The crowd at a Rock Against Racism concert in Coventry, 1981 (Photo: John Sturrock)
The new wing of the V&A East museum has opened with a triumph.
Its inaugural exhibition, The Music Is Black, tells the story of the sounds that changed Britain for the better—and which remain a bulwark against racism today.
Memories triggered by the music of the 1950s to 2000s form part of the spectacle, but the journey starts where it must—with slavery, colonialism and resistance to them.
We learn of a slave owner thrilled by the African music being played on his family’s Caribbean plantation and using musical notation to record it.
And we also learn how early scientists classified humanity into “varieties” and hierarchies, an essential justification for slavery.
So begins a contradiction.
Our rulers were both fascinated by black cultural forms while at the same time repulsed by what they thought of as an “inferior species.”
To demonstrate this, the curators have amassed a huge and important range of artefacts, from paintings, books, costumes and instruments, through to rare video footage and clippings.
By placing all of them in a historical context, we can see how the music we love was shaped not only by the political and racial climate of the times, but also by the cultural movements that preceded it.
So, the post-war African independence movements created black pride that was to flow into music, particularly in the 1970s and 80s.
The huge influence of artists such as Manu Dibango and Fela Kuti, for example, on British dancefloors simply cannot be understood without anti-colonialism.
These Afrobeat heroes in turn inspired the music that became Brit Funk, and the explosion of black British pop music which broke through just over forty years ago.
Among the artefacts you’ll even find Junior Giscombe’s trademark spectacles. His 1982 smash Mama Used To Say announced the presence of a new generation of British-born black artists determined to make their mark.
That original sound of African liberation is today found in both the modern Afrobeats genre, and also in the London jazz renaissance, led by artists including Ezra Collective, Nubya Garcia and The Comet Is Coming.
The V&A has another trick up its sleeves—all visitors are offered a headset equipped with near field communication. That means, as you walk towards particular exhibits and video screens, the relevant music or soundtrack plays.
Occasionally, as you walk between genres, the music forms mix. That may be unintentional, but the effect can be brilliant.
One of the highlights for me was the respects paid to early British hip hop. This scene began as imitation, with MCs like Derek B trying their best to be American, but soon graduated to something far more authentic.
The London Posse were among those who rapped in a hybrid form of British cockney and Jamaican street slang.
The curators rightly acknowledges that they were among the rappers that cleared the way for the UK Garage, Grime and Bashment scenes that followed.
The V&A’s final film reel is a melange of black music artists across the years.
The decades of black musical experience on show are not only a testament to past struggles—they are part of the glue that holds together working class Britain, black and white.
- The Music is Black is on until 3 January 2027, V&A East, London, E20 2AR
- Find more information here
