Spotify and Unedited have joined forces to launch a brand-new podcast titled Sounds of Black Britain in partnership with social enterprise, The Black Curriculum.
The podcast is fronted by popular broadcaster, host, and cultural curator Julie Adenuga, and has been launched to empower young people in the UK with a sense of belonging and identity.
The new series, which will feature ten episodes within its first season, has also been launched to help challenge the Eurocentricity of the school curriculum, with hopes to make changes and enable Black British history to be accessible to everyone of all ages. Similarly, The Black Curriculum was founded to facilitate social change and address the lack of Black British history in the UK Curriculum.
Branching this enterprise with Spotify has birthed the Sounds of Black Britain podcast, which will see Julie Adenuga cover the musical history of Black Britain within the first season, as she will be exploring how music has been an instrumental resource in educating and bringing Black music into the mainstream.
With the podcast’s first episode launching on August 26, the first episode falls on the topic of the Sounds of Carnival: Notting Hill and beyond, delving into the fusions of sounds and cultures that have painted the Caribbean street parties and parades for decades.
Further musical genres including the Soul, Funk and Jazz movement, will be explored in future episodes, as well as a look at how Afro-swing made waves in the UK, the art of storytelling through Rap music, and will also spotlight several women who have contributed to Black British music throughout history.
The final episode will go on to cover racial politics: from the estate to the dance floor, and how Black music nights are policed in a UK backdrop compared to how other genres of music nights were policed.
Host Julie Adenuga will also be joined by special guests as new episodes launch every Friday, including the likes of singer-songwriter Shakka, Dancehall royalty Alicai Harley, producer Jae5, Amapiano queen Nqobile and many more.
Speaking about working on Sounds of Black Britain, Julie said: “Working with the team on this podcast has been such an incredible experience. The work that The Black Curriculum is doing for the British education system is incredibly important, and this podcast is another step toward raising awareness about our history. I’ve learned so much on this journey and I’m so proud of the legacy that Black British music holds.”
Tune in every Friday to hear brand-new insightful episodes from Sounds of Black Britain on Spotify, available here.