Star contributor Callie is back with this week’s playlist, and it’s dedicated to boosting your mood. While many excellent anthems of empowerment come in the form of breakup songs, confidence can and should be forged outside the confines of romance. These songs celebrate self-definition that stands on its own, completely separate from your relationship to any other person.

  1. “My Song 5” – HAIM. The gritty snarl of “Honey, I’m not your honey pie,” followed by a melodic, badass guitar solo, is one of my favorite transitions in all of music history. “My Song 5” was always destined to be a standout in Haim’s discography — thanks to its pulverant, lurching beat — but its embrace of female strength and individualism really pushes it over the top.  
  2. “Dancing With Myself” – The Knocks. While this song has been labeled as describing a breakup, the lyrics are vague enough and the vibe is buoyant enough that it effectively dodges any negativity. The best thing about this track, the playlist’s namesake, is the versatility. It’s perfect for pregaming a night at the club — but also perfect for taking yourself on a walk, reveling in your own cocktail of emotions. As The Knocks have written, “One of our favorite things to do in New York is walk down the street at night with headphones in. This is when we dance with ourselves.”
  3. “Can’t Get Enough Of Myself (feat. BC Unidos)” – Santigold. There is an unmistakable irony in Santigold’s album 99 Cents, a critical edge when appraising the commodification of self-care — but that needn’t take away from the value of unapologetic self-worship that we hear in “Can’t Get Enough Of Myself.” I admire any woman who freely claims, “All I wanna do is what I do well / Ain’t a gambler, but honey, I’d put money on myself.” I’m inclined to agree that this brand of vainglory is much better for your health.
  4. “Just A Stranger (feat. Steve Lacy)” – Kali Uchis. The protagonist role that Kali Uchis assumes in this track is focused, determined, and brazenly attentive to her own self-interest. Rather than feeding the typical “gold digger” stereotype, Kali and her velvet-voiced collaborator upend expectations and recast this woman as a hurricane with impeccable survival instincts. Plus, the song is an absolute bop.
  5. “Rose Golden” – Kid Cudi, Willow. Kid Cudi and Willow — two enigmatic architects of intimate, darkly endearing music — are the perfect team for this track. “Rose Golden,” a color whose name presumably combines both emotion and greatness, is about believing in yourself. Cudi and Willow know they’re on the path to success, and a combination of confidence and independence shines through as the reason why.
  6. “Fall In Line” – Christina Aguilera, Demi Lovato. This duet is a masterful condemnation of sexism, societal expectations, and underestimation of oneself. It embodies the trailblazing defiance of both Christina Aguilera and Demi Lovato — both of whom created careers for themselves, swerved into their own lanes, and used their platforms to promote empowerment — as women who refuse to water themselves down.
  7. “Best Life (feat. Chance the Rapper)” – Cardi B. Cardi B may be the ideal vehicle to deliver this playlist’s theme. She also might be the only person who could claim she’s a mixture of Big Pop, Tupac, and Machiavelli, as she does in “Best Life,” and have it totally make sense. This song highlights the fact that she’s a hardworking woman who defies definition, who is able to transform and occupy many identities at will — all while maintaining her essential personality, humor, and sense of self.
  8. “Don’t You Wait” – Solange. This song is an impassioned defense of self-expression — a concept that Solange embodies and embraces, completely on her own terms. It’s a response to critics who have asked her to hold back, who have complained about injecting cultural, racial, and political consciousness into her songs, and it’s a clarification that she will write about whatever she damn well pleases. As Solange has noted, the “overall essence” of “Don’t You Wait” is evolution and healing, despite what people — and perhaps, sometimes, even friends — may want or expect.
  9. “Yes I’m Changing” – Tame Impala. This is simply a gorgeous, ethereal, intimate ode to evolution and self-improvement. The entire album describes a process of transformation, which is sometimes painful yet incredibly fulfilling — but “Yes I’m Changing” stands out for its raw, stream-of-conscious-like conception. Tame Impala’s front man Kevin Parker has said that he doesn’t even remember writing it — which, to me, indicates an intensely personal honesty drawn straight from the gut.
  10. “Consideration” – Rihanna, SZA. We all know that Rihanna and SZA are two women whose prowess would be insulted by simple praise, so I’ll let this song — what is arguably the thesis of Rihanna’s entire career — speak for itself: “I’ve got to do things my own way, darling.”