In honour of International Women’s day last Monday, here are some artists I keep in heavy rotation and you should too.

Starting off with the MOST obvious one, Beyoncé

Should not even have to explain this one, can’t you just tell by how you would be driven to the end of the earth if you did not like her? It’s basically being touched by god if you work on a song with her. Starting off as a part of the iconic girl group Destiny’s Child, she was always the diamond of the group. I also love that Beyoncé’s Wikipedia says her instrument Is her voice, which it totally is just sounds funny for some reason. This woman has influenced so many other women in music and her personality just makes It all the better. So anyways Hey Siri play Don’t Hurt Yourself by Beyoncé.

Queen of Controversy, Lady Gaga

I don’t know about you, but my parents did not like Lady Gaga she was the devil’s music but hey, call me lucy then. I mean the woman had music journalists losing their minds with her meat dresses, sexy nun dresses and rumours of her gender. I know over the years her album ArtPop well, flopped when first released. Her music since then is very different from her sound in 2010 but. When it came to performances, choreography and outfits she checked every box on the talent list. Gaga was never afraid of doing what she wants, and she made that clear when she wore a dress made out of meat and boy did animal activists rip their teeth out of anger. She had a huge influence on pop music and paved the way for weirdness and LGBTQ. She is the definition of Avant-Garde.

Mother of Rap, Nicki Minaj

I know there’s this argument about who the queen of rap is well let’s put it like this, how much more fame would Nicki get if she were a man. Yeah, exactly misogyny is crazy in hip hop. I know a lot of older heads call her music garbage meanwhile they listen to Eminem’s new stuff where he  just goes “cinnamon, vitamin, feminine all men are synonyms” (read that in his voice you’ll get it). Anyways, it’s no doubt she’s got punchlines and well written bars but people love to say her music sucks. As a woman, when you want to feel like the baddest thing in the world, you wanna turn on Nicki Minaj. One of her BEST features is on Kanye West’s Monster which features Jay Z and Rick Ross, and nobody and I mean NOBODY listens to that not wanting to listen to her, she bodied every man on that song.

Miss bas gal do it all, Rihanna

Although she has become this mogul and changed the makeup world forever, her music still resides strong on the charts. You could not turn on a radio back then without hearing Rihanna. She is also loved because of how beautiful she is I mean my god have you seen her? No wonder Drake wrote songs about her. ANTI was just a masterpiece to the concept, visual and interactive album, she’s made from the divine heaven.

Sweet Sweet, Ariana Grande

Not only being one of the best characters on Victorious her evolution in music has been incredible. She had all the Mariah Carey fans in shambles as she was just getting stronger, and Mariah grew weaker. She’s an incredible singer-songwriter, and she’s got an amazing voice. This girl is also incredibly strong after what she endured with her fans and losing her Ex Mac Miller, she is an angel, that must be protected.

Hot Girl Meg, taller than all your favourite rappers

When it comes to getting Beyoncé featured on a song with you, from the looks of it always takes some time but Megan, she got the golden feature in no time. Out of my favourite rappers she is one of my top 3. Her mom used to actually take her to the studio with her and she grew up around music and started writing when she was 16. She gained her popularity on social media with freestyles that she uploaded, and they were fire. There really is nothing better than a good freestyle it’s refreshing to hear. Right out the start she was recognized and loved by everyone! I don’t know a single person who has not liked Megan yet.

The ever so weird, Doja Cat

She’s been making music since 2012 but went viral with her song Moo, and everyone loved the memes. With the rise of TikTok her music has been everywhere, as it should. She’s been hit a bit with her controversial tweets and video chats scandal, but we have all moved past that. Her voice is also raspy, and it just adds that flavour to her music. You also just gotta love her carefree personality and she grew up on the internet so she’s super funny as well.

Soft and Sweet, BANKS

God will her music either make you cry or go into a god complex and want to rule the world. I was able to see her live back when ya know things were fine. She is a beautiful singer and puts so much passion into her performances . Her style is mostly alternative but also Pop and RnB. There is not a single song on a BANKS album that I would skip, and even though she makes great crying music, she’s also got songs like Trainwreck and Goddess that just go so hard at the gym.

Heavenly voice, Rina Sawayama

Coming all the way from London is singer-songwriter Rina, and god her music is beautiful. She takes influence from the 2000s Y2K music era and artists like Christina Aguilera. Her electro pop sound mixed with heavy guitar and Christina Aguilera is insane and perfect. She is definitely an artist to watch she’s gaining popularity fast; Elton John even calls her to check up on her because he loves her music. So, if Elton likes it you will too.

So thank you pretty ladies in music I love you all.