An evening of music and cultural conversation with journalist and author Aniefiok Ekpoudom, Devon-based musician and producer Jason Singh, and Bookbag's Malcolm Richards.
Where We Come From is a history of British rap and grime by one of the nation's foremost cultural chroniclers.
Recent years have borne witness to underground genres leaking out from the cities, going on to become some of the most popular music in the nation. In this groundbreaking social history, journalist Aniefiok Ekpoudom travels the country to paint a compelling portrait of the dawn, boom and subsequent blossoming of UK rap and grime. Taking us from the heart of south London to the West Midlands and South Wales, he explores how a history of migration and an enduring spirit of resistance have shaped the current realities of these linked communities and the music they produce.
These sounds have become vessels for the marginalised, carrying Black and working-class stories into the light. Vividly depicted and compassionately told, Where We Come From weaves together intimate stories of resilience, courage and loss, as well as a shared music culture that gave refuge and purpose to those in search of belonging. Ekpoudom offers a rich chronicle of rap, identity, place and, above all, the social and human condition in modern Britain.
A rousing, inspiring, often breathtaking history that reads with the flow of a magnificent novel. Ekpoudom is one of the very finest chroniclers of black British culture.'MUSA OKWONGA, author of One Of Them'
'A stunning exploration of a genre, a movement and a world. It's every bit as lyrical as the rap Ekpoudom has documented.'CANDICE CARTY-WILLIAMS, author of Queenie
Ekpoudom's prose is rhythmic and deft but also crackles with joy. I know I'll be reading it for years to come.'CALEB AZUMAH NELSON, author of Small Worlds.