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 1688, British physician Hans Sloane witnessed music being performed by enslaved Nigerian men and women on a Jamaican plantation owned by his wife.

Sloane's notation is the oldest known transcription of African music in the Caribbean. Bankey Ojo, a British composer of Nigerian Jamaican descent, reinterpreted Sloane's notation 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.

‘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