Black British Music in America, 1967–2000

Black British Music in America, 1967–1998: Atlantic Crossover is a timely and original intervention that strengthens the growing body of scholarship on Black British music and its transatlantic relationships. Alleyne combines musicological insight with industry experience to chart how questions of race and cultural legibility affect the reception of Black British artists in the United States during a pivotal period. His attention to recordings and archival sources, enriched by lived testimony, highlights the politics of diaspora and the emergence of distinctly Black British modes of expression. This book should be a key reference for scholars and practitioners seeking to understand the historical dialogue between Black British and Black American musical worlds.

Matthew Williams, University of York, UK

I've been waiting for someone to write this book. Mike Alleyne has finally documented the transatlantic journey of Black British artists properly, from Hot Chocolate and Cymande through to Soul II Soul and Seal, with the chart data and interview evidence to back it up. As string arranger on Soul II Soul's first album and co-writer on Mark Morrison's first single, I know this terrain well. The domestic indifference, the American confusion about artists who didn't fit their categories, the constant question of whether to sound "American enough." Alleyne gets this. He's done the work, spoken to the producers, traced the label politics. That chapter needed telling and Alleyne's told it well.

Mykaell Riley, University of Westminster, UK