Skip to content
Where We Come From: Rap, Home & Hope in Modern Britain (Hardback)
  • Where We Come From: Rap, Home & Hope in Modern Britain (Hardback)
zoom

Where We Come From: Rap, Home & Hope in Modern Britain (Hardback)

(author)
2 Reviews Sign in to write a review
£20.00
Hardback 352 Pages
Published: 18/01/2024
Free UK delivery on orders over £25, otherwise £2.99
  • 5+ in stock

Usually dispatched within 1-2 days

Free UK delivery on orders over £25, otherwise £2.99
  • This item has been added to your basket

A stunning social history of British rap and grime by one of the nation's foremost cultural chroniclers.

'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

'Illuminating and intimate. 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

'[An] engaging, erudite, sweeping social history of grime in Britain . . . The writing is sublime.'
GARY YOUNGE, NEW STATESMAN

'Brims with life and reverberates, long after you have closed its pages, with a quiet, lasting power.'
EVENING STANDARD

'Ekpoudom is, hands down, one of Britain's best music writers, as attested by his new book, Where We Come From, a kaleidoscopic, state-of-the-nation social and cultural history.'
THE FACE

***

I met people who never quite fit in where they were supposed to, who found solace, salvation and meaning in these sounds, these words.

Something is happening in Britain, trembling the tracks as it unfolds. Recent years have borne witness to underground genres leaking out from the inner 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.

***

'Where We Come From emerges as more than just a historical account; it's a mixtape and a comprehensive journey through Britain told from the perspective of the people who have spent the past seventy years shaping the culture.'
FRIEZE

'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 landmark work that will undoubtedly shape conversations about not just UK rap and grime, but British music for years to come.'
YOMI ADEGOKE, author of The List

Publisher: Faber & Faber
ISBN: 9780571363254
Number of pages: 352
Weight: 565 g
Dimensions: 243 x 160 x 30 mm
Edition: Main

You may also be interested in...

John Lennon
Added to basket
Paperback
£14.99
Hotel California
Added to basket
From Joy Division To New Order
Added to basket
I Know This Much
Added to basket
Paperback
£10.99
Popkiss
Added to basket
Paperback
£24.99
Sun King
Added to basket
Paperback
£10.99
Women Make Noise
Added to basket
A Light That Never Goes Out
Added to basket
The Dark Side of the Moon
Added to basket
Music Business For Dummies
Added to basket
Moonwalk
Added to basket
Paperback
£10.99
Manchester, England
Added to basket
PWL - From the Factory Floor
Added to basket
Soulsville U.S.A.
Added to basket
Adventures on the Wheels of Steel
Added to basket

“Brilliant book”

This is an astonishing fest of writing. The stories were so moving and so incredibly told. The writing had a novelistic nature too - my favourite kind of non fiction!

Hardback edition
Helpful? Upvote 9

“A poetic and emotional debut!”

In his non-fiction debut, Ekpoudom takes us on a tour across Wales, London, and the West Midlands, tracing the origins and emergence of U.K. Rap and Grime. 'Where we come from' is a necessary re-framing of... More

Hardback edition
Helpful? Upvote 9

Please sign in to write a review

Your review has been submitted successfully.