40 Songs for women by women, celebrating the gift that is womanhood and women’s history month. An International Women’s Day (IWD) Playlist
Songs for women by women
Over here we give women that make incredible music to soundtrack our lives their flowers all the time. But we believe in taking hold of the moment created in March for Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day to specifically celebrate women in music.
This time we’re doing just that with a playlist of bangers by women for women, Songs by girls for girls. This women’s history month playlist features some of R&B, Soul and Nu-Jazz music’s most boundary pushing women artists. They sing not just odes of empowerment and celebrating womanhood, but also about the real challenges women face, the more mundane beauty of womanhood and share their sometimes hard-won lessons.
Kicking off with one of the contemporary queens of Hip Hop Soul, Harleighblu and her anthem for the gurls, Queen Dem. The playlist also features Little Simz’ and Cleo Sol’s similarly anthemic Woman. Cleo Sol firmly established herself as one of Neo-Soul’s finest when she released 2021’s Mother, a refreshing reflection on motherhood. Fittingly, Mother was acclaimed as one of 2021’s best albums. We feature Sunshine from the album. Rose in the Dark, a gem from her 2020 album with the same name is also featured.
ENNY & Amia Brave’s Peng Black Girls also gets a special mention for representing the diversity and variety in black womanhood. To call out an underground GEM, Summer-Pearl is a multi-talented singer and rapper extraordinaire – the musical child Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu should’ve had.
Speaking of those icons, the playlist wouldn’t have been complete without them. Both exceptional at dropping pearls of wisdom whilst creating music we come back to decades later. Lauryn and Erykah’s musical influence runs throughout the playlist. From Iyamah, to Greentea Peng, Poppy Ajudha, Pip Millet and many others.
Women in music are boldly taking up space. And Songs by girls for girls is a testament to this. They are powerfully speaking up. They own vulnerability as strength and share their experiences to empower. And to quote Ego Ella May, Girls Don’t Always Sing About Boys.
