Join lecturer and music lover Lambros Fatsis as he presents Policing the Beats: Black Music, Racism and Criminal Justice, an analysis that exposes the racist policing of Black music, and a love letter to Black music in Britain.

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.

Lambros will rewind 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.

In conversation with writer and artist Adèle Oliver, join us for an evening exploring how Black music has been criminalised across generations, why UK drill is the latest chapter in a centuries-long story, and how sounds, songs, and beats function as modes of learning that challenge the structures of empire.