Dear Community, 

This week we want to celebrate female artists that changed the world of music with their albums!

This is a “personal” selection from us community managers. We are aware that we have left out some powerful music from powerful musicians… so please take the space in the comment section to add more albums to our list. 

                                                                                                                                    xoxo

Amy Winehouse - Back to Black 

English singer Amy Winehouse's second and last studio album was the most important of her career.  Amy had the help of producers Salaam Remi, Mark Ronson, one of the most important DJs in the world. It was the best selling English album of the century, in 2006, with more than 3,200 copies.

Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

In 1998 this album breaks through with 5 Grammy statuettes, including Best New Artist, Best R&B Song, Best Female Vocals on an R&B Recording, Best R&B Album and Album of the Year.

Free to explore and experiment, the album made history of R&B. It was named one of the best albums in the world by Rolling Stones Magazine. 

Madonna – Ray of Light

Deep in her faith in the Kabbalah and in total “Madonna style”, she used exoteric sounds and brought something completely new and different from what other pop artists were doing at the time. Madonna released her 7th studio album, "Ray of Light" with topics such as motherhood and fame, sold more than 16 million copies WorldWide, winning her 4 Grammys. 

Beyonce - 4

Opening her phase of Female empowerement,  this album sold more than 300K copies in the first week alone. Her fourth studio album became a success around the world and the “Run the world” dance was reproduced by thousands of people and is considered an anthem for women's social movements.

Aretha Franklin – I Never Loved a Man The Way I Love You

Aretha became an ICON in American Soul and R&B culture with this critically acclaimed album. The theme is human and loving relationships, the intricacies and many changes of life, its great disappointments (I Never Loved A Man – The Way I Love You) and its moments fighting for an ideal (Respect)

Nina Simone - Wild Is the Wind

There are remarkable things on Nina Simone's album, it is a work inspired and moved by rage, it is so rational, revealing and even enlightening. Wild Is the Wind is the sixth studio album by American singer and pianist Nina Simone, released by Philips Records in 1966. The album was compiled from various recordings left over from sessions (in 1964 and 1965) for previous Philips albums. It is considered Nina's best album.

Which other album should have made the list? Leave a comment below and win a IWD23 badge!