Where We Come From: Rap, Home & Hope in Modern Britain
Aniefiok Ekpoudom discusses his new book, Where We Come From: Rap, Home & Hope in Modern Britain, a landmark social history of British rap and grime.
He is joined by guest Candice Carty-Williams and chair Yomi Ṣode.
Ekpoudom, one of our foremost cultural chroniclers, travelled the country to speak to the artists and communities who created and were shaped by the music, and listeners who found a sense of identity and home within it.
‘The story of UK rap, grime and associated genres reflect an untold story of contemporary Britain,’ he says.
These sounds have become vessels for the marginalised, carrying Black and working-class stories into the light. Vividly depicted and compassionately told, Where We Come From weaves together intimate stories of resilience, courage and loss, as well as a shared music culture that gave refuge and purpose to those in search of belonging.
Aniefiok ‘Neef’ Ekpoudom is a writer from south London who documents and explores culture in Britain. In his work, Ekpoudom tells stories about the people, voices and communities shaping the country as it exists today.
He writes, and has written for, The Guardian, British GQ, Vogue and more. Elsewhere he works, and has worked on documentaries for YouTube Originals and Netflix, as well as creative projects with Google, Nike, adidas and more. He was the recipient of the Barbara Blake Hannah Award at the 2021 British Journalism Awards, and the Culture Writer of the Year award at the inaugural Freelance Writers Awards. In 2022 he was named on the Forbes ‘30 Under 30’ list in media & marketing, and was also made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts for contribution to social change via journalism.
His first book Where We Come From: Rap, Home & Hope in Modern Britain is a social history of British rap, published by Faber & Faber in January 2024. He has also contributed essays to the books Safe: 20 Ways to be a Black Man in Britain Today (Orion), as well as #Merky Books/Penguin titles Keisha The Sket (2021) and A New Formation: How Black Players Shaped The Modern Game (2022).
Yomi Ṣode is a Nigerian British writer, recipient of the 2019 Jerwood Compton Poetry Fellowship. His writing credits include one-man show COAT; libretto Remnants, written in collaboration with composer James B Wilson and performed with Chineke! Orchestra; and play and breathe…. Ṣode is the founder of BoxedIn, First Five, The Daddy Diaries and mentorship programme 12 in 12. Ṣode’s debut collection, Manorism, is published by Penguin Press.
Candice Carty-Williams is a showrunner, culture writer, and author of bestselling novels Queenie and People Person, as well as the young adult novella Empress & Aniya.
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