Musical Truth: A Musical History of Modern Black Britain in 28 Songs

Product Information

This dynamic revealed beyond all doubt how the forces that have controlled the music industry for decades are intrinsically linked to those which devised the Scamdemic. There have been only a few honourable exceptions, and these names get a respectful tipping of the hat.

I have always known music is a great tool to bring people of different communities together and the author Jeffrey Boakye articulates this perfectly. All of our upcoming public events and our St Pancras building tours are going ahead. Read our latest blog post about planned events for more information. Musical Truth is a textually useful impetus to add bite to review writing and ARC-style literacy units in KS3. There is a lot of potential to provoke talk, both in the classroom and at home, by using the format developed in this book. For example, pupils might discuss the music that reflects their social history and circumstances with classmates, older siblings, or vertical tutor groups. At home, there’s the potential for intergenerational involvement – comparing the music that defined the teenage years of their parents, aunts and uncles, and grandparents. A crime thriller set during a time of great cultural change, (the last days of Thatcherism, the Poll Tax riots, the fall of Communism, the first Gulf War, Acid House and Rave culture,) gets taken to uncharted territories through allegory and metaphor, and the narrative’s interplay with spiritual teachings. As such, The Cause & The Cure can be read on many different levels, according to the reader’s own consciousness. This is a full archive of all my radio and podcast interviews on truth/ conspiracy/ consciousness subjects from 2012 onwards. Most are long-format chats of one or two hours. The shows from 2015 onwards focus on subjects covered in Volumes 1 and 2 of my book Musical Truth.The manipulations run so deep, however, that the full story couldn’t be told in just that first book. Here, in Volume 2, he continues to guide readers through the dark labyrinth of machinations. We can’t really complain about things like ‘Of Mice and Men’ being read in schools with teachers/students being given a pass to say the n word if we’re going to introduce books like this into schools and continue to perpetuate these oppressive narratives. For those who don't know me, let me clarify: I am white. Therefore, I can't testify to the #OwnVoices factor of this book particularly since I don't feel that it is my place - but I can tell you that it's obvious this book has been written with every ounce of Jeffrey Boakye's heart and soul. He writes from his experiences, from his family's experiences - and his heartfelt tone shows, loud and clear. The Sound of Freedom is Mark Devlin’s regular showcase of conscious music. Its content stands as the very antithesis of the dumbed-down, spirit-crushing output of the corporate industry, instead giving airtime to meaningful message-music, from free-spirited and wildly creative artists. Besides offerings from the hip-hop, reggae and soulful groove genres, each show includes the Truth Trip – songs from decades past whose lyrics remain as potent today as on the day they were first written.

Sonny’s Lettah by Linton Kwesi Johnson could be used in a range of lessons – from literacy in KS3, KS4 poetry studies or PSHE. The text could be used as an interesting and more extreme counterpoint to Telephone Conversation by Wole Soyinka – written a generation earlier; which might further inspire pupils to think about they would express their own experiences in the 2020s. Thanks to the Musical Truth "Playlist", I rediscovered music I'd heard before but not known the artist or title of. I also discovered completely new songs, artists and genres of music. There were a few I already knew well, but not that many. I definitely enjoyed every song mentioned. It must be wonderful for those kids in East Yorkshire who have Jeffrey Boakye as a teacher. That comes across very clearly in this book - Boakye is a teacher, through and through. He simplifies but never talks down. He has a way of talking about a subject so passionately that you suddenly feel passionate about it too. That's a real skill, and Boakye has managed to capture it on paper with this book. Now imagine you have some friends that are entitled to the same lustrous and perverted world as you. Over time, you guys begin to feel truly different from normal humans. In fact, you create your own private religion based on materialism, carnal desire and a truly twisted sense of spirituality. You call it Luciferarianism. You praise darkness because you and your ilk, in a sense, exist in darkness. After all, among the hordes, very few even know you exist. Over time, you and your friends begin to cultivate a level of paranoia that you believe is healthy; it keeps you on your toes, looking out for any of the minions that might be getting wise to you and your gang and your disturbing reality - the reality you love. Your paranoia grows. Despite your efforts, more and more from the unwashed mass are figuring out your game.Oxford, England, and the respectable facade of the City of Dreaming Spires is being shattered by a series of brutal murders. Topher Field, creator of the documentary ‘Official Battleground Melbourne’ also does a great job on the current affairs show The Aussie Wire, and had me on to talk about my Australian speaking tour and other matters. When words fail, music speaks. Pure positive vibrations from the lyrics and overall feel of these powerful tunes. I hope listeners get as much inspiration from these multi-generational songs as I have in these past few months. It’s an emotional journey.

These chapters are punctuated by a new feature – Sound Bites – an array of short stories concerning well-known music-makers which further reinforce the assertions made in previous volumes. You can also still join BIPC events and webinars and access one-to-one support. See what's available at the British Library in St Pancras or online and in person via BIPCs in libraries across London. This book is a fantastic answer to the gap in the educational curriculum in this country. It's not the best answer - it would be wonderful if the information included in this book was much more widely taught and known. But it's at least a start, and hats are off to Jeffrey for making this information so accessible to younger audiences. There are subjects he side-steps quite carefully - eg. the word Dutchie is never explained; also "asking everyone to dismiss the government (using language that I can't repeat here or we'll all get in trouble)." - theses are just a couple of examples which come to mind. This is done carefully and with taste, and honestly if Boakye had included all the details on every subject in the book, then it wouldn't be suitable for young teens after all and the point of the book would have been missed. This book is a heavy subject for any reader, young or old, but it has been carefully written in a way which means young people will be able to read, understand and enjoy it. A breakdown of “wha gwan” (in the verbiage of ‘Top Boy’) with my various activities at the moment – my recent home move (again!); my upcoming trips to Las Vegas and Australia; the imminent release of my allegorical novel ‘The Gift & The Curse’; the walking tours of Oxford I plan to organise around it; the 10th anniversary shows for The Sound of Freedom, and the offer of The MD Archives.For anyone who has found value in my work and would like to make a donation towards it being able to continue, you can do so at Buy Me A Coffee here: Radio reporter Verity Hunter has noticed that the choice of victim suggests a far deeper motive than that of a straight psycho-killer – a particular breed of retribution is at play – and she stumbles upon another aspect of Oxford hidden from view – the world of “elite” secret-societies. Pupils could create their own “musical truths”– projects that combine music to define their place and space in the world, and words to capture their voice in society. In his groundbreaking book Musical Truth, DJ-turned author/researcher Mark Devlin showed how the true nature of the corporate music industry tells a very different story to what’s conveyed on its glossy, glamorous surface. The book ends on an inspirational note, revealing some spiritual and metaphysical truths that have been hidden from humanity for so long, but which, it turns out, a handful of visionary songwriters seem to have cryptically encoded into their songs.