Caroline Tran

Permission To Land was deemed uncool by some when it emerged amid the early '00s garage rock revival but for those that wanted the fun back in rock, they were compelled to believe in a thing called The Darkness.

From its South Bronx beginnings to being the dominant force in music, the evolution of hip hop has been extraordinary – and incredible women have been there every step of the way. They’ve told their stories, vented their spleens, and brought wisdom and spirit – as well as sass and attitude – to hip hop. And in the process, they’ve been a major force in embedding rap music’s place in the mainstream. The J Files bows down to generations of these heavy hitters who injected their own flavour into a male-dominated scene. Hear from artists and hip hop lovers Sampa The Great, Salt-N-Pepa, Rico Nasty, Lauryn Hill, MC Trey, Okenyo, Mawunyo Gbogbo, Tkay Maidza, M.I.A, BARKAA and more.  This episode originally aired in May 2022 and was produced by Sam Wicks, with thanks to Gab Burke, Corynne Tait, Phoebe Bennett and Mawunyo Gbogbo.

How the Perth rockers stepped up for their anthemic third album. 

"We've had a few memorable insults about our music..."

"Rudimental had a charting drum'n'bass tune that has a trumpet solo, I don't know how the hell they pulled that off..."

"The clapping from strangers wasn't nourishing my soul," she said in 2014. So she focused on friendship, sobriety, and staying out of the spotlight.

Where most bands aim for cool, UK trio Muse were always about nailing the colossal.

A blend of house, disco, indie pop, ambient, hip hop, and classical music, all softly lit by a 70s West Coast haze

30 years ago, the Oxfordshire band were at breaking point

The making of a major cultural phenomenon