Radical Self-Love Playlist Vol. 1
a.k.a. songs to get your jiggle going
Okay, I’m not going to lie, this list is mostly Lizzo—but who better to learn about self-love from than the Queen of Self-Love? She sums it up best in the intro to My Skin: “Learning to love yourself and learning to love your body is like a whole journey that I feel like every person, but more specifically, women, have to go through.”
I would like to note this playlist is a marker of growth for me. Five plus years ago, I was so co-dependent I didn't even know what kind of music I liked. For example, my iTunes account is a time capsule of boyfriends past. As I leaned in and did the work towards self-love, I learned who I was, I learned that I liked myself, and I learned what kind of music I liked. If you are struggling with self-worth, let this playlist.
I would like to note this playlist is a marker of growth for me. Five plus years ago, I was so co-dependent I didn't even know what kind of music I liked. For example, my iTunes account is a time capsule of boyfriends past. As I leaned in and did the work towards self-love, I learned who I was, I learned that I liked myself, and I learned what kind of music I liked. If you are struggling with self-worth, let this playlist.
BTW: if you are sensitive to profanity or sexual descriptions, then this might not be the playlist for you. I have done my best Tipper Gore impression and have marked some songs with parental advisories 🅴.
B.G.S.W. (Big Grrrl Small World) by Lizzo 🅴
#JiggleWorthy
Favorite Lyric:
Bigger than the sun and the moon
I can feel it in my bones, we can take over the world
Reminder:
Don’t be ashamed to take up space. If you have a problem with my size, that’s on you.
I Love Me by Meghan Trainor
#JiggleWorthy
Favorite Lyric:
I don't mean to brag, I don't mean to boast
I love all y'all, but I love me
Reminder:
I am the most important person in my life.
The Glow by Victoria Monét
#JiggleWorthy
Favorite Lyric:
To reach that upper level
Your mind, body, and soul must be one
It's a sacrifice; it takes hard work
It's a way of life
Reminder:
Self-love is not an overnight phenomenon. It’s a journey I choose. I need to stay willing to do the work.
That’s Alright by Laura Mvula
#JiggleWorthy
Favorite Lyric:
I will never be what you want
And that's alright
Cause my skin ain’t light
And my body ain't tight
And that's alright
But if I might
I'mma stand and fight
Reminder:
I can write my own rules for how I live my life, no apology necessary.
Let ‘Em Say by Lizzo & Caroline Smith
#JiggleWorthy
Favorite Lyric:
I know they’ll never get enough
They don’t get it, they don’t get it
But if you’re giving in then don’t you change
Cause living was the best revenge
Reminder:
What other people think of me is none of my business.
Weird AF by Miss Eaves 🅴
#JiggleWorthy
Favorite Lyric:
They can try to replicate it, but the devil’s in the details
The only way to copy me is when you send an email
Reminder:
Self-love is rebellious; that’s why it’s radical. Society wants us to assimilate to a cultural norm; that’s how the concept of “Good Fattie” can thrive.
Video by India.Arie
#SlowRoll
Favorite Lyric:
When I look in the mirror and the only one there is me
Every freckle on my face is where it's supposed to be, yeah
And I know my creator didn't make no mistakes on me
My feet, my thighs, my lips, my eyes, I'm loving what I see
Reminder:
Learn who I am, learn to like myself, and then learn to stand in my worth.
Follow Your Arrow by Kacey Musgraves
#SlowRoll
Favorite Lyric:
You're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't
So, you might as well just do whatever you want
Reminder:
“You do you, boo.” Society is full of double standards. If I just keep doing me, I’ll be winning.
Good As Hell by Lizzo 🅴
#JiggleWorthy
Favorite Lyric:
If he don't love you anymore
Just walk your fine ass out the door
Reminder:
There is no reason to stay in any relationship (friendship, familial, work, or romantic) that doesn’t value me.
No Scrubs by TLC
#SingALong
Favorite Lyric:
So no, I don't want your number (Uh, uh)
No, I don't want to give you mine and
No, I don't want to meet you nowhere (No, no)
No, I don't want none of your time and (Uh)
Reminder:
NO is a complete sentence.
Strip by Little Mix
#JiggleWorthy
Favorite Lyric:
Strip!
Take off all my make-up ’cause I love what's under it
Rub off all your words, don't give a uh, I'm over it
Strip!
Jiggle all this weight, yeah, you know I love all of this
Finally love me naked, sexiest when I'm confident (Ah, ah, ah, ah)
Reminder:
Life doesn’t begin five pounds from now.
Bonus:
Kiss Kiss I’m Fabulous by Miss Eaves 🅴
#JiggleWorthy
Favorite Lyric:
Let go of self-hatred
Decolonize, erase it
Reminder:
There’s no wrong way to be a woman.
***Flawless by Beyoncé feat. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 🅴
#JiggleWorthy
Favorite Lyric:
We teach girls to shrink themselves
To make themselves smaller
Reminder:
I was taught to hate myself.
Bonus:
There are so many versions of this iconic song. Beyoncé earned her crown when she included Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in the remix. If you haven’t seen her TEDx Talk, “We should all be feminists,” stop what you’re doing right now and watch it. You won’t be mad.
My Skin by Lizzo
#SlowRoll
Favorite Lyric:
I wear my flaws on my sleeve and my skin like a peacoat
I see someone like me ashamed to be
And honestly, I'm really really
I'm fed up wit' it, try to send it up like a FedEx
Reminder:
My skin is the boundary that protects me from the world. Its scars and stretch marks tell the story of my life.
Bright by Kehlani 🅴
#SlowRoll
Favorite Lyric:
Can't nobody love somebody
That do not love themselves
You are what you choose to be
It's not up to no one else
Reminder:
Little Jaci was doing the best she could with the tools she had.
Bonus:
Wanting to be something other than you are is not exclusive to women.
Masterpiece by Jessie J
#SingALong
Favorite Lyric:
I still fall on my face sometimes
And I, can't color inside the lines
Cause, I'm perfectly incomplete
I'm still working on my masterpiece
Reminder:
There are no mistakes, only opportunities to grow.
Shouldn’t Be Sorry by CARDS & Sita
#SingALong
Favorite Lyric:
You shouldn't feel sorry when you speak your mind
Shouldn't be sorry, shouldn't be sorry
Shouldn't feel wrong 'cause you put it right
Shouldn't feel bad 'cause you don't feel sorry
Reminder:
As a gender, we apologize too much. Let’s stop doing that.
Thunder Thighs by Miss Eaves
#JiggleWorthy
Favorite Lyric:
Oh my
Got them thunder thighs
Boom clack
They smack when I stride
Reminder:
Chub rub is legit.
En Love by Lizzo
#JiggleWorthy
Favorite Lyric:
All these years been searching for something that would complete me
Who knew that it would be me
Reminder:
I am enough.
*I warned you this was mostly Lizzo;)
Formation by Beyoncé 🅴
#JiggleWorthy
Favorite Lyric:
Sometimes I go off, I go hard
Get what's mine, I'm a star
'Cause I slay
Reminder:
Own my voice. Plus, I need a tribe of ladies to walk through life.
*Only available on Tidal
THICCK by A Bear Named Troy 🅴
#JiggleWorthy
Favorite Lyric:
I’m so thick like honey on cake
Reminder:
Do my own thing.
Can’t Get Enough of Myself by Santigold
#JiggleWorthy
Favorite Lyric:
All I wanna do is what I do well
Ain't a gambler but honey I'd put money on myself
Ain't a gambler but honey I'd put money on myself
Reminder:
Live my best self-full life.
Liberated by Dej Loaf and Leon Bridges
#SlowRoll
Favorite Lyric:
You don't have to aim to please, or be a certain way
Don't aspire to be what you see in the magazines
There's only one you, and one me
Reminder:
The world is getting freer. Sometimes it just takes a lot of pain to make change.
Beat Of My Drum by Powers
#JiggleWorthy
Favorite Lyric:
Move your shoes to the beat of my, beat of my drum
Hallelujah, baby now, baby now stand up
Make your move to the beat of my, beat of my drum
Reminder:
If all my chatter about loving yourself exactly as you are today is just too much for you to swallow some days, that is perfectly understandable. If you can’t quite tap into your own beat just yet, you can borrow my beat.
Jaclyn McCabe
Author