Suspended beneath the Dome, this panoramic timeline traces Birmingham’s Black music story through people, places, sounds, movements and memories.

Birmingham is often described as “the city of a thousand trades.” But it is also a city of a thousand journeys — shaped by migration, diversity and the people who came, settled, left, returned and came again.

They brought their languages, faiths, fashions, food, memories and cultures with them.

And they brought their music.

From reggae, ska and sound-system culture to 2-Tone, lovers rock, dub, drum and bass, UK hip-hop and grime, Birmingham became a place where musical traditions met, collided, evolved and travelled onwards.

This is not simply a story of music made in Birmingham. It is a story of music brought to Birmingham, transformed in Birmingham and carried from Birmingham into the wider world.

Alongside creativity and celebration are the barriers, exclusions and darker chapters that shaped the journey.

This is Birmingham’s story — a city made by movement, migration, diversity and music.

The Records

Ten records hang around the Dome, they represent more than music.

The record was a passport between cultures — carrying sounds from Jamaica, America, Africa and elsewhere into Birmingham homes, record shops, clubs, dances and sound systems.

But migration was never simply one-way. People travelled back and forth, returned home, brought new sounds with them and carried Birmingham’s sounds elsewhere.

The records therefore tell a story of movement, exchange and belonging.

The Album Covers

Before streaming, an album was something you could hold, display and remember.

These enlarged sleeves celebrate the artists, sounds and visual culture associated with Birmingham’s Black music heritage.

They also remind us that music history is made not only by performers, but by the designers, photographers, record shops, promoters, DJs, producers and audiences who create the culture around the music.

Behind every record is a journey. Behind every journey is a story.

The Turntable

The Garrard turntable was once a familiar piece of musical technology — the place where a record became sound.

These photographs by Jesse Gerald capture the turntable, records and the ritual of listening.

For Birmingham’s communities, recorded music could transform a living room, youth club, dance hall or street corner into somewhere else entirely.

A record might have travelled thousands of miles before reaching Birmingham. Then, through the turntable, it began another journey.

The technology may have changed, the ritual remains.

The City of Black Music

Birmingham’s Black music story is not one single genre or generation.

It is a thousand sounds — reggae and ska, lovers rock and dub, sound systems and dance halls, 2-Tone and jungle, drum and bass, hip-hop, grime and everything that grew around them.

The music reflects the city itself: diverse, restless, inventive and constantly moving.

People came from the Caribbean, Africa and across Britain and beyond. Some stayed. Some left. Many returned. Their cultures travelled with them — and so did their music.

Behind every sound are people: musicians, singers, DJs, producers, engineers, promoters, entrepreneurs, dancers and audiences. Together, they helped make Birmingham a city whose musical influence travelled far beyond its streets.