15 Female Rap Anthems to Get You Amped During Women’s History Month

What better way to celebrate women than by chanting along to some of their greatest girl-power hits? For Women’s History Month, we’ve gathered some of our favorite anthems by women rappers — and a few singers who dipped into the genre — who range from certified legends to burgeoning stars.

According to a recent Spotify-funded study from the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, less than 25% of the artists on Billboard’s Hot 100 Year-End chart for 2021 were women–something that has gone virtually unimproved over the last decade. When it comes to songwriters, the numbers are even more alarming, with women comprising 12.7% within the last ten years. It’s hard to believe, with so many certified hits from women across genres, which is all the more reason to keep these uplifting tracks in your rotation.

The round-up spans three decades (beginning with Queen Latifah and ending with Ice Spice) and includes widely-acclaimed hits like Lizzo’s chart-topping single girl anthem, “Truth Hurts” to unforgettable Y2K favorites like “Bossy” by Kelis, all the while keeping you prepared to dominate whatever is to come, regardless of your gender. Some artists on the list even sampled songs from artists who came before them, for example Lizzo sampling Lauryn Hill’s “Doo-Wop (That Thing)” on her 2022 album cut, “Break Up Twice.”

Some cuts motivate us to demand the respect we deserve while others simply get us in the mood to pop out with our baddie friends. While we could’ve listed about a hundred more, here are 15 ear-worm anthems to get you started.