A celebration of Black British music live at V&A East

The V&A East Museum in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London opened in April with its inaugural exhibition The Music Is Black: A British Story, focusing on 125 years of Black music-making in Britain. Spanning four continents, it is a story of excellence, struggle, resilience and joy.

To celebrate the exhibition, in a collaboration between the V&A and the BBC, Add to Playlist comes from the museum in front of a live audience with a host of significant figures on the Black British music scene.

Jazz saxophonist Soweto Kinch, leading UK grime artist NoLay (accompanied by fellow grime artists Griminal and Roachee), classical pianist Keelan Carew and special guest Janet Kay - who hit the high notes with her 1979 smash hit Silly Games - join Anna and Jeffrey as they discuss the five tracks of Black British music that make up this episode's playlist.

V&A East's new exhibition The Music Is Black: A British Story runs until 3 Jan 2027.

Producer Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Back to Life by Soul II Soul
21 Seconds by So Solid Crew
Silly Games by Janet Kay
Deep River by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
It’s So by Omar 

Other music in this episode:

On My Radio by The Selecter