Black Obsidian Sound System: Lisa Amanda Palmer with Nzinga Sounds is the second of two episodes of podcasts produced by Sable Radio with FACT and Liverpool Biennial to accompany the exhibition ‘The Only Good System is a Sound System’ by artist collective Black Obsidian Sound System. This episode is a conversation between writer and Deputy Director of the Stephen Lawrence Foundation, Lisa Amanda Palmer, and veteran DJ duo Nzinga Sounds, as they talk about their formation, experiences of being Black women in sound system culture, and their role in the wider Black arts movement in the eighties and nineties.

Lisa Amanda Palmer is a senior lecturer at Birmingham City University, her research specialises in Black popular culture, lovers rock, black feminism, community archiving and heritage, and the cultural politics of decoloniality. Author of “Erotic Politics, Lovers Rock and Resistance.

Nzinga Soundz is a duo of Lynda Rosenoir Patten aka DJ Ade and June Reid aka Junie Rankin and together they’ve ran their sound system from the 80’s right through to present day. They were known for their distinct music selection which tied broader genres like Jazz, Latin and African music into genres more traditionally associated with sound systems like Roots, Reggae and Calypso. Both Lynda and June were also active in Black Arts Collectives in the 80’s working with Ceddo Film Collective, OBAALA (Organisation for Black Arts Advancement and Learning Activities) and the Black Art Gallery in Finsbury Park.