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A bold analysis that exposes the racist policing of Black music.
The emergence of UK drill music in the 2010s made headline news, as the media rushed to blame this new rap subgenre for the rise of violent crime in Britain’s major cities. But is there really a link between Black music and criminality?
In Policing the beats, Lambros Fatsis sets out to uncover the truth, providing the first in-depth historical account of how Black music has been policed in Britain. He dismantles stereotypes manufactured by the government and the media, revealing how characterising Black music as ‘criminal’ distracts us from racist legal penal processes that make crimes out of rhymes.
Exposing the long history of policing Black music, from the era of colonial slavery to the present day, Policing the beats offers powerful insights into the relationship between politics, culture and criminal (in)justice.
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 post-war 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