Mya's and Faith's selections And I know it may be a Kidz Bop before it was even a thing, but Take Me There is still one of my favorite songs ever. The nostalgic feels this track gives me are so sweet. Plus, only Queen Mya could take a child's cartoon show theme song, and make an irresistible bop out of it! Probably gonna be my 11. Don't do it wrong, gerls
Also not me thinking Rockell was at least a one hit wonder with dance classic In a Dream, but that wasn't even a hit here or her biggest single...
I was still living in Peru when the first Rugrats movie came out. My cousin visited from the US once and brought her copy of the soundtrack. I was obsessed with Mưa's song from it!! Good to see it included Shame "Ghetto Supastar" doesn't count for her here, though...
Also, I hope Me'Shell is on this. "If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night)" is one of my favorite song titles ever
I'll Be Missing You was the #1 song when I was born. Lemme bop to Faith a bit.
Also, I love You by Monifah SO much. It's such an underrated song, so I'm glad I get to stan a bit.
Did we do Tracy Chapman's 90s stuff? I forget. Oh wait, we're doing Melissa Etheridge
We'll get into her start whenever we do UO 80s Girls Part 2, but by the early 90s, Melissa Etheridge had made a name for herself as an obvious Janis Joplin acolyte, spinning her inspiration out into new directions. A single from her fourth album, Yes I Am, became her first top ten hit - I'm The Only One.
Around this time, Melissa became one of the first performers to publicly out herself. Radio was scared to play her, but the combination of call-in requests and a buzzy video featuring an in-demand (at the time) ingenue named Juliette Lewis made Come to My Window a hit, and earned Melissa a Grammy for Female Rock Vocal.
A single off of her next album also went top 40 - I Want to Come Over.
The 90s would end with Melissa meeting her first wife, having her first set of children, and revealing their biological father to be none other than David Crosby.
I'm The Only One
Come to My Window
I Want to Come Over
Lezzibehonest (see what I did there?) - Tracy Chapman really one had one single of note in the 90s. She first performed it on SNL in December 1989, but it didn't appear one an album until 1995; once it was released as a single, it peaked at number three (just like Fast Car). It earned four Grammy nominations (Record, Song of The Year, Female Rock Vocal Performance and Rock Song), winning the last one. It is STILL played recurrently.
Michelle Lynn Johnson - or Me'Shell N'degeocello if you're nasty. Born in Germany, raised in DC; by the eighties, Me'Shell had thrown off her government name and had chosen one that, in Swahili, means "free like a bird." She also got heavily involved in the local D.C. circuit, playing bass in bands (she tried out to replace the bassist in In Living Colour, but was rejected for a MAN.) In the mid-90s, she was one of the first artists to sign to Madonna's new label, Maverick. (She signed before Alanis did!)
Her first single, If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night), didn't set the charts alight - but it did earn her a Female Video nod at the VMAs.
She did get a big hit with a John Mellencamp collaboration, a cover of a classic Van Morrison tune:
Another cover, this time of Bill Withers, brought her a number one on the Dance charts:
Then Me'Shell became too much of an artist for the masses - the lead single from her next album was called Levitticus:******! The video was BANNED by BET, and barely played by MTV. Shame.
If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night)
Wild Night
Who is He (and What is He to You?)
If you need any further proof that MTV will never be cooler than it was in the early '90s: a VMA nomination for Me'Shell N'degeocello.
The next woman WON Female Video a year before Me'Shell was nominated. Like, why can't this happen now?
k.d. lang (Kathryn Dawn, if you really wanted to know) - one of Canada's most unsung exports. By the late 80s, she was already a Country sensation in her homeland, and had won a Grammy or two here - although she was really more of the Kacey Musgraves of her time - the critical/peer favorite, who US Country radio stayed away from. (Hmm, wonder why?) One of her last full through country singles was released in 1990 - Luck in My Eyes.
Her first "pop" release, Ingenue, actually had more of a cabaret feel. She would get her first Grammy nomination in the pop field for Miss Chatelaine. It was a satirical look at her image, and how it differed from those who were more traditionally feminine:
But her most signature track would be Constant Craving. Still languidly gorgeous to this day.
The next artist has never been "confirmed" as a member of the LGBTQ community, but ... come on.
Dionne Farris, a Jersey girl. Looking to get into the business, she agreed to be a guest in the hip-hop collective Arrested Development; she was the vocalist behind many of their biggest singles, and propelled them to win the Grammy for Best New Artist. She also wrote with Jermaine Dupri, and sang background for the likes of Xscape and El Debarge. But it wasn't for her, and right as they were about to hit the stage in Atlanta, Dionne left Arrested Development for good.
It took a while to put out her own music, but the first single she released became a smash. I Know hit number two on Adult Contemporary radio, number one on Pop radio, and number four overall.
She had another hit with a contribution off of the love.jones soundtrack, a cover called Hopeless.
But sadly, music tastes were changing, and Dionne got lost in the shuffle.
Tracy Chapman
Paula Cole
Shawn Colvin
Deborah Cox
Melissa Etheridge
Faith Evans
Dionne Farris
Amy Grant
Lauryn Hill
Natalie Imbruglia
k.d. lang
Lisa Loeb
Natalie Merchant
Monifah
Mya
Me'Shell N'degeocello
Robyn
Robin S.
Rockell
So - nineteen women, sixty five songs. I'll update the OP/post the Spotify playlist in a bit, but y'all can start listening now!
Shame "Ghetto Supastar" doesn't count for her here, though... 
