Beyond The Bassline: Celebrating 500 years of Black British Music.

Beyond the Bassline is both a celebration and a starting point, spotlighting the rich legacy of African and Caribbean influences in British music. Yet, this is just the beginning. There's much more to uncover in our ongoing quest to understand and honour the depth of Black British music's impact, on British musical heritage. (Mykaell Riley (Exhibition Curator and Director of the Black British Music Research Unit and former member of Steel Pulse).

Updated June 28, 2024
Kirklees Libraries
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The life and rhymes of Benjamin Zephaniah : the autobiography
Zephaniah, Benjamin
Paper Book
Inner city pressure : the story of Grime
Hancox, Dan
Paper Book
A GUARDIAN, OBSERVER, PITCHFORK, NPR, METRO AND HERALD SCOTLAND BEST MUSIC BOOK OF 2018 ''The definitive grime biography'' NME ''A landmark genre history'' Pitchfork The year 2000. As Britain celebrates the new millennium, something is stirring in the crumbling council...
Black by design : a 2-Tone memoir
Black, Pauline.
Paper Book
"The best voice that ever graced 2-Tone."--Rolling Stone "The iconic queen of ska. . . . It's gritty, witty, and compelling."--Elle Lead singer for platinum-selling 2-Tone band The Selecter, Pauline Black has been in the music business for over thirty years. The...
The Usborne first thousand words in French : with easy pronunciation guide
Amery, Heather.
Paper Book
This book has large pictures for looking and talking, surrounded by small, labelled pictures of 1000 of the most familiar things, to build up and practice French vo cabulary. This is backed up by an alphabetical word list wit h pronunciation guides. '
Weakness in me, the
Armatrading, Joan
Paper Book
Selected and arranged by the author, and featuring a foreword by revered record producer Glyn Johns, The Weakness In Me presents the lyrics of Joan Armatrading for the first time in one unique volume. Since the release of her debut album Whatever's For Us in 1972, Joan...
Mother country : real stories of the Windrush children
Brinkhurst-Cuff, Charlie
Paper Book
Black and British : a forgotten history
Olusoga, David
Paper Book
Winner of the 2017 PEN Hessell-Tiltman PrizeWinner of the Longman History Today Trustees' AwardShortlisted for the inaugural Jhalak PrizeLonglisted for the Orwell PrizeA Waterstones.com History Book of the YearIn this vital re-examination of a shared history, historian and broadcaster David...
African and Caribbean People in Britain: A History
Adi, Hakim
Paper Book
Despite the best efforts of researchers and campaigners, there remains today a steadfast tendency to reduce the history of African and Caribbean people in Britain to a simple story- it is one that begins in 1948 with the arrival of a single ship, the Empire Windrush, and continues mostly...
Black Tudors : the untold story
Kaufmann, Miranda
Paper Book
A new, transformative history - in Tudor times there were Black people living and working in Britain, and they were free 'This is history on the cutting edge of archival research, but accessibly written and alive with human details and warmth.' David Olusoga, author of Black and...
Kofi and the Rap Battle Summer
Boakye, Jeffrey.
Paper Book
Kofi had an idea . . . one big lightning bolt of an idea that hit him like electricity. And all it needed was Kelvin's incredible memory for words.
Dance with Oti : the bird jive
Mabuse, Oti
Paper Book
Girl, woman, other
Evaristo, Bernardine
Paper Book
Grace is a Victorian orphan dreaming of the mysterious African father she will never meet. Winsome is a young Windrush bride, recently arrived from Barbados. Amma is the fierce queen of her 1980s squatters' palace. Morgan, who used to be Megan, is blowing up on...
In our mad and furious city
Gunaratne, Guy
Paper Book
Long-listed for the 2018 Man Booker Prize Short-listed for the 2018 Gordon Burn Prize Short-listed for the 2018 Goldsmiths Prize Inspired by the real-life murder of a British army soldier by religious fanatics, Guy Gunaratne's In Our Mad and Furious City is...
This lovely city
Hare, Louise
Paper Book
*As seen on the new BBC TWO TV book club, Between the Covers* Longlisted for the HWA Debut Crown Award Indie Book of the Month for March, selected by the Booksellers Association One of OBSERVER'S 10 best debut novelists of 2020 /...
The secret diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho
Joseph, Paterson
Paper Book
Swing time
Smith, Zadie
Paper Book
Dazzlingly energetic and deeply human, Swing Time is a story about friendship and music and true identity, how they shape us and how we can survive them. Moving from north-west London to West Africa, it is an exuberant dance to the music of time. Two brown girls dream of being...
Orangeboy
Lawrence, Patrice
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE WATERSTONES CHILDREN'S BOOK PRIZE FOR OLDER READERS, SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA CHILDREN'S BOOK AWARD AND THE YA BOOK PRIZE "A truly brilliant book." Malorie Blackman "Incredible book. Thank you Patrice Lawrence for such a fresh...
Luna loves dance
Coelho, Joseph
Paper Book
The rapping princess
Lee, Hannah
Paper Book
Here is a story that everyone should know. It's the tale of a princess named Shiloh. She lived in a kingdom, not far from yours, in a grand house with a swimming pool and fourteen floors. I know that sounds too big but here's the thing...
My two grandads
Benjamin, Floella.
Paper Book
Aston's Grandad Roy played in a steel band and Grandad Harry played the trumpet in a brass band. Aston always enjoyed going to visit them and listen to them practise. But soon he wanted to join in. So he asked Grandad Roy to teach him to play the steel drums and then he asked Grandad...
Steady for this
Lessore, Nathanael
Paper Book
Meet MC Growls, wannabe rapper and star of the show in the laugh-out-loud teen novel of the year!
Black and British : an illustrated history
Olusoga, David
Paper Book
This beautiful hardback gift book is a stunning visual journey though Black British history for younger readers by award-winning historian and broadcaster David Olusoga and illustrated by Jake Alexander and Melleny Taylor.The essential starting place for anyone who wants to learn about Black...
The Lizzie and Belle Mysteries: Drama and Danger (the Lizzie and Belle Mysteries, Book 1)
Williams, J. T.
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE WEEK JUNIOR CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE YEAR: BREAKTHROUGH AWARD SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES 2023 CHILDREN'S BOOK PRIZE WINNER OF THE DIVERSE BOOK AWARD FOR CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE YEAR "Bringing Georgian London vividly...
Windrush Child
Zephaniah, Benjamin
Paper Book
  In this heart-stopping adventure, Benjamin Zephaniah shows us what it was like to be a child of the Windrush generation. "The superb Voices series takes unsung heroes of the past and imagines them recounting the story of their remarkable lives' " - The Times
Funky chickens
Zephaniah, Benjamin.
Paper Book
Hip-hop rhythms and joyful language. 'Poetry with attitude' - The Times
I am Nefertiti
Anang, Annemarie
Paper Book
Age range 3+ I AM NEFERTITI is a heartwarming story about identity, belonging and friendship. This rhythmical read aloud is perfect for every classroom and is filled with rich and colourful images.

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