International Women’s Day 2021
Let’s have a boogie!
Our International Women’s Day playlist has music from a wide variety of artists. Some you’ll recognise instantly as radio hits (we couldn’t NOT include songs like ‘Girl on Fire’ and ‘Run the World’ right??), some may be new to you and open you up to some new strong female artist to support and listen to.
We have chosen these songs either for their empowering lyrics or for the work these artists have done for their own communities.
Some of our featured artists on this playlist:
Lizzo
Her songs are the ultimate mood boosters but Lizzo is a true advocate for body positivity and self-love. On body image, she once said “You can wake up and change many things about your appearance, but the inevitability of waking up in your own skin is what unifies us”. Her group of backup dancers (Big Grrrls) rejects the societal expectation of what a dancer should be and embraces Lizzo’s ethos to celebrate all body types.
Aretha Franklin
The Queen of Soul. Aretha became the first female to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She received numerous honours throughout her career. She was number 1 on the Greatest Singers of All Time for Rolling Stone magazine in 2010. In 2020 she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame ‘for her indelible contribution to American music and culture for more than five decades. Her songs ‘Respect’ and ‘A Natural Woman’ became anthems for the Civil Rights Movement. She provided money for many civil rights groups and performed at benefits and protests. She was also a strong supporter of Native American rights.
Bishop Briggs
Bishop Briggs is paving the way for women in rock. In 2019, she became the first female to headline iHeartRadio’s ALTer EGO concert - this brings together the biggest names in Alternative Rock. She also uses her success to empower other women and bring awareness to other causes by donating money from her festival fees to abortion relief funds. And to top it off, she shaved her head in solidarity of her friend who was undergoing cancer treatments. A true champion to women!
Grace Carter
Grace’s music is inspired by her early life. Being mixed-race living in a predominantly white area with her mum and her foster sister. Struggling with her own identity and the abandonment from her father drove her to write down all the things she couldn’t say out loud. Her first songs were a product of teenage frustration, written in her diary just for herself, but really helped her find her voice and shape her into the artist she is today.
Girl In Red
Girl in Red describes herself as a ‘genre-free artist. Open to everything’. Her career rose from bedroom pop songs about queer romance and mental health. She was nominated for Best New Artist at the 2019 Norwegian Grammy Awards. Her lyrics reflect her own experiences of being queer and having intrusive thoughts for many years which she has talked openly about.
Lynn Gunn (PVRIS)
Another woman in rock, Lynn Gunn talks openly about mental health and the anxiety that comes with the musical creation process. She shared with fans, over Twitter, that she was going through a hard time and apologised if she didn’t seem herself at shows. She inspires women to speak their mind and know that it’s OK not to feel OK.
Ängie
In her adolescence, Ängie struggled with ADHD, mental health disorders and feeling rejected by her friends after they found out she had a girlfriend. She was discovered after snap chatting videos of herself rapping to Death Team, who then offered to produce her first album. She has openly talked about mental health and how she relates to her fans with depression. Once saying ‘there’s not a single person on this planet who feels great all the time’. Speaking about the cathartic impact of opening up about her own mental health, she is normalising these conversations and inspiring her fans to open up too.
Shea Diamond
Shea Diamond was discovered after performing an acapella version of her song “I Am Her” (featured on this playlist) at a Trans Lives Matter rally. Some of her songs have been inspired by her own experiences as a Black trans woman who has been incarcerated and systemically discriminated against.
Madame Gandhi
Her music and activism focus’ on female empowerment. In 2015 she ran the London Marathon free-bleeding on her period as a symbolic act to combat the global stigma around menstruation. She was featured on the BBC’s 100 Women list in November 2020.
Jessie Paege
Finalist in the LGBTQ+ category at the Shorty Awards 2021. Used her social media platform to come out as bisexual, with over 1 million views, inspiring her fans to pursue their own authentic truth.