Black women have been getting much-deserved appreciation recently. Perhaps a thing of Beyonce’s 2019 tribute to dark-skinned women on Brown Skin Girls or the growing reception of unconventional features like nappy hair or most likely, growing confidence in black women, but from Enny’s Peng Black Girls to Little Simz’s raw and honest, Woman, we’re witnessing a much-needed shift in primary muses and more than the artists notable display of talent, it’s a confidence and happiness booster.
The immediate tribute to Nigerian women on the Cleo Sol assisted Woman, helps us realize Simz’s intent from the get-go. She then jumps into specifics “… melanin dripping, L-O-N-D-O-N, city girl livin’, in the back, lookin’ like fire, chili pepper, Yoruba girl tougher than imperial leather, He was gettin’ bitter while she was gettin’ better” she raps over chugging percussions and pipe-y synths that elevate its celebratory tone.
Simz hammers on body and sex positivity and confidence that stems from nothing but just being a woman. With Cleo Sol who delivers the silkiest of choruses, she proves in her signature structured and undisturbed flow that it’s okay to be nothing, it’s okay to be sex-positive, to be powerful, meek, or a combination of all, so long as you remain happy in your decisions and “glow“.
Woman is on track to becoming an empowerment anthem. With a heavy nod to African cultures, a move that makes it not only a confidence booster or the lyrical ball of appreciation that it is, it also serves as a unifier.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHGf6tmnLYE]