This week, Cardi B tops the Billboard Hot 100 for the second consecutive week, after dethroning another badass babe, Taylor Swift. After a long stretch of male musicians at the top of the charts in 2017, it’s a breath of fresh air to see women celebrating #1s. This ‘Rocktober’, we’re highlighting some of the ladies on the Reservoir roster who are also known for their spirited songwriting and performing. Though their genres range from Pop to Dance to Alternative and beyond, these women all definitely rock.

 

Ali Tamposi

Ali Tamposi is the ultimate hit-maker, who takes personal hardships and channels her strength into courageous chart-topping anthems. In 2011, Tamposi wrote Kelly Clarkson’s #1 hit single, “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You),” after finding out her long-time boyfriend had cheated on her. Instead of grieving, she took advice she received from friends, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” and penned this motivational pop-sensation with lyrics of resilience and confidence.

Outspoken about the importance of feminism, on her 2017 RIAA Platinum Certified Kygo and Selena Gomez single “It Ain’t Me,” Tamposi wrote about the falling out of a relationship, asking them who will take care of them when she’s gone—and it ain’t her. She channels independence through her lyrics, telling Elle Magazine, “I think the chorus has so many messages—especially right now, for this time period with this whole feminist movement. Men and women are starting to use their vulnerabilities as strengths. And we are able to use them as power and send a message.”

 

Ina Wroldsen

Reservoir/Reverb Music singer-songwriter Ina Wroldsen’s voice has a global reach. And we’re glad for it, since her songs are empowering and heartfelt. Her work with UK band Clean Bandit on electro-pop singles “Symphony (feat. Zara Larsson)” whose video deals with tragic love and loss, and “Rockabye (feat. Sean Paul and Anne-Marie),” about a mother and child relationship, achieved major milestones in the UK and US. In 2017, the Brit Awards nominated “Rockabye” for two awards after topping the charts for nine consecutive weeks, while “Symphony” reached #1 in the UK and on Billboard’s Dance/Club charts. Wroldsen also penned “Hold Your Hand” by British pop star Jess Glynne. The song’s powerful words represent the setbacks in life, and the resolve to not let them overcome you: “Break my bones but you won’t see me fall, oh/The rising ride will ride against them all.”

In 2015, Wroldsen worked with popstar Demi Lovato, co-writing the brave track “Lionheart,” off her album, Confident. The fierce track conjures the flame we have inside us that comes from the love we have for others. The song reminds listeners that hard times will come, but together we can weather the storm. The powerful lyrics proclaim: “Your hand in mind/ Marching to the beat of the storm/ And we walk together into the light/ And my love will be your armor tonight/ We are lionhearts/And we stand together, facing a war/And our love is gonna conquer it all.”

 

Lauren Christy

Reservoir songwriter and producer Lauren Christy completely embodies what it means to be a badass female. She is only one of only six women to have been nominated for Producer of the Year at the Grammys, and her long list of collaborators include everyone from Avril Lavigne to Shakira, while her recent collaborations with Bebe Rexha and Dua Lipa speak to her spunk. While Christy is co-wrote Rexha’s hot collaboration with G-Eazy “Me, Myself and I,” she also contributed to many of the tracks on her 2017 EP, All Your Fault pt. 1, including the daring and blunt, “Bad Bitch,” (“You say you want a bad bitch/ Baby, now you have it/ Now you got a bad bitch/ Show me you can handle this.”) and the equally bold “FFF”, which embraces a similar ‘tude with lyrics like “Is there anybody real out here? / Got my middle, middle up while I’m singing.”

Christy also channels this passion in her recent cut with Dua Lipa, “Blow Your Mind,” off of Lipa’s self-titled debut album. Lipa told Rolling Stone in a recent interview, that the cut “is a bitter anthem aimed at a modeling agent who once told her to lose weight.” Lipa’s charismatically raspy vocals, combined with Christy’s trademark empowered mentality and the sultry thumping club-ready beat, make this one anthem you’ll be singing for years to come.

 

Lucy Rose

While British singer-songwriter Lucy Rose can frequently be found with her guitar in hand, the Something’s Changing artist uses her musical prowess as a way to stay true to herself. Her hard work doesn’t come without challenges. Lucy has opened up about the struggles she has faced throughout her career, admitting that it’s difficult to be a female singer-songwriter in such a male-dominated industry.

In Lucy’s 2015 single, “Till The End,” she preached her passion for gender equality. The track, along with it’s empowering music video, are inspired by the strength of England’s woman’s football team. Lucy’s lyrics bravely shout out, “And I want to believe/ That I will keep fighting till the end.” Furthermore, the video for her song “Nebraska” explores freedom of expression and identity.

 

Lucy’s 2015 release, “Nebraska,” similarly speaks of societal contraints and gender role expectations. The music video explores freedom of expression and using your individuality, in this case the main character dressing in drag, as a form of escapism. Lucy’s lyrics tell us that our actions don’t always need to be justified and we are allowed to be who we are. She sings, “And I’m walking on thin ice/ To find who I really am/ And I’m staring at my feet/ I left my heart in this land.”

Unlike other artists, Lucy, in an effort to connect directly with fans, chooses intimate performances booked by fans over costly arenas, and prefers homestays to fancy hotel rooms. She’s felt the pressure in the past to change her style, but holds true to herself through the fan response to her down-to-earth lifestyle, heartfelt lyrics, and original melodies, making her a kick-ass musician.

Lucy is currently traveling the world, showing her new mini-documentary on her Cinema Tour. Her passion and understated confidence is evident throughout her artistry.

 

Terri B!

DJ, producer and songwriter Terri B! is a certified queen of the dance music scene, co-writing, producing, and singing hits that keep everyone dancing from Hollywood to Hamburg. Terri impresses on an international scale, this year alone, Terri reached #1 on Billboard’s Dance/Club charts with her hit collaboration with Rosabel, “Anthem of House”, a follow up to her previous Billboard Dance Club Songs #1, Cazzette’s “Blind Heart”. Terri is a chart mainstay; her current single, DJ Jeff Morgan’s catchy, rhythmic, “I Care For You (feat. Selin),” is generating buzz, recently cracking Top 25 on the Dance/Club charts, while her 2015 solo debut “I’m Coming Back” instantly broke into the Top 20, also. While the latter song declares that she’s ‘coming back’, we secretly know she never left and is here to stay.

Listen to these hits and more on our Women Who Rock playlist: