As we continue to celebrate our women in the month of March, here are a few songs that pay homage to and highlight the strength, independence and selflessness of women.

Respect – Aretha Franklyn

Respect was originally done by Otis Redding in 1965. In Franklyn’s version, which is by far the better known, the singer demands the respect of her husband when he returns home.

Girl Power – Cheetah Girls

This girl empowerment anthem was quite the hit back in the day among young Cheetah Girls’ fans. In this particular scene, the Cheetah Girls are trying to land a record deal and perform their track Girl Power to wow their prospective label. The song encourages females to stand up and never shy away or hide their true selves from the world.

Miss Independent – Neyo

This popular track is about a woman Ne-Yo desires, who he soon comes to recognise is in charge of her own life, not in need of the typical attention and money he often showers upon other girls.

Nice For What – Drake

Throughout the track, Drake raps about female empowerment in the digital age, encouraging women to continue to push through despite whatever resistance they may face.

I Am Woman – Emil Meli

The TikTok sensation by Emil Meli is a record which radiates with positivity and self-confidence.

“One month ago, I wrote a song for this little girl. Hoping to make her proud, she ended up inspiring millions of women,” Meli said.

Superwoman – Alicia Keys

“A Superwoman is a woman who has incredible dreams, incredible ambitions, all the things she wants to do, but she also knows how to take care of herself.” Keys said.

The track captures the struggles of the everyday woman from different parts of the world and different walks of life.

Flawless – Beyoncé

The hard-hitting feminist anthem is said to be the reason the word ‘Feminist’ reentered the mainstream. The song features a snippet of Nigerian writer and feminist Chimamanda Adichie, who highlights the struggles women have to face throughout their lives, zooming in on inequality.

Strong Woman – Popcaan

An acknowledgement of ‘real’ and ‘strong’ women, Popcaan highlights a number of noteworthy characteristics which he sees in a love interest, subtly noting that he feeds off her positive energy.

I’m Every Woman – Whitney Houston

The original version was done by American singer Chaka Khan. Houston, who was a backup vocalist for Khan, recorded her version of the hit for The Bodyguard soundtrack. The feel-good song’s accompanying music video sees a pregnant Whitney, alongside a number of females, young and old, including Chaka Khan and American girl group TLC.

I Am Woman – Tanya Stephens

This track was originally recorded by Australian-American Helen Reddy. Stephens made a few changes to her acapella reggae version, which notes the strength of women and demands respect from men.

Independent Woman – Destiny’s Child

The feminist anthem, a part of the soundtrack for the movie Charlie’s Angels, is one that details the trio’s view on independence.

Although not against the idea of a relationship, they explain that they do not need a man to buy them things, going on to note that relationships must be split 50-50.

Run The World (Girls) – Beyoncé

Another Beyoncé woman empowerment song, Run the World (Girls), was met with much controversy. The song details the strength of women and notes that, despite everything they have to endure, which ultimately is a lot more than most men, they can overcome and are better than before.

Strength of A Woman – Shaggy

What makes this powerful tribute even greater is the fact that it was sung by a man. In Shaggy’s Strength of A Woman, the artiste lists many of the characteristics of the common ‘superwoman’.

This tribute to strong women effortlessly explains that a world without women would never be the same.

The artiste also shares that, despite the few problems men may encounter with a woman’s attitude, at the end of the day, “she’ll put a smile upon your face”.