Ep. 138 — The Hidden Architects Of Reggae And The Women Who Built It

Reggae has never been a boys-only story, so why do women keep getting filed under “backup,” “footnote,” or “first female to…”?  Mikelah Malcolm from Style and Vibes guest hosts a Breadfruit Media crossover and sits down with me to talk about my dissertation on women in reggae, what pushed me to spend years on the research, and what I found when I went looking for women in the archive.

We get into the real mechanics of the reggae industry and Jamaican music history: who controls rhythms, who gets paid, and why royalty splits and copyright enforcement become uniquely brutal for women. We also name the hard realities that shape careers, including sexual harassment, intimidation in studio spaces, and how relationships and childcare labor can derail momentum in ways male artists rarely face. At the same time, we talk solutions that actually move the needle: ownership, independent labels, business literacy, and women building networks that make leadership possible behind the scenes, not just on stage.

Then we zoom out to method and memory. I share how I used archival research in Kingston, oral history interviews with pioneers, and close reading of reggae lyrics as historical texts to map themes like violence, belonging, and resistance across generations. We also grapple with femininity, dancehall’s influence, Rastafari, and how respectability politics shape what the culture celebrates or hides.

This first of many conversations on the topic so if this conversation shifts how you hear reggae, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review so more listeners find the stories women have always carried.

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