We associate life under COVID-19 with shutdown and shut-in. But we tried to hang on to our creative lives. While much of the world stopped, did our relations to music and other arts take off in new directions?

In Terraformed, sociologist Joy White explored how austerity and gentrification intersected with music in shaping the lives of Black youth in the Forest Gate neighbourhood of London. Now, in her new book, Like Lockdown Never Happened, Dr White shows how Black music and culture reshaped our lives in the first 18 months of the pandemic.

Under COVID-19, music listening increased as people used it to help counter the psychological fallout of lockdown—the isolation, restriction and boredom. At the same time, concerts and other musical events moved online. Even when lockdown eased, social distancing meant that group musical and cultural events took on new formats.

With a focus on contemporary Black music, this book takes a deep dive into the various forms that popular culture took over this period: Kano's Newham Talks series; Steve McQueen's BBC anthology Small Axe; the Verzuz DJ Battle series; TikTok's Don't Rush Challenge; radio station theresnosignal; and many more.

The book seeks to make sense of chronological and kairotic time in the early era of the pandemic. It shows how Black joy and sonic Black geographies were keys to the culture of this period. At this book launch, Dr White and several commentators will discuss how Black music and Black creative expression soundtracked and sustained us through COVID-19, and how this work continues to shape our relations to culture and to each other.