Just like rap, R&B is a genre almost completely overrun with men. I’m sure it’s no easy feat being a woman in the music industry at all, let alone specialising in a genre of music dominated by men. Almost all women in R&B have expressed their experience as a woman in the industry, having to claw their way to the top and having very real feelings of constantly having to prove their worth to producers, writers, composers… pretty much any man they’ve had to deal with on their way to where they are now.

Ask a man who his favourite R&B artists are and I can almost guarantee you, not a single female artist will be on his list. Not even one of the greats, the leading ladies of RnB. I’m talking SZA, Doja Cat, Beyoncé, Summer Walker, Rhianna (duh), Jhené Aiko, Chloe x Halle, Jasmine Sullivan, Kali Uchis, Kehlani, H.E.R, Ella Mai, Teyana Taylor, Brandy, Mila J, and so many more. All of these artists are powerhouse black women who represent everything we need more of in the media. There are, of course, sub-genres of R&B which each of these women can fit into as well, for example, Kali Uchis is classified as Latin R&B, Doja Cat as Rap or Afrofunk, and H.E.R is more Soul.