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A bold analysis that exposes the racist policing of Black music.
The emergence of UK drill music made headline news, portraying it as a criminal enterprise instead of recognising it as an art form. This new rap subgenre, however, is neither the first nor the only Black music to be targeted this way.
Policing the beats rewinds the tape to demonstrate how music has been used as an instrument for policing Black people, from the era of colonial slavery to the present day, revealing the racist legal processes that make crimes out of rhymes.
This original and readable book offers the first in-depth account of the policing of Black music in Britain, highlighting the relationship between politics, culture and criminal (in)justice and inviting music lovers, scholars and activists to tune in.
‘What a journey this is! This book has empowered me by informing me about an important history that I'm connected to, from my experience of having my lyrics used against me to the work that I do with young people.’
Roachee, Roll Deep
‘Placing sounds, songs and beats in the midst of the structures of empire, Lambros Fatsis reads Black music and music-making as radical resources – modes of learning and knowing that hold in them rhythmic, sonic and rumbling resistance practices. Policing the beats is an essential text for music lovers and music makers.’
Katherine McKittrick, author of Dear Science and Other Stories
‘This is a riveting, bracingly militant account of the racist British policing of Black Atlantic musical culture. Extended sections consider the suppression of African drumming and dancing, calypso and reggae sound systems, rap and drill. The writing is deep, wide-ranging and richly erudite but accessible and unstuffy. Very warmly recommended.’
Honest Jon’s Records
Introduction
Part I: Is it even music? Policing Black music as ‘out of tune’ under British colonial rule
1 Cop-italism and slavery: excavating the colonial origins of British policing
2 Crude noise of a ‘vile race’: the danger of Black music(s)
3 Policing ‘dangerous noise’ one beat at a time
4 ‘Salvation ’tis a joyful sound’: a concluding coda
Part II: Does it belong here? Policing Black music as ‘out of place’ in postwar Britain
5 ‘If you brown, they say you can’t stick around’: policing and cr-immigration in postwar Britain
6 (Don’t) welcome to Britain
7 Racism runs riot
8 ‘It gets me ’fraid when Babylon raid”’
Part III: Isn’t it criminal? Black music as ‘out of order’ in contemporary Britain
9 To Be Black is a crime
10 Looking for ‘crime’ in grime
11 Blaming drill for making people kill
12 But isn’t rap violent and misogynistic?
Part IV: Sounds radical: Black critique(s) of white reason
13 Who feels it, knows it: Black radical thought in sound
14 Who knows it, feels it: learning about criminal injustice from the policing of Black music(s)
15 Listen to this book: an annotated playlist
Postscript: of skinfolk and kinfolk: a rap on ‘whiteness’
Index