Reunion 79-21 Play List

In the lead in to the exhibition, Shaun Wallace Selects Tracks that embody the energy and vibe of those magical nights of yore.

Young Soul Rebels – Mica Paris (1991, Island Records)

Released in 1991 on Island Records, Young Soul Rebels stands as one of Mica Paris’s most understated yet resonant recordings.

Written for the soundtrack to Young Soul Rebels, the track operates less as a conventional pop single and more as an atmospheric companion to the film’s world— rooted in a distinctly Black London sensibility.

What makes the song so powerful is its restraint. Paris’s vocal delivery is supple and controlled, gliding over a production that blends soul, jazz-inflected harmonies and early-90s quiet-storm polish. The arrangement leaves space—space for mood, for reflection, for environment. Rather than pushing narrative through lyrics alone, the track lets tone do the heavy lifting.

That tone is inseparable from the urban Black London landscape the film captures: night buses, record shops, sound systems, basement clubs, and shared flats humming with ambition and tension. The music mirrors this setting—cool, observational, and grounded—echoing a city where style, politics and intimacy coexist in close quarters.

As a production, Young Soul Rebels exemplifies early-90s British soul at its most cinematic. It doesn’t shout its importance; it lingers. In doing so, Mica Paris delivers a track that feels inseparable from its moment—an elegant sonic portrait of Black London life rendered with clarity, confidence and care.