Celebrating Women In Music

In music, women have always been breaking barriers, redefining the industry and are the key force behind some of songs we love today, so for International Women’s Week we’ve teamed up with local female artist Alyssa Falcao to highlight some of these powerful women.  See some of Alyssa’s amazing artwork below, and check out more of her pieces on social (@aly.ssaart), online, or you can purchase them HERE.

As a child growing up in Toronto, Alyssa wasn’t much of a talker so, she turned to art to express herself.  Just as Alyssa expresses herself through illustrations and paintings, Ariana Grande expresses  women can be almighty in her song God Is A Women. This song reminds us how women have the strength to flourish and be anything they put their minds to!  Alyssa recreated one of the beautiful scenes from Ariana’s music video for God Is A Women. When Alyssa created her illustration of Ariana, she thought about the lyrics from God Is A Women and reflected on women equality.  “Like anything in life, a woman can do it too” she said, “this song is about taking control and doing what you want as a female.”

Lizzo is another powerful female in the music game who is a strong advocate for embracing body positivity and her song Good as Hell screams this message!  Woooo child, we are all here for feeling comfortable and confident in your own skin!  The picture Alyssa recreated from Lizzo, comes right from the singer’s own album artwork where she’s in her most natural state…naked.  In Alyssa’s illustration, she used the lyrics from Good as Hell because, there was one line in the song that really spoke to her, “Boss up and change your life”.  The lyrics from Good as Hell resonated with Alyssa because, she felt “as women, sometimes we don’t do certain things, or we get stuck in certain situations but, these lyrics are about getting out and doing what you want to do.”  Like many of us, Alyssa is a fan of Lizzo for her hand in reminding the world that, “we don’t always have to be the same size, and it’s okay to have curves, and it’s okay to have stretch marks and it’s okay to not be perfect all the time.”

Taylor Swift is a fearless female who’s always stood up for what she believes in.  We’ve watched Taylor blossom from the early days of her career, to redefining herself and inspiring many. In honour of this powerful woman, Alyssa recreated Taylor’s picture from her Instagram announcement about completing her album Fearless (Taylor’s Version). Alyssa was so passionate about this piece because she was inspired by Taylor for re-recording her old songs and taking full control of her music.  In the same way that Taylor may have felt pressures to make certain musical decisions early in her career, Alyssa has felt pressures to maintain a certain type of appearance in high school.  Alyssa remembers how she would straighten her hair every single day, wore acrylic nails, and she wouldn’t let anyone see her without make-up.   “I was constantly comparing myself to others,” she said, “and I thought that’s what society wanted to see and what I thought was pretty but, I quickly realized that me being a female is about doing what i want to do.” Now she wears her natural look with confidence and pride!  Like Alyssa, many females have been inspired by Taylor, and for that we salute you!