MARK TURNER wallows in the virtuosity of Swansea Jazz Festival openers, Simon Spillett and Pete Long

UK Drill Project
Barbican Pit
FROM the furore surrounding the emergence of NWA (Niggaz Wit Attitudes) and gangsta rap in the mid ’90s to the effective banning of grime nights under Met Police 696 risk assessment forms here in Britain, the repressive criminalisation of rap music is nothing new.
But perhaps it has never been as extreme as the ongoing clampdown on drill music, which is explored with high octane, comic-book energy in HighRise Entertainment’s latest production.

MAYER WAKEFIELD speaks to Urielle Klein-Mekongo about activism, musical inspiration and the black British experience

MAYER WAKEFIELD is swept up by the tale of the south London venue where music forged alliances across race, class and identity

MAYER WAKEFIELD applauds Rosamund Pike’s punchy and tragic portrayal of a multi-tasking mother and high court judge
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MAYER WAKEFIELD relishes a witty and uplifting rallying cry for unity, which highlights the erasure of queer women