Joy 2.0: From retired teacher to battle rapper

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When Joy France, a school teacher from Manchester, hit her mid-50s, she decided she wanted to shake things up a bit. What began with a commitment to try new things led her to find performance poetry and later to the unlikeliest of places: the world of battle rap. At 61, she made her debut, earning her the title of the ‘world’s oldest battle rapper’. Today, she continues to perform and battle internationally, with no intention of stopping. She told Mobeen Azhar about finding her creativity -- and her voice. A documentary about Joy's journey into rapping has been made called Joy Uncensored. Voice of Baceprot, or V.O.B. as they prefer to be known, are three young women who are making waves in the world of metal music. They’ve been on, it’s fair to say, a meteoric rise over the last few years after getting together in a small rural town near Garut in Indonesia. They've caught the attention of some of the biggest names in rock with their viral covers of metal tracks and growing numbers of original songs, and have been touring the world since their first trip to Europe in 2021. Outlook's Gaia Caramazza spoke to them in 2023. Producer: Zoe Gelber Presenter: Mobeen Azhar (Photo: Joy France with rap battler Hulk in 2019. Credit: John Bolloten)