Art by Sarah Riedlinger

Every month, I find myself searching for new music and creating a new playlist to represent a new month and how I’m feeling or wanting to feel. I love making conceptual playlists that have a theme when I’m feeling really extra. This month, I have been going through a musical dry spell, so I returned to songs that I am very familiar with. My music taste is all over the place: it can go from Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande to 21 Savage and Denzel Curry in a second. I looked through all of my recent and older playlists to see what kind of vibe I wanted this playlist to have. I noticed one recurring theme throughout most of my playlists which was an abundance of female artists. 

One type of music I love across all genres is feminist and female-empowering songs. Whether I am on my way to an exam, an interview for a new story I’m writing, or just simply feeling myself, this is exactly the type of playlist I would listen to. These songs have me strutting when I walk and holding my head extra high because they make me feel like the whole world is in the palm of my hands. There is nothing I love more than talented, powerful, unapologetic women telling the world they are just that. I took a scroll down my list of female artists on my phone and picked my favorite songs by my favorite artists.

Here are my top five on this playlist:

“P*$$Y Fairy” by Jhené Aiko

The title of this song speaks for itself, but I need to express how much I love this song. Jhené Aiko is truly flaunting her femininity in this song from start to finish. I love how the opening lyric doesn’t let anyone listening question for a second what this song is about. This is exactly what you would imagine a song titled “P*$$Y Fairy” would sound like. 

“Mad At Me.” by Kiana Ledé

“I’ve been on my hot shit lately, can’t be mad at me” is exactly the type of energy I think we all need in our lives. I listen to this song almost every morning while I get ready because it gives me life. I have been a fan of Kiana’s since she was just covering songs on her YouTube channel and Instagram. She has been consistently releasing music since 2017, and I have been in heaven ever since. 

 “100 Bad (feat. Charli XCX)” by Tommy Genesis

Any time I am hosting the pregame, hanging out with my friends or in the car, my friends assign me the aux duties, and this song is on all of my going-out playlists. The energy of this song is super chill but the lyrics make you feel like the song itself is gassing you and all your girlies up before heading out for the night. 

“Cockiness (Love It)” by Rihanna

I have a very vivid memory of getting in huge trouble for listening to this song at the ripe age of 12 years old. I don’t think I even realized how incredibly inappropriate this song is; I just knew I loved it. The opening lyrics to this song are so in-your-face that I’ll just let you listen to it rather than repeat it myself. When I said this playlist makes me strut, I was referring to this song. It just makes you strut! 

“Barbie Dreams” by Nicki Minaj

And here we have Nicki The Ninja calling out every single man in the rap game. Something about Nicki roasting all these men and holding them accountable has me and friends singing this song with our chest. Just when you thought the song was already too good, Nicki took it upon herself to go OFF in the last minute of the song just to remind everyone that she is the queen of rap. There should never be a feminist playlist that doesn’t include Nicki Minaj.