Don’t call them angels: Women in pop music

We need more all female collaborations in pop music. Do we really need to say it? We’ll say it as much as we need to.

Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus and Lana Del Rey have teamed up for “Don’t Call Me Angel.” The song will serve as the lead single for the soundtrack of the upcoming “Charlie’s Angels” remake.

When I first heard these three women were teaming up for a song, I was excited. But I was also terrified. Del Rey has such a different sound compared to Grande and Cyrus, and I was not sure how they would all fit together.

However, once the song came out, I was mostly pleased with where everyone was placed.

Cyrus fights back against the patriarchy with verses like, “All my girls successful, and you’re just our guest.”

Her voice has always had a country twang to it, but I really believe that she could sing any genre and it would work. Her lower register really comes to benefit the song as she compliments Grande’s range during their call-and-response type take on the chorus.

I need a collaborative album, stat.

Grande’s verse is … well, boring — to say the least.

Grande is, no question, the pop icon of this generation. I love her more than words can possibly say. She fares well on the chorus, and she has amazing ad-libs on the end.

But, it seems like Grande is phoning it in. Her lines blend in the background while Cyrus and Del Rey both put their own creative stamp on the song.

She gets a pass though, because she’s on a world tour. I would be exhausted, too.

Del Rey’s take on the bridge is by far the largest selling point of “Don’t Call Me Angel,”

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Max Martin’s production literally slows down to meet Del Rey so she can deliver what she does best. The song immediately sounds like something off her debut record “Born to Die,” and it is everything we need and MORE.

Her voice glides over the track while Grande offers her signature whistle tones in the back. It’s just so good. It’s unfortunate her voice becomes overshadowed by Grande and Cyrus in the final chorus.

But technicalities aside, it is so refreshing to see women in the music industry collaborate together with a purpose.

It’s no secret women are pitted against each other in every occupation, but it’s incredibly visible in the music world.

But, we’ve come a long way.

Early all-female collaborations like Christina Aguilera, P!nk, Lil Kim and Mya’s “Lady Marmalade” and Brandy and Monica’s “The Boy Is Mine” were necessary and mind-blowing at the time, but they were all about men.

Whether it was about being desirable or fighting over a man, the music was less about female collaboration and more about these women objectifying themselves.

That is until Destiny’s Child’s “Independent Women” came out.

Coincidentally, it was the lead single off the 2003 “Charlie’s Angels” film soundtrack. While this was not technically a collaboration (because Destiny’s Child was a girl group), “Independent Women” was a song about women and for women — an ultimate feminist success.

The song became a trailblazer, leading the path for collaborations like Christina Aguilera and Lil Kim’s “Can’t Hold Us Down” and Beyoncé and Lady Gaga’s “Telephone.” Finally, we had songs that were about women sticking it to the man and encouraging others to do the same.

But, we got lost in the early 2010s.

We started to backtrack with songs like, “Bang Bang” by Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj and “Work from Home” by Fifth Harmony. While catchy, they did little to expand on the feminist groundwork laid before them.

But, with the announcement of a new “Charlie’s Angels” movie, I was hoping for a reset.

And we got one.

“Don’t Call Me Angel” is just the anthem we needed for the #MeToo era, hopefully with more to come.

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

kwiatkdm@miamioh.edu