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Escaping Babylon : An Intimate History of Black British Music - Jesse Bernard

Escaping Babylon

An Intimate History of Black British Music

By: Jesse Bernard

eBook | 7 May 2026

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Available: 7th May 2026

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Shapeshifting, collaborative, endlessly inventive and robustly empowering - Black music has in the last three decades reshaped Britain and made a lasting impact on our culture and society. Each generation of Black Britons has remade the music scene, and, against a backdrop of misrepresentation and marginalisation, found freedom and joy in community.

In this landmark book, the journalist, DJ and filmmaker Jesse Bernard dives deep into the genesis and history of homegrown Black music, from the height of jungle and UK hip-hop in 1990, through the 2011 London riots, the birth of UK trap and the rise of grime superstars like Stormzy. Despite existing on the margins, Black British music has thrived through the creativity and resourcefulness of creators and communities; in Escaping Babylon Jesse Bernard examines how Black barbershops became conduits for new music, how the Internet changed the spread of Black culture and how music in Britain is moulded by the Black diaspora from Lagos to Los Angeles, Sao Paolo to South London.

Escaping Babylon is the definitive account of Black British music - its vibrant history and towering legacy.

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