5m
28 Apr 2024

500 years of music: exhibition challenges when Black British music began

News Correspondent

From jazz to jungle, Black British music has topped the charts and inspired generations.

Now a new exhibition charts its history and the places it was born, from the kerbsides, clubs, and carnivals.

But it also goes way back before the 20th century – charting hundreds of years of Black musical history.

I went down to the exhibition at the British Library in London and met some of the pioneers featured.