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We Were Here
A History of Black People and Alternative Music
Brief Description
A reclamation of rock'n'roll for the Black artists who tore up and re-wrote its rules, by musician, arts and culture journalist, and die-hard alternative music superfan, Stephanie Phillips. We Were Here promises to rip up our received history of rock 'n' roll and alternative music and...
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See moreA reclamation of rock'n'roll for the Black artists who tore up and re-wrote its rules, by musician, arts and culture journalist and die-hard alternative music superfan, Stephanie Phillips.
A reclamation of rock'n'roll for the Black artists who tore up and re-wrote its rules, by musician, arts and culture journalist and die-hard alternative music superfan, Stephanie Phillips.
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Description
A reclamation of rock'n'roll for the Black artists who tore up and re-wrote its rules, by musician, arts and culture journalist, and die-hard alternative music superfan, Stephanie Phillips.
We Were Here promises to rip up our received history of rock 'n' roll and alternative music and repopulate it with the extraordinary Black artists and influential figures who truly steered its course from the 1930s to the present day. This includes vital figures like Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Little Richard, Jimi Hendrix, Tina Turner, Betty Davis, Poly Styrene, Bad Brains, and beyond.
As well as reflecting on why Black people have continued to be drawn to alternative music despite their ongoing ostracisation from it by the white mainstream industry, Phillips argues that there would be no alternative music without Black artists, and that its future lies in the hands of Gen Z Black musicians experimenting with the boundaries of what punk, metal, hardcore, and indie could be.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780571381104
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 27 August 2026
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Faber & Faber
Edition: Main
Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly
DIMENSIONS
Width: 153.0mm
Height: 234.0mm
Weight: 300g
Pages: 368
About the Author
Stephanie Philips is a music journalist and musician who writes for the Guardian, Independent, New Statesman, Kinfolk, the Quietus, Vice, Bandcamp and The Wire. She started the Black feminist punk band Big Joanie and played backup for Bikini Kill and Sleater-Kinney. She is part of the collective behind Decolonise Fest, a festival celebrating punks of colour. Her first book was Why Solange Matters, published by Faber.
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