Patriarchy and pop culture are that one toxic couple who is always together. You just know that they are so bad for each other, but they never seem to break up. It’s honestly exhausting. It’s like the music industry has an unspoken, unwritten rule that if a man gets emotional in his songwriting or discography, it’s deep. It’s raw. it’s authentic. But if a woman even hints at emotional vulnerability, she’s reduced to a cliché.
Half of Women in Music Industry Say Gender Discrimination Persists, New Report Finds https://t.co/apeICVn72Z
— billboard (@billboard) March 8, 2024
If Kurt Cobain, John Mayer, Kanye West, and a hundred other allegedly ‘misunderstood geniuses’ get real about their struggles with grief and identity through their music, it is applauded. But the second Taylor Swift gets real with her feelings through her songs, the dudes (and even some women) get mad. Artists like Drake or 21 Savage can drop a million songs about partying and drinking and flexing their bundles, but if Sabrina Carpenter releases an unserious song, it’s a crime that she must get hated on for. It’s almost as if the emotional depth of men is viewed as ‘art’ but if a woman gets real with her emotions, it’s much less serious.
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Regardless of these archaic rules, there is a very obvious pattern when we look at the most iconic figures in pop history. The names that predominantly occur to my feminist, internet-addled brain are mostly the names of women. The ’80s had Madonna, the ’90s gave us Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, and so many more. The 2000’s, or what I like to call, the IT years, had Britney Spears, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, and of course, Rihanna. Now we have icons like Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, Chapell Roan, the list goes on.
And when I heard that the girlies are dominating this year’s Grammy nominations, I jumped straight from my phone to my laptop and began wording this out. Here’s a lineup of some of the most iconic women who did their bit in music this year.
Billie Eilish
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Billie Eilish has proven that she is NOT any average pop musician, and is an absolute force of nature to be reckoned with. She released her album HIT ME HARD AND SOFT this year, and to say that it was masterfully written, would be an understatement. Eilish took me on a journey, to say the very least, with this one. Her whispered, dreamlike yet deep vocals transcended me to another world. Eilish broke her own record this year with her single Lunch launching at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Apart from releasing a masterpiece of an album, she also contributed to the well-adored Brat situation we had going on this year, and we couldn’t love her more for it.
Sabrina Carpenter
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Sabrina Carpenter has had a year, unlike any other musician. With absolute pop-bangers like Espresso, and Please Please Please, in addition to her album, Short n Sweet (which was anything but short and sweet), which topped the record charts in almost 18 countries, it’s safe to say that Carpenter has absolutely owned 2024. She did not stop at the album and took her sound on the road with the Short n Sweet tour. This tour took my explore page by storm, and the internet has been eating the pop star’s performances up.
Taylor Swift
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It is impossible for Taylor Swift to not be mentioned in anything that has the word successful in it. And rightfully so. I mean Mother has a plethora of awards, and apart from being hated on, it turns out that Miss Swift is actually groundbreakingly good at making music. She broke multiple records this year, including being the only musician ever to win the ‘Video Of The Year’ award at the VMAs three times in a row. She released The Tortured Poet’s Department, which was almost hauntingly introspective and literally tapped into my subconscious. Her Eras Tour also broke the internet, earning approximately 37 million USD worth of pre-sales on only its first day. Talk about an icon.
Chappell Roan
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2024 was HUGE for Chapell Roan, who totally stepped into her power as the most genre-defying artist of the movement. After the long-awaited release of her debut album The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess back in 2023, the singer did not wait to release the pop anthem Good Luck, Babe! which sent the internet into a frenzy. She didn’t just call it a day with this banger and followed it up with a sold-out tour for her debut album. And oh, her performances? Equal part musical experience, equal part theatrical performance. Her boundary-pushing music seems to be working, and this is only the start of this Femininomenon.
Beyoncé
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Queen Bee. There will not be one year without this living legend setting the highest possible standard. Okay. Firstly, apart from last year’s Renaissance World Tour, also commonly referred to as a cultural event (by me), the singer made history this year by receiving 11 nominations at the 2025 Grammy Awards, and we couldn’t be more excited for her. She also dropped COWBOY CARTER this year, which topped several charts and broke streaming records. In the US, this album became Beyoncé’s eighth consecutive number-one album on the Billboard 200 Chart. We cannot get enough of this woman.
Olivia Rodrigo
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With SOUR releasing in 2021, and then GUTS releasing in 2023, Rodrigo accelerated her momentum this year and her impact was seismic. Apart from having almost 12.3 billion streams on Spotify, Rodrigo’s GUTS tour is making dedicated fangirls (like me) go wild. The Disney actress has been riding the pop-culture wave this year, and we’re here for it.
Gracie Abrams
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2024 has been a breakout year for Gracie Abrams, making her a very obvious force in the mainstream pop genre. This 25-year-old artist is growing in popularity by the minute, and her song I Love You, I’m Sorry has earned more than 200 million streams on Spotify. She also opened for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in North America, and us Swifties could not be happier with this duo. In addition to this, Abrams also released an album, this year, called The Secret Of Us, which debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 Chart, and even reached number one in the UK.
Charli XCX
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If you have been on the internet at all this year, you most probably are familiar with the term Brat Summer. Charli XCX absolutely cemented her name at the forefront of pop innovation in 2024. Her sixth studio album, Brat, which is an absolute summer phenomenon, topped the UK charts for a hot minute. In addition to this, the party girl also released a bunch of remixes, featuring Lorde (looks like they worked it out on the remix), Ariana Grande, The 1975, Bon Iver, and more. Brat also debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 Chart, which became the highest charting album of Charli’s entire career. She’ll always be the one indeed!
Tyla
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Tyla has also been making waves in the music industry this year, and has successfully established herself as an international force in music. The pop star accoladed three MTV EMA wins, making her the first African artist to achieve this streak at the Europe Music Awards, officially etching her name in music history.
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In addition to all of this history being created, Addison Rae also debuted her breakthrough single Diet Pepsi, and followed it up with another banger Aquamarine, both of which have quickly gained a lot of love online. Ariana Grande also broke a record with We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love) being her seventh song to debut at number one on Billboard’s Hot 100. With Halsey’s new album release, The Great Impersonator, LISA’s (from Blackpink) single ROCKSTAR, and even JENNIE’s Mantra, it only seems that women don’t just make music, they make the music industry.
