Lewisham Lyricists

British-Irish dual national and Lewisham resident Emma Warren has been documenting grassroots music and culture for decades. She is the author of Dance Your Way Home (Faber, 2023), Make Some Space, and Steam Down: Or How Things Begin which told the story of the Deptford jazz jam. Her pamphlet, Document Your Culture, has become a cult read for renegade archivists worldwide. Hosting a radio show on WWFM for six years, she also has a background in youth work.

Quietly redrawing the lines between genre and style, Anja Ngozi is a producer, DJ, soundtrack composer and visual artist.

Operating away from the centre, the south east Londoner has built a reputation with her own productions and DJ sets. Following a catalog of praised independent releases, she has brought her uniquely eclectic and intuitive sonics to soundtracks for Tate Modern, ICA, The Couch (Het Hem), V&A and more.

Her sought-after DJ sets move at her own freethinking pace, whether she’s exploring noise, ambient or high-tempo footwork. The same is true, doubled, for her club nights and collaborations through the collective she leads, Síbín.

Over the past few years, she’s made a notable impression with her work and aesthetic, (often including elements of youth or community work) and establishing herself artistically with a list of collaborators. These include creatives such as Tirzah, Puma Blue, Fatima, Wu-Lu & Maiya Blaney.

Cecil b is a poet rapper and musician from deptford. A proud lewisham native his work explores class, London, mental health, politics, love and more. Collaborating with a number of fellow lewisham residents his work spans over ten years, and multiple genres with heavy influences from garage, punk poetry and UK hip hop.

Belinda Zhawi (b. Zimbabwe) is a literary & sound artist based in London & Marseille, author of Small Inheritances (ignitionpress, 2018), & experiments with sound/text performance as MA.MOYO. She heavily collaborates with musicians in the ever growing South East London jazz and beat-making scene – mainly with harpist Marysia Osu. Her literary & sound works have been featured on various platforms including The White Review, Vogue, NTS, Boiler Room & BBC Radio. She’s held residencies with Triangle-Asterides, France; Cove Park, Scotland; Serpentine Galleries and ICA London. She was a Brixton House Associate Artist 2022 – 24 and is the co-founder of literary arts platform, BORN::FREE. Her debut album was be released on AD93 Records in November 2024.

No Hats No Hoods Records is one of Grime’s best loved labels with a strong connection to Lewisham through their work developing local talent. They have released Grime classics such as The Square – Lewisham Mcdees, Elf Kid – Golden Boy and Tempa T – Next Hype.

Professor William Lez Henry (PhD) was born in the London borough of Lewisham and is of Jamaican Parentage. He is the British Reggae Deejay Lezlee Lyrix and is a writer, poet and community activist, renowned as a first-rate public speaker. He is a former Professor of Criminology and Sociology at University of West London (UWL) and was the creator of UWL’s MA in Global Black Studies, Decolonisation and Social Justice. The degree was unique in its approach as it focused on the wider contributions of the African diaspora, thereby familiarising students with the liberatory ideas of some of the key colonial and post-colonial thinkers, making known the interconnections between ‘Western’ hegemonic histories and the invention of ‘whiteness’.

Prof Henry lectures in the areas of criminology, sociology, social anthropology, black history, whiteness studies, race, education, ethnicity, class, gender, youth justice and cultural studies.  He has authored several journal articles, books, and chapters in books and has written and published extensively, on many of the concerns of the African / Black Diaspora in the UK and beyond. Moreover, he delivers educational programmes in community and grass-roots settings, as well as in universities, schools and colleges, specialising in working with those who, like himself, turned their backs on formal educational systems.

Prof Henry features in numerous documentaries and current affairs television and radio programmes and has spoken nationally and internationally on behalf of private and public organisations/institutions, and several local councils across the UK. He is also an acclaimed staff trainer, motivational speaker and facilitator for corporations and institutions such as: LinkedIn; Amazon Prime; Sainsburys; NHS; Crown Prosecution Service, Tate Modern; Tate Britain; Gagosian Gallery; Whitworth Gallery; University of Oxford; University of Cambridge; SOAS; Queens University, Belfast, NI; University of Gothenburg, Sweden; University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica; University of Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa; University of Education, Winneba Ghana; Yale University, USA, Howard University, USA, to but name a few.

Prof Henry is a keen martial artist and is a Shodan Black Belt in Kyokushinkai Karate, and is a 3rd Degree black Belt, Senior Instructor in Hug Kuen, 5 Animals, Shaolin Kung.

Born in South-East London to Muslim Sierra Leonean parents, Imran Sesay is an experimental filmmaker and visual artist.