Escaping Babylon (Hardback)

An Intimate History of Black British Music

Jesse Bernard

How thirty years of Black music reshaped Britain, from 1989 to the present

Shapeshifting, collaborative, endlessly inventive and robustly empowering: Black music has transformed British culture and society, and gifted generations of Black Britons a powerful means to reject misrepresentation and find freedom and joy in sound.

From the height of jungle and hip-hop in the 90s to the London uprisings in 2011, the birth of UK trap and the rise of grime superstars like Stormzy, filmmaker and DJ Jesse Bernard examines how Black culture in Britain is moulded by creativity drawn from Lagos and Los Angeles, Sao Paolo and South London. Escaping Babylon takes a deep dive into the history of Black British music to celebrate its richness, heritage and towering legacy.

Publication date: May 7, 2026

£20.00

ISBN: 9781788169356

Imprint: Profile Books

Subject: Arts, Language & Literature, History & Classics

Escaping Babylon (Ebook)

An Intimate History of Black British Music

Jesse Bernard

How thirty years of Black music reshaped Britain, from 1989 to the present

Shapeshifting, collaborative, endlessly inventive and robustly empowering: Black music has transformed British culture and society, and gifted generations of Black Britons a powerful means to reject misrepresentation and find freedom and joy in sound.

From the height of jungle and hip-hop in the 90s to the London uprisings in 2011, the birth of UK trap and the rise of grime superstars like Stormzy, filmmaker and DJ Jesse Bernard examines how Black culture in Britain is moulded by creativity drawn from Lagos and Los Angeles, Sao Paolo and South London. Escaping Babylon takes a deep dive into the history of Black British music to celebrate its richness, heritage and towering legacy.

Publication date: May 7, 2026

£15.99

ISBN: 9781782839163

ISBN 10 / ASIN: B0F563HN92

Imprint: Profile Books

Subject: Arts, Language & Literature, History & Classics

Escaping Babylon (Audiobook)

An Intimate History of Black British Music

Jesse Bernard

How thirty years of Black music reshaped Britain, from 1989 to the present

Shapeshifting, collaborative, endlessly inventive and robustly empowering: Black music has transformed British culture and society, and gifted generations of Black Britons a powerful means to reject misrepresentation and find freedom and joy in sound.

From the height of jungle and hip-hop in the 90s to the London uprisings in 2011, the birth of UK trap and the rise of grime superstars like Stormzy, filmmaker and DJ Jesse Bernard examines how Black culture in Britain is moulded by creativity drawn from Lagos and Los Angeles, Sao Paolo and South London. Escaping Babylon takes a deep dive into the history of Black British music to celebrate its richness, heritage and towering legacy.

Publication date: May 7, 2026

£24.99

ISBN: 9781805228226

ISBN 10 / ASIN: B0GK9RCLN9

Imprint: Profile Books

Subject: Arts, Language & Literature, History & Classics

Read by: Jordan Peters

Reviews for Escaping Babylon

'Excellent ... With this ambitious, shape-shifting account, Bernard has added his own chapter to an increasingly rich history ... long overdue'

 Guardian

'An idiosyncratic, often very personal take on the subject ... A literary mixtape, circling around particular artists and historical moments ... A window into a hugely underreported and frankly undervalued part of the nation's musical history'

'Best Pop Music Books of 2026' Herald

'A literary mixtape ... A window into a hugely underreported and frankly undervalued part of the nation's musical history'

 Herald Scotland

'Consider Escaping Babylon a must-read - one which digs deep, brings everything up to date, and even looks to the future.'

 buzz

'Formally inventive and bold. A feat of generational research and archival homing, written by a writer who offers his heart to his subjects like the lamp that lights a train station. Enshrining the likes of Zen Records and Station FM, thank goodness for this book'

Tice Cin, author of KEEPING THE HOUSE 

'In those illegal raves, pirate radio sessions in a kitchen somewhere, lock-ins, shoobs, gatherings, get togethers, hall parties and glad tidings, that's where the music was born and created, where we danced to, loved and fought to and cried with joy when the DJ reloaded it'

 Escaping Babylon

Jesse Bernard

Jesse Bernard