Alpha

Leading Alpha this week is Sabrina Carpenter’s “Please Please Please,” the second single from her recently announced sixth album, Short n’ Sweet, due out in August. The track sees Carpenter grappling with a difficult partner. Her friends have made it clear they don’t approve, but she’s trying to trust her intuition. She attempts to convince her partner (and herself): “Whatever devil’s inside you/Don’t let him out tonight,” asking him not to “bring me to tears,” and later puts her foot down with “If you wanna go and be stupid, don’t/Do it in front of me.” Many of the extraordinary artists on this playlist are, indeed, history-makers and game-changers. But Alpha’s more than that. These songs touch on every facet of what womanhood might look and feel like, to one woman—or many. Here, you’ll find love and intimacy, hope and validation, intensity and rawness. It’s a place for starting conversations, uplifting one another, and challenging notions through the simple matter of being. Now, that’s real power.