Top 17 New Hit Songs About Body Positivity, Self-Love, and Female Empowerment
When life tries to break me down, only music can make me feel alright. Let me share music's greatest gift through my top playlists!
Sometimes, we do not like what we see in the mirror, and we tend to love ourselves a little less because of it. Sometimes, the world stops us from being what we want to be and forces us to conform to its own standards. We all go through this and it is so hard to deal with self-hatred and loss of power just for being ourselves. So, let me help you a little bit by giving you 17 new songs that can help you realize that we are all worth it and that we are all capable of being the best we can be.
17 Best Songs About Body Positivity, Self-Love, and Female Empowerment
- "Queen" by Jessie J
- "Perfect" by Anne-Marie
- "21st Century Machine" by Catie Turner
- ***Flawless by Beyoncé ft. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- "Most Girls" by Hailee Steinfeld
- "Me Too" by Meghan Trainor
- "You & I" by John Legend
- "Masterpiece" by Jessie J
- "Scars to Your Beautiful" by Alessia Cara
- "Try" by Colbie Caillat
- "Pretty Hurts" by Beyoncé
- "Love Myself" by Hailee Steinfeld
- "Confident" by Demi Lovato
- "Who You Are" by Jessie J
- "Pretty Girl" by Maggie Lindemann
- "Mrs. Potato Head" by Melanie Martinez
- "Clay" by Grace VanderWaal
1. "Queen" by Jessie J
Artist: Jessie J
Released: 2018
Album: R.O.S.E.
Genre: R&B/soul
It's no wonder this amazing and inspiring song comes from Jessie J. She is known for writing beautiful songs that help us love ourselves a little bit more. The chorus goes: I love my body. I love my skin. I am a goddess. I am a queen. These sentences would make us all realize that we are all beautiful and we need to love ourselves no matter what shape, size, or color we are. Jessie J is really one of the very few artists that you will not regret idolizing. She is so true with her music and she shares deep love with her fans and the people around her.
Stop chasing all the hype, my girl
Stop trying to change who you are
Stop cutting yourself up on the outside (outside)
When the inside is never scarred
It can't be healed with something materialistic
Can't be healed by a man who stays distant
It's deeper, save yourself
Before you betray yourself
— Jessie J ("Queen")
2. "Perfect" by Anne-Marie
Artist: Anne-Marie
Released: 2018
Album: Speak Your Mind
Genre: Pop
Anne-Marie is one of the fastest rising superstars today. She is known for amazing songs like "Ciao Adios" and "FRIENDS", which is a collaboration with Marshmello. However, "Perfect" is the song that solidified my huge love and adoration for her. She is not just another pretty voice, but also someone who we can depend on to be true to herself and her music. This song is about her personal experience with body issues and depression. It tells us the story of how she learned to love herself and that there's no such thing as "being perfect". She is living proof that we are amazing just the way we are.
Don't feel like putting makeup on my cheeks
Do what I wanna
Love every single part of my body
Top to the bottom
I'm not a supermodel from a magazine
I'm okay with not being perfect
'Cause that's perfect to me
— Anne-Marie ("Perfect")
3. "21st Century Machine" by Catie Turner
Artist: Catie Turner
Released: 2018
Genre: Indie/Pop
Catie Turner is one of American Idol's 2018 finalists. She immediately captured the attention of the viewers with her unique personality and undeniable talent. She proceeded to her first audition with a song she wrote called "21st Century Machine". People instantly related with her through this song. It is about our current society, which forces girls to conform to its norms. It enumerates the things that girls in this generation were taught to do, or not do. It gives light to issues that we face while growing up. Catie's angelic soulful voice and beautiful guitar playing go hand-in-hand as she serenades us with this eye-opening song.
People on the airwaves
always preach who I should be
How to dress
How to talk
"Baby" how to breathe
Wicked artist use their limber fingers
To paint pictures of what young girls
are to aspire to be
— Catie Turner ("21st Century Machine")
4. ***Flawless by Beyoncé ft. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Artist: Beyoncé
Featured artist: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Released: 2013
Album: Beyoncé
Genre: Contemporary R&B
Beyoncé. Need I say more?
This hit by the ever talented singer, Beyoncé, is one of the most powerful songs about female empowerment that I've ever heard. It tackles the differences between the expectations we have on boys and girls. We tend to mold girls to be the ones to look forward to marriage and just conform to the traditional expectations of being a woman. This song makes us realize that being a girl doesn't need to be defined by how we become a wife or become the perfect smiling face society wants us to be. We may not be Beyoncé, but we can still slay, right?
Because I am female
I am expected to aspire to marriage
I am expected to make my life choices
Always keeping in mind that
Marriage is the most important
Now marriage can be a source of
Joy and love and mutual support
But why do we teach girls
to aspire to marriage
And we don't teach boys the same?
— Beyoncé ft. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ("***Flawless")
5. "Most Girls" by Hailee Steinfeld
Artist: Hailee Steinfeld
Released: 2017
Genre: Pop music
Aside from acting since she was a kid, Hailee is now marching her way to being one of the most successful young pop stars of today. She's not just a pretty face with a pretty voice. She is also very vocal about her views about being a girl in this generation. She showcases those views in this song. "Most Girls" is about women being beautiful in their own ways, because we are not all the same. It shows us how women can be gorgeous no matter what they wear. It is truly important to understand that we are all different, but we all have battles to fight. We are beautiful and worth it. We can be whatever we want to be in life!
Most girls are smart and strong and beautiful
Most girls, work hard, go far,
we are unstoppable
Most girls, our fight to make every day
No two are the same
I wanna be like, I wanna be like, most girls
— Hailee Steinfeld ("Most Girls")
6. "Me Too" by Meghan Trainor
Artist: Meghan Trainor
Released: 2016
Album: Thank You
Genre: Pop
"Me Too" is an upbeat song with a very light and bright vibe. It is about being happy with ourselves and where we are at in life. This song shows us that we can be confident and know that whoever we see in the mirror every morning is worth it and we don't need anyone to give us validation. It is one of those songs you can listen to whenever you feel low or bad about yourself. We all need to realize that we are so lucky and no one else deserves to be us more than ourselves. A little bit of self-love wouldn't hurt, am I right?
I thank God every day (uh huh)
That I woke up feelin' this way (uh huh)
And I can't help lovin' myself
And I don't need nobody else, nuh uh
— Meghan Trainor ("Me Too")
7. "You & I" by John Legend
Artist: John Legend
Album: Love in the Future
Released: 2013
Genre: R&B/soul
Most of the songs on the radio that are about female empowerment are, unsurprisingly, sung by women. That is why it is refreshing to hear songs like "You & I" by the iconic John Legend. It may be a romantic song, but appreciating women is the song's main focus. It is evident in the music video that this is not just for a specific girl, but for all the girls that are having a hard time appreciating themselves. It tells us that we don't have to try to be someone else, because we are special just the way we are.
You fix your make up, just so
Guess you don't know, that your beautiful
Try on every dress that you own
You were fine in my eyes, a half hour ago
If your mirror won't make it any clearer I'll
Be the one to let you know
— John Legend ("You & I")
8. "Masterpiece" by Jessie J
Artist: Jessie J
Released: 2014
Album: Sweet Talker
Genre: Pop
Uphill battle, I look good when I climb
I'm ferocious precocious
I get braggadocios, I'm not gonna stop
I like the view from the top
— Jessie J ("Masterpiece")
9. "Scars to Your Beautiful" by Alessia Cara
Artist: Alessia Cara
Released: 2015
Album: Know-It-All
Genre: Contemporary R&B
But there's a hope that's waiting for you in the dark
You should know you're beautiful just the way you are
And you don't have to change a thing, the world could change its heart
No scars to your beautiful, we're stars and we're beautiful
Oh-oh, oh-oh
And you don't have to change a thing, yhe world could change its heart
No scars to your beautiful, we're stars and we're beautiful
— Alessia Cara ("Scars to Your Beautiful")
10. "Try" by Colbie Caillat
Artist: Colbie Caillat
Released: 2014
Album: Gypsy Heart
Genre: Pop
Get your sexy on
Don't be shy, girl
Take it off
This is what you want, to belong, so they like you
Do you like you?
You don't have to try so hard
You don't have to, give it all away
You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up
You don't have to change a single thing
You don't have to try, try, try, try
— Colbie Caillat ("Try")
11. "Pretty Hurts" by Beyoncé
Artist: Beyoncé
Released: 2013
Album: Beyoncé
Genre: Contemporary R&B
Pretty hurts
Shine the light on whatever's worse
Perfection is the disease of a nation
Pretty hurts
Shine the light on whatever's worse
Tryna fix something
But you can't fix what you can't see
It's the soul that needs the surgery
— Beyonce ("Pretty Hurts")
12. "Love Myself" by Hailee Steinfeld
Artist: Hailee Steinfeld
Released: 2015
Album: Jem And The Holograms
Genre: Electropop, dance-pop
Yeah
When I get chills at night
I feel it deep inside without you, yeah
Know how to satisfy
Keeping that tempo right without you, yeah
Pictures in my mind on replay
I’m gonna touch the pain away
I know how to scream my own name
Scream my name
Gonna love myself, no, I don’t need anybody else
— Hailee Steinfeld ("Love Myself")
13. "Confident" by Demi Lovato
Artist: Demi Lovato
Released: 2015
Album: Confident
Genre: Pop
I used to hold my freak back
Now I'm letting go
I make my own choice
Bitch, I run this show
So leave the lights on
No, you can't make me behave
So you say I'm complicated
That I must be outta my mind
But you had me underrated
Rated, rated
— Demi Lovato ("Confident")
14. "Who You Are" by Jessie J
Artist: Jessie J
Released: 2011
Album: Who You Are
Genre: Contemporary R&B, Pop
Don't lose who you are, in the blur of the stars
Seeing is deceiving, dreaming is believing,
It's okay not to be okay
Sometimes it's hard, to follow your heart
Tears don't mean you're losing, everybody's bruising,
Just be true to who you are
— Jessie J ("Who You Are")
15. "Pretty Girl" by Maggie Lindemann
Artist: Maggie Lindemann
Released: 2016
Album: N/A
Genre: Pop
I can swear, I can joke
I say what's on my mind
If I drink, if I smoke
I keep up with the guys
And you see me holding up my middle finger to the world
Fuck your ribbons and your pearls
'Cause I'm not just a pretty girl
— Maggie Lindemann ("Pretty Girl")
16. "Mrs. Potato Head" by Melanie Martinez
Artist: Melanie Martinez
Released: 2015
Album: Cry Baby
Genre: Pop
Oh Mrs. Potato Head tell me
Is it true that pain is beauty?
Does a new face come with a warranty?
Will a pretty face make it better?
Oh Mr. Potato Head tell me
How did you afford her surgery?
Do you swear you'll stay forever
Even if her face don't stay together
Even if her face don't stay together
— Melanie Martinez ("Mrs. Potato Head")
17. "Clay" by Grace VanderWaal
Artist: Grace VanderWaal
Released: 2016
Album: Perfectly Imperfect
Genre: Pop
You see a girl in the hallway
And then you whisper to your friend
"Who is she anyway?"
You forgot what she looks like in like a day
But your words don't hurt me
I will be OK
— Grace VanderWaal ("Clay")
Which's your Fave?
This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.
© 2018 ThatWallflowerJen