Influential Women in the Music Industry: An (in)exhaustive List
In the last few years, women have been flying through the ranks in the music industry. Both their craft and their external work, actions, and statements are coming to the forefront to be more widely recognized throughout society. Whilst the music industry is so vast and compiled by such a range of jobs, the arguable main front of the industry are the artists themselves. And for the longest time now, it’s been the men with all the messages: unfortunately providing a hell of a lot of misogyny, putting our gals at a bit of a disadvantage. Granted - not the most ideal situation – but that hasn’t stopped female artists from making themselves known and not keeping quiet.
As 2020 draws to a close, we could, unfortunately, conclude the year as one full of hurt, illness, and unrest. It certainly hasn’t been the beginning of the decade that anybody planned. Nonetheless, amongst the controversy, there is hope. Cases of hope stemming from female music artists - from this year, even amongst all of the madness, but also from years prior to 2020.
There are countless women within the music I could focus on for this piece. After all, the actions of any individual – regardless of gender – contribute to some sort of influence within society, no matter how large or small. That said, some figures have made headlines with their actions and statements, whom I feel have held significant levels of influence in recent times, which should be noticed. Do note that this isn’t exhaustive, or a ‘most to least’ exploration: each of these individuals are influential in their own way and should never be compared to one another. Women have it tricky enough, to begin with, to even establish a name for themselves in order to portray themselves in the best possible manner. Let’s not tear them down through comparison: empowerment is at the forefront of all recognition, with comparison requiring an absence here.
Without further ado, let’s jump in. Here are three female music artists who have been ridiculously influential in the last few years:
Billie Eilish
Everyone knows Billie. At the age of 18 (soon to be 19), she’s the number one piece of evidence that age means nothing when it comes to smashing it in your industry. She’s a household name now in the world of pop, with her duties ranging from headlining festivals worldwide to being the voice of a James Bond film soundtrack. As a consequence of her success, she’s inevitably received plenty of attention from the eyes of the world. Most notably, she’s received extensive media attention.
Eilish is a clever one, though. In order to avoid conversation about her dress, and take the attention away from the impeccable art that is her music, she’s almost always seen in baggy clothes and tracksuits. She opened up about this when getting involved in a Calvin Klein campaign: “Nobody can have an opinion because they haven’t seen what’s underneath. Nobody can be like, ‘she’s slim-thick,’ ‘she’s not slim-thick,’ ‘she’s got a flat ass,’ ‘she’s got a fat ass.’ No one can say any of that because they don’t know.”
Some may say that it’s a sad thing, and an unfortunately sad reflection of modern society. Yes, it absolutely is. Yet what Billie Eilish is doing is, in my eyes, a mega power move. This young girl recognizes what the subconscious actions of society are, and is saying a big ‘f-you’ to these actions by simply not allowing them to take place. She’s not allowing the stereotypical expectation of society to encourage her to dress in a certain way, to ultimately appeal to the ‘male gaze’ that the media promotes.
Hereby I present to you all, a powerful woman. She’s taking control of herself and not allowing anyone else to. Billie Eilish is reclaiming the expectation of sexualization, metaphorically telling those who sexualize to quite frankly do one.
2. Nicki Minaj
Minaj is a pioneer. She’s paved her way into such a male-dominated rap industry, and through her efforts, has displayed her ability to overcome long-time social prejudices through her hard work and determination. Nicki addresses racism and sexism - two societal issues that she has faced on a multitude of occasions throughout her career – both through her statements in general, but also her impeccable lyricism. Her high profile has allowed her to use her platform to address the issues for those without a voice, which are perhaps taken with a greater weighting from particular demographics due to being from an arguably more relative female.
Nicki Minaj is also deserved as being recognized for her influence, through the efforts she goes to in order to help her supporters. On multiple occasions, she’s helped US students with tuition fees – as long as they were achieving straight As! In one night alone, she forked out $30,000 to help students, displaying her immense efforts to emphasize the importance of education.
She really is a role model both within her craft and outside it too, empowering a huge cohort of individuals. A powerful woman, with mega status to dominate such a male orientated field to make her mark, whilst also making her mark in wider society? I salute you, Nicki.
3. Megan Thee Stallion
Another woman dominating the rap industry, Megan Thee Stallion is seen as the new girl on the block – yet this doesn’t hold her back in any way whatsoever. She’s faced her fair share of adversity in her life, losing most of her family at an early age, yet still manages to be a tenacious woman. She’s achieved incredible things musically, being recognized critically and commercially – most notably being proposed one of Time’s Most Influential for 2020.
Megan has been a hugely influential female artist for a wide range of issues, although one particular thing I want to draw upon is the traumatic events of the 2nd July 2020. She was shot by Tory Lanez, which made headlines worldwide. As a marginalized individual, the unfortunate inevitable happened and she was met with disbelief, mockery, and even blame. How you can blame someone for getting shot by another person is beyond me, but it seems that some people’s brains are wired differently from mine.
She confronted this disbelief and uproar head on though. She tweeted her true feelings surrounding the uproar, utilizing her platform and voice to advocate for not only the truth but to open a wider discussion. Megan’s consistent pressure to push the incident helped to raise the profile of the debate surrounding violence against black women, which gained traction and support from the likes of Rihanna and Lizzo (women supporting women, people. No comparison, remember?).
As terrible as this ordeal was, Megan’s openness about the whole process and counteracting any negative opinions surrounding it is one of the many contributing factors as to why I feel she’s one of the most influential female artists at the moment. She’s tackled the issue head-on and shown that it isn’t ‘unladylike’ or ‘rude’ to speak the truth, whenever it’s required. She’s also opened up a wider conversation regarding racial and gender-based violence – which in this new decade, should be the furthest from taboo and should be tackled head-on. Now that is power.
So, there you have it. These three individuals are - for me - up there with being the most influential female music artists right now. I could go on and on to explore why so many more women are equally as influential right now – we’d be here all day, if not longer. I’d love to know which female artists you feel are up there for you: the possibilities are endless. At the end of the day: it’s all about supporting one another. Remember, less comparison and more uplifting. When you adjust your mindset to that, magical things happen.