Your fave's fave: Pop girls reveal the albums that changed their lives
| 04/03/25
cornbreadsays
"Name an album you listened to and something shifted."
(L-R) Ari Lennox; Jojo Siwa; Maggie Lindemann
Prince Williams/WireImage; Steve Granitz/FilmMagic; Gilbert Flores/Billboard via Getty ImagesWe all have albums that changed our lives. We listened to SZA's CTRL on a rainy day and felt seen for the first time, or we heard Robyn's Body Talk in a club and our gay powers awakened.
On Saturday, Out caught up with some of our favorite female singers and rappers at the Billboard Women in Music Awards red carpet and presented them with the question: "What album changed your life?"
JoJo Siwa, Becky G, Ari Lennox, Maggie Lindemann, Siiickbrain, Muni Long, Lauren Jauregui, and more revealed that album to us, and their answers are way more eclectic than you might think. Scroll through to hear from these icons.
Lauren Jauregui
"CTRL is definitely on that list. The album that shifted something for me was Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. I listened to that album late. I knew the hits and stuff and a lot of cuts, but I didn't listen to it in its entirety until I was 18. When I was 18 and listening to it, it was able to impress me in such a way. It hits so different. Every single word and concept that Miss Hill brought to life was truly impactful for me."
Ari Lennox
"The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. It's that one. Legendary. She never really had to do anything else. Best album ever."
Becky G
"The first CD I ever purchased was Christina Aguilera, the Christina Agulera album. It changed my life. Obviously Selena, anything Selena, also changed my life. They are the pop stars I grew up idolizing and looking up to. And JLo! There are so many badass Latinas."
Flyana Boss
"Speakerboxxx by Outkast." - Folayan
"Reniassance. It shifted something inside me. And it came out on my birthday" - Bobbi
Tanner Adell
"This is so weird. Last year, eternal sunshine. Oh my God. It felt like a long time since I listened to an album on repeat, listening to it over and over and over and over again. It's a really special album. I love Ari, but that album is something really special. All the stuff she's doing with the short film. Iconic. Because of her, I watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind for the first time and I was amazed at the cinematic beauty of it. Jim Carey, the acting, Cate Winslett. She's changed my life now, especially after seeing that movie."
Catie Turner
"Honestly, don't f---ing life, it was OneDirection's Take Me Home. I stayed up for 'Little Things.' It was something about being like, 'girl, don't kill yourself, even if you're fat.' It saved me! I was twelve going, 'Harry would be okay if I was squeezing into my bootcut jeans.' Because I am! It really changed my life."
Ledisi
"So many. So many. But I can say my favorite has always been Aretha Sings the Blues. So many, but it's Aretha Franklin's voice. And Whitney Houston."
Maggie Lindemann
"Born to Die, Lana Del Rey. It just popped up."
Laila
"Brandy's first album. It just really inspired me. It was one of the first things I listened to that I was like, I want to follow in this line. I want to do this. I want to be like this person."
Queen Naija
"Rihanna's Good Girl Gone Bad. That's an era right there. I grew up in church as well so I have a lot of soulful, but when Rihanna did that pop stuff and rock and roll girl, she brought me a lot of inspiration from that."
Siiickbrain
"Probably Kid A by Radiohead. It's a good one. Their experimentation is really inspiring."
Kiana Ledé
"ANTI by Rihanna. It shifted my life. It should be that R&B/pop girls can be experimental. We've seen that trend also with SZA and just different girls in the R&B space that are alt and different. I think it's beautiful that Black women in particular, and women of color in particular, are able to express themselves in ways that are true to them in R&B and hip-hop, but also not only be seen as R&B and hip-hop."
JoJo Siwa
"All the Hannah Montana music. Mayhem (by Lady Gaga), of course. I literally heard Mayhem and I was like, 'oh, I'm inspired again!' But if I had to give a final answer, it'd be any Queen album."
Snow Wife
"The Fame. It makes me feel like I'm not in a simulation."
Inayah
"Lemonade. Lemonade from Bey. It was a vulnerable space for her. It was a space that we have never gotten to experience because every time we see Bey, she's always fabulous and perfect. With that album, she let me know it's okay to share and be vulnerable and open. Ultimately, this journey is not just for us anyways. We are a voice for the voiceless. Shoutout to Bey, she from Houston!"
Lu Kala
"I do think Teenage Dream was a big one for me. I've been a Katy fan, I'm a pop girl forever. Anti by Rihanna. She's just so iconic. She came back and made something so different than we were expecting. Amazing. And I will say Lemonade. I've always loved Beyonce, but Lemonade really made me feel like whoa. I had never heard her from that point of view. It felt so authentic. I felt like I really learned her story."
Rico Nasty
"Totally! F---ing Rihanna! Loud!"
