collette Dinnigan

Singer, songwriter and producer Des’ree wore this dress to record the music video for her hit single, ‘I’m Kissing You’. This elegant outfit complemented her subtle yet commanding vocal performance in a key scene in the Baz Luhrmann - directed film Romeo and Juliet.

Des’ree enjoyed international success with soulful anthems ‘Feel So High’, ‘You Gotta Be’ and ‘Life’. She has also recorded with South African choral group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Terence Trent D’Arby (now Sananda Maitreya) and Babyface.

Australia

Lace

Private Collection

Glasses worn by Junior Giscombe, 1981

Cutler & Gross Opticians

British musician Junior Giscombe became a recognisable figure after his 1982 pop-soul UK Top 10 hit ‘Mama Used to Say’. Alongside his sound, these distinctive glasses became part of his identity, worn despite pressure across the music industry to fit a more conventional image. The single’s later success on the American Billboard R&B and pop charts marked a significant moment for Black British music. Giscombe went on to record songs for major American film soundtracks, including All the Right Moves and Beverly Hills Cop.

London

Glass and metal

Lent by Junior Giscombe

BRIT Award trophy, 2023

Slawn

Nigerian artist Slawn’s work subverts the power of anti-Black caricatures. He designed this BRIT Award trophy to critique blackface minstrelsy, a form of racist entertainment that became popular in America after the abolition of slavery in the 1800s, involving performers blackening their skin. Since 2011, the BRIT Awards organisers have invited artists and designers to reinterpret the trophy, creating works that challenge and expand what the award stands for.

London

Bronze

Courtesy of Slawn

All Saints record sleeve, 1997

All Saints, London Records

All Saints were a pop-soul quartet founded by singer-songwriters Shaznay Lewis and Melanie Blatt. Later joined by sisters Nicole and Natalie Appleton, the quartet challenged the myth that pop artists and single-sex groups don’t write their own music or have a say in their content and direction. Lewis was the group’s primary songwriter and won an Ivor Novello songwriting award in 2001 for ‘Pure Shores’. All Saints released five albums with hit singles including ‘I Know Where It’s At’ and ‘Never Ever’.

UK

Paper, card

Courtesy of Warner Music UK Limited

Certificate awarded to Lorraine Pearson, 1987

The Royal Variety Charity

Lorraine Pearson was a member of British pop-soul group Five Star with her siblings Deniece, Doris, Delroy and Stedman, managed by their father. The group enjoyed a decade of chart success with singles including ‘Can’t Wait Another Minute’, ‘System Addict’ and ‘Rain or Shine’, becoming the first Black group to win the Best Group Brit Award in 1987. Later that year, Pearson was awarded this certificate for singing at the Royal Variety Performance.

London

Ink on paper, card

V&A: S.16-2026

The British Sound of...

Like Britain itself, Black British music is the sum of its international and domestic connections. Musicians whose practices descend from Africa and the diaspora have endeavoured to express these identities alongside their Britishness.

Following on from the British-born genres in the previous section, here we explore the anglicisation of imported forms of music – from gospel to drill to afrobeat – each reshaped with an unmistakably British influence.

A Great Day in London, 2021

Suki Dhanda

In 1958, photographer Art Kane captured an iconic group portrait of jazz pioneers outside a New York apartment. In 2021, to mark their 30th anniversary, charity, jazz education and talent development organisation Tomorrow’s Warriors re-created the image with their alumni, including Denys Baptiste, Shabaka Hutchings, Nubya Garcia and Ezra Collective. Co-founder Janine Irons arranged this photograph ahead of a day of live performances which culminated in a headline anniversary concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London.

London

Photographic print

Courtesy of Tomorrow's Warriors Trust

EWI5000 owned by Courtney Pine, 2014

Akai Professional

Jazz musician Courtney Pine rose to fame in the 1980s as a talented saxophonist. His debut album, Journey to the Urge Within, became the first jazz album to reach the UK Top 40, establishing him as a key figure in the British jazz revival. He also worked across pop, soul and reggae, collaborating with Soul II Soul and the Charlie Watts Orchestra. This electronic wind instrument highlights Pine’s versatility to use synthesised and traditional instruments in his recordings and performances.

Japan

Plastic, metal

Courtesy of COURTNEY PINE CBE

Soul music on British TV

620 Soul Train and Solid Soul featured British and American music artists from across soul and beyond, including dance, Motown, Brit funk and jazz-funk, all playing to a live studio audience. The TV shows were hosted by singer Jeffrey Daniel, and Juliet Roberts and DJ Chris Forbes, respectively. Together, they showcased the popularity of Black music in Britain, even when its influence was not fully reflected in the national charts.

Contact sheet showing Loose Ends performing on 620 Soul Train, 1985

David Corio

London

Photographic print

© David Corio

Contact sheet showing Jaki Graham on 620 Soul Train, 1986

David Corio

London

Photographic print

© David Corio

Photograph of Soul II Soul, 1987

Ian Watts

Founded by Jazzie B and Philip ‘Daddae’ Harvey, London-based collective Soul II Soul emerged out of reggae sound system Jah Rico. This photograph captured members Jazzie and Aitch B at Notting Hill Carnival, a year after they started their popular residency at London’s Africa Centre. Soul II Soul married reggae basslines with soulful vocals from featured singers Caron Wheeler, Rose Windross, Melissa Bell and Do’Reen, winning a Grammy with ‘Back to Life (However Do You Want Me?)’ in 1990.

London

Reproduction

© Ian Watts

Mica Paris, 1993

Tee Max (Alder White)

Mica Paris is a singer-songwriter known as the ‘Queen of UK Soul’. She first gained attention in 1988 aged 17 with her debut single ‘My One Temptation’ and album So Good. With vocal roots in gospel, her talent spans contemporary music styles, theatre and television. Musician Prince wrote ‘If You Love Me Tonight’ for Paris, and she has collaborated with Annie Ross, Courtney Pine and Omar.

London

Inkjet print on uncoated paper

V&A: S.41-2025

Jumping High: Terence Trent D’Arby, 1987

Sheila Rock

Singer-songwriter and producer Sananda Maitreya (formerly known as Terence Trent D’Arby) debuted with album The Hardline According to Terence Trent D’Arby. Like many international artists, he found success after securing a record deal in Britain. This mid-flight shot demonstrates his dynamic performance style, influenced by African American artists James Brown and Prince. The album produced a string of international hits, including ‘If You Let Me Stay,’ ‘Dance Little Sister,’ ‘Wishing Well’ and ‘Sign Your Name’.

London

Inkjet print on coated paper

V&A: S.33-2025

Ensemble worn by Sade

Named after their frontwoman, Helen Folasade Adu, British jazz and soul band Sade have achieved international success and acclaim. Sade wore this out t in the music video for their hit single ‘Sweetest Taboo’ from their second album, Promise. Tracks like ‘Smooth Operator’ and ‘Stronger Than Pride’ showcased the highly influential band’s polished and emotive storytelling. Sade musicians Stuart Matthewman, Andrew Hale and Paul Denman formed Sweetback, an early neo-soul band, in 1996.

Jeans, 1982 (purchased)

Levi’s

USA

Denim, cotton

Courtesy of Sade

Jacket, 1984 (purchased)

Unrecorded maker

Mexico

Suede

Courtesy of Sade

Boots, 1984 (purchased)

Unrecorded maker

USA

Leather

Courtesy of Sade

Ensemble worn by Karen Gibson, 2018

Karen Gibson, leader of Britain’s Kingdom Choir, wore this ensemble to perform at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2018. Held in Windsor Castle, the choir sang African American spiritual song ‘This Little Light of Mine’ and American singer Ben E King’s ‘Stand By Me’. The choir’s appearance marked the first time an all-Black gospel group had performed at a British royal wedding.

Dress worn by Karen Gibson, 2018

Jeanette Young

London

Silk, satin

Karen Gibson MBE

V&A: S.548-2025

Shoes worn by Karen Gibson, 2018

Dune London

Unrecorded location

Fabric upper, synthetic lining, manmade sole

Loaned by Karen Gibson

Gospel Music Award, 1986

Black Gospel Association

The Escofferys were a London-based sibling gospel group made up of sisters Sharon, Marcia, Sandra and Michelle. They won this Best Female Gospel Group award in 1986. Despite establishing the vocal standard for soul, R&B and other popular styles, gospel remains sidelined in Britain’s mainstream music industry, prompting separate charts and award ceremonies to celebrate the genre.

UK

Stone, metal, plastic

Courtesy of Michelle Escoffery

Stage wear customised and worn by DJ Paulette, 1992

Knickerbox, DJ Paulette

Manchester-born DJ, producer and author, DJ Paulette personally customised these knickers as part of an ensemble she wore to celebrate the rst anniversary of the monthly LGBTQ night, Flesh at Manchester’s Haçienda nightclub. The event attracted 15,00 clubbers on the last Wednesday of every month. Flesh provided a safe and exhilarating clubbing experience during a time of social panic and stigmatisation around HIV and AIDS. Paulette was the Haçienda’s only Black female resident DJ, specialising in dance and soul music.

Manchester, UK

Cotton, synthetic fabric, sequins

Courtesy of DJ Paulette from personal archive

Slick Rick, 1989

Janette Beckman

Slick Rick was one of the first British rappers to achieve international success. His move to the USA as a teenager shaped his laid-back tone and mid-Atlantic accent. He achieved his first international hit in 1985 with ‘The Show’, a sprawling rap song led by beat-box pioneer Doug E. Fresh. Rick’s 1988 debut album, The Great Adventures of Slick Rick, sold over a million copies. He released his fifth album Victory in 2025, featuring Idris Elba, Giggs and Nas.

New York, USA

Reproduction print

© Janette Beckman 2026

Neneh Cherry, 1988

Andrew Catlin

Neneh Cherry is a musical anglophile who has woven dub, punk, reggae, rap, soul, classical and Senegalese and Gambian mbalax into her work. A member of British punk band The Slits and post punk/jazz fusion group Rip Rig + Panic, she achieved global success with the single, ‘Buffalo Stance’ and debut album, Raw Like Sushi. Both featured contributions from Bristol’s Wild Bunch, artist Jamie Morgan and producer Tim Simenon.

London

Reproduction of photograph

© Andrew Catlin

Good Groove, 1988

Normski

London-born DJ Derek Boland worked on the soul and Brit funk scenes before becoming a rapper, songwriter and producer. He was the first British rapper to perform on BBC TV series Top of The Pops. Boland found commercial success with two singles, ‘Good Groove’ and ‘Bad Young Brother’. His 1988 debut album, Bullet from a Gun was later re-released in America, with features from Public Enemy and Run DMC.

London

Inkjet print on coated paper

V&A: S.27-2025

Silver Bullet Posse – The Lloyds Building, 1990

Normski

Rapper Richard Brown performed under the name Silver Bullet. He popularised horrorcore, a dark, synthesised rap production style featuring accelerated breakbeats and fast-paced lyrics alongside scathing insights into society and authority. Brown, pictured in the foreground, is surrounded by members of the Silver Bullet posse in the heart of London’s financial district. The contrast between their performance identities and the photograph’s location reflected their professional aspirations.

London

C-type print

Supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

V&A: E.113-2012

Two performance costumes worn by Cookie Crew, 1989

Unrecorded maker

The Cookie Crew were South London rappers and songwriters Debbie Pryce (Cookie) and Susan Banfield (Susie Q). They recorded their 1987 debut single ‘Rok Da House’ with The Beatmasters in the style hip house, rapping over accelerated house beats. Cookie Crew wore these matching tunics and Hausa-inspired hats in the music video for their hit ‘Born This Way’. They went on to have a successful international rap career collaborating with Stetsasonic, DJ Premier and Derek B.

New York, USA

Cotton

Courtesy of Debbie Pryce (Cookie Crew) and Susan Banfield

(Cookie Crew)

Dress worn by Betty Boo, 1991

Arabella Pollen

Rapper, singer and songwriter Alison Clarkson began her career with the rap group She Rockers before recording with hip house producers The Beatmasters. As a solo artist, Clarkson became Betty Boo, earning commercial success with rap-delivered pop hits like ‘Doin’ the Do’ and ‘Where Are You Baby?’ and albums Boo Mania and Grrr! It’s Betty Boo. She wore this dress to the 1991 Brit Awards, where she won Best Newcomer.

London

Cotton and acrylic

Donated by Betty Boo

V&A: S.549-2025

Mercury Prize Award presented to Speech Debelle, 2009

Mercury Prize

Speech Debelle was the first rapper to win the Mercury Music Prize in 2009 with her debut album, Speech Therapy, marking a mainstream acknowledgement of British rap music. Following her landmark win, Debelle went on to record three more albums, expanding on her personal examinations of the impact society can have on identity, relationships and mental health.

UK

Bronze, glass, stone

Lent by Speech Debelle

DMX drum machine owned by Trevor Horn, 1982

Oberheim

Trevor Horn is an English music producer, record label owner and former member of pop-synth groups, The Buggles and the Art of Noise. He used this Oberheim DMX drum machine while producing international rap hit single ‘Buffalo Gals’ for Malcolm McClaren and the World- Famous Supreme Team. The machine holds 20 different sounds recorded from real instruments, enabling users to build layered instrumental and percussion tracks using a single piece of equipment.

USA

Plastic, metal, wood

Courtesy of Trevor Horn

Issue No. 1 of DOOM, 2024

Marvel, Sanford Greene (writer and illustrator), Jonathan Hickman (writer), Wilson Moss (editor)

MF DOOM was the performance alter ego of British-born rapper Daniel Dumile. He came to prominence in the KMD group, alongside his brother, DJ Subroc. After his brother’s death, Dumile took to obscuring his face in performances. Marvel released this Doctor Doom comic in tribute to Dumile after his death in 2022. Dumile had adapted the Doctor Doom character in his work, including on the cover of his solo debut Operation: Doomsday.

USA

Printed ink on paper

Stab vest worn by Stormzy, 2019

Banksy

Musician Stormzy debuted as an independent artist releasing freestyles over grime beats. His 2017 album Gang Signs & Prayer emotively balances bravado with honest reflections on faith, family, ambition and the pressures of coming of age. Anonymous artist Banksy gifted this stab-proof vest for Stormzy's 2019 headline performance on Glastonbury Festival's Pyramid Stage, the first by a Black British male solo artist.

UK

Canvas, velcro and acrylic paint,

Plastazote foam

Courtesy of Stormzy

Ensemble worn by Little Simz, 2023

Comme des Garçons

Little Simz is a singer, rapper, actress and record label owner. She has a fiercely independent creative vision and prioritises artistry over corporate funding. She self-funded her debut album A Curious Tale of Trials + Persons in 2015 after several single and EP releases. Little Simz was styled in this suit during a photo shoot for the cover of British magazine Dazed.

Paris

Wool, acetate, polyester, nylon

COMME des GARÇONS HOMME PLUS 2023-24 Autumn/Winter

Benga and Skream, 2000s

Georgina Cook

Dubstep emerged in the early 2000s, uniting the accelerated and off-kilter beats of UK Garage and 2-step, alongside dub basslines, sampling, turntablism and innovative use of PlayStation and Fruity Loops software. DJs and producers Benga and Skream are at the forefront of the genre. They have released joint and solo albums and singles including ‘Midnight Request Line’ and ‘The Judgement’. They formed the group Magnetic Man alongside DJ Artwork, collaborating with Ms Dynamite and others.

UK

Reproduction

Georgina Cook / Drumz Of The South

Fela Kuti and Africa 70 on the roof of Abbey Road Studios, 1971

Unrecorded photographer

Fela Kuti was a fearless musician and political critic. He created the Afrobeat genre with fellow Nigerian musician Tony Allen, fusing explosive Ghanian Hi Life and US jazz and funk with bold political critiques. Kuti was violently persecuted by Nigerian authorities. Here he stands in front of Allen and their Africa 70 bandmembers on the roof of Abbey Road Studios, where they recorded albums Fela’s London Scene, Afrodisiac and Africa 70 with Ginger Baker: Live!.

London

Silver gelatin print

Courtesy of David Hill

A portrait of Tems on the day of winning her first Grammy, 2023

Bet Bettencourt

Singer-songwriter Tems is one of the leading talents of Afrobeats and its subgenre Altè. She is captured here in 2022, on the night she became the first solo female Nigerian-born artist to win a Grammy for song ‘Wait for U’, which she recorded with rappers Future and Drake. Tems has also appeared on the Black Panther film soundtrack, collaborated with WizKid on the worldwide hit, ‘Essence’, recorded with Beyoncé and written for Rihanna. Tems won a second Grammy in 2025.

USA

Reproduction

Hat worn by Fuse ODG, 2014

Fuse ODG

Rapper, songwriter and producer Fuse ODG explores African history through Afrobeats. His music is a modern update of the original Afrobeat genre, featuring rap and new styles of singing. The ‘TINA’ on this cap stands for This Is New Africa – a title repeated on his song with British singer Angel – which reflects his commitment to challenging misreporting and stereotypes about African history, art and representation.

UK

Cotton

Lent by Fuse ODG

Phil Lynott and Thin Lizzy

Irish rock group Thin Lizzy blended mystical Celtic music with hard-hitting rock, led by

co-founder Phil Lynott alongside Brian Downey, Eric Wrixon and Eric Bell. Although born in England, Lynott was raised in Ireland and his music embraced and updated Irish musical traditions and anti-colonial politics. Celebrated Irish artist Jim Fitzpatrick designed seven of Thin Lizzy’s album covers. This sketch for Black Rose was inspired by Irish revolutionary texts by James Clarence Mangan and Joseph Mary Plunkett.

Photograph of Phil Lynott, 1979

Dennis Morris

London

Silver gelatin print

V&A: PH.1554-2025

Album cover design for Thin Lizzy’s Black Rose: A Rock Legend, 1979

Jim Fitzpatrick

Dublin

Pencil, paper

Courtesy of Jim Fitzpatrick

V&A: S.15-2026

Suit worn by Skin, 2022

Daniel Pollitt

Singer-songwriter Skin co-founded British rock band Skunk Anansie in 1994 and became the first Black woman to headline Glastonbury in 1999. She wore this suit alongside a headpiece by latex fashion designer Dayne Henderson for the band’s performance at Glastonbury in 2022. The suit bears the words ‘Clit Rock’, a term coined by music media to celebrate female artists in the male dominated industry. The band’s name draws on Jamaican folklore character Anansi the Spider, a trickster whose actions teach important lessons. The group achieved international success with albums Paranoid & Sunburnt and Hedonism.

London

Viscose, vinyl

Lent by Skin from Skunk Anansie

Masks as messengers

From African religious and social performances to Venetian balls, masks have long been used across cultures. Drill artists use masks as performance tools, to embody comic book-inspired characters or imagine new identities. As an extension of American rap music, drill is highly criticised for its depictions of violence, sexism and use of profanity. Modern associations of masks with criminality and obscuring the wearer’s face contribute to mainstream opposition to drill.

Photograph depicting a wooden mask by the Dan people of the Ivory Coast, 1935

Walker Evans

New York, USA

Photographic print

V&A: 2095-1936

Photograph of drill artist V9, 2021

Chieska Fortune Smith

UK

Reproduction

Image by Chieska Fortune Smith. Commissioned by Dazed Magazine

Black British musicians continue to make musical history, shaping both sound and culture.

While sales and charts measure one form of success, the true impact lies in the personal connection between artists and audiences – a shared pleasure in expressing yourself and being understood through melody. This exhibition celebrates some of the many Black British artists and the remarkable journeys they have made.

Legacies and futures

We invite you to consider the breadth of Black musical creativity across the decades and genres. Some artists are celebrated for using music to hold power to account and some for their powerful and distinctive vocals. Others come alive through commercial success, collaboration or daring to modernise established formats. The artists here – among many more – testify to the bold innovation of Black British music.

Images and recordings provided by:

BBC

Beggars Group Media Ltd

Charlie Sloth Enterprises

China Records Ltd

Concord Jazz

DFR Visuals

FAMM

Forever Living Originals Ltd

Ghost Theatre

Greatness Take Time Records

Impulse! Records

Interscope

Kill Rock Starts

Kojo Boateng

MTGM

Oakley Neil Caesar-Su

The Orchard Enterprises

Partisan Records

Parlophone Records

Pure Groove Ltd

Sequence

Simplyred.com Ltd

2002 SKG Music L.L.C.

Sony Music Entertainment UK Ltd

Universal Music Operations Ltd

Warner Music UK Ltd

Wichita Recordings Ltd

Running time: 18 minutes

The Bee Gees (Maurice, Barry and Robin Gibb) with their band and co-producers mixing a track for the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack album, 1977

Bob Sherman

USA breakers

Brothers Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb formed a trio in the 1950s and went on to enjoy global success. They are pictured working on material for the Saturday Night Fever film soundtrack in the studio with their co-producers and band members. The Bee Gees had found fame in the USA years before the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack commercially popularised disco. They are also celebrated songwriters and have written for Dolly Parton, Barbra Streisand, Kenny Rogers and Diana Ross.

Miami, USA

Reproduction

Courtesy of Barry Gibb

Lizzie Emeh performing at the launch of her EP, Baboo, 2016

Christopher Andreou

Modernist and protestor

Singer, songwriter and disability rights campaigner Lizzie Emeh is captured performing songs from her EP, Baboo at the Roundhouse in London. Emeh released her debut album Loud & Proud in 2009, becoming the first learning disabled musician to record and release an album of original work. Emeh went on to collaborate with Beverley Knight at the opening ceremony of the 2012 Paralympic Games.

UK

Reproduction

Courtesy of Christopher Andreou

Benjamin Zephaniah at the Island Records office in Chiswick, 1990

Adrian Boot

Modernist, collaborator and protestor

Benjamin Zephaniah was a celebrated poet, actor, author, educator and musician. Alongside Linton Kwesi-Johnson and Dennis Bovell, he broke new musical ground with his style of dub poetry, delivering searing commentary about his past, racial inequality, police brutality and the legacy of British colonialism over reggae inspired dub beats.

London

Reproduction

© Adrian Boot / urbanimage