From reggae to grime: how black music became synonymous with a British sound

V&A East’s inaugural exhibition 'The Music is Black: A British Story'. David Parry/ V&A - David Parry

As a major exhibition retracing how music from Africa, the Caribbean and North America merged to make a distinctly British sound opens in London, Spotlight on Africa looks at a century of black music in the diaspora.

V&A East, the latest offshoot of the world-renowned Victoria & Albert Museum, opened in Stratford – the area regenerated by London's 2012 Olympic Games – on 18 April.