“It's pretty simple: If I don't have music pumping in my headphones, I can't work out,” Amy Shark tells Apple Music. “It's a necessity.” The Queensland singer-songwriter doesn’t just feel stronger when she’s exercising, it helps her writing process, too—so the harder she goes, the better it is. “Obviously exercise is very important for everyone, but for me I feel I have a way better creative mind after I sweat it out first thing in the morning.” Here, Shark shares the songs that get her going at the start of the day. “As you can see in my playlist, it's very R&B/rap-heavy,” she says. “I like to pretend I'm training for a big battle, so there are a lot of big, aggressive beats in there.” Check out the playlist below, and read on for more on her top tracks. Kanye West, “Power” “I usually start the morning with this song. It's a really good pace for the treadmill, and when I hear the lyric 'No one man can have all that power,’ I tend to crank up the speed and get a really fast sprint on. Something in that lyric fires me up. I love it.” A.B. Original, “2 Black 2 Strong” “Another strong jam that makes me go harder in the gym. I'm usually on the ground crunching a million sit-ups by this time. It also goes for a whole four minutes, so there's no wussing out on the reps.” Lizzo, “Truth Hurts” “Lizzo is great to break up the aggression in my workout. I'm not someone that loves to work out, so I'm usually in a pretty s****y mood when I arrive at the gym. This song balances me out and puts a positive spin on my morning. I also just feel like a total bad bitch when I'm lifting weights to this jam.” 50 Cent, “Patiently Waiting” “‘Patiently Waiting’ is literally my theme song. Every time I heard this song, even before I had had any success in music, it would keep me hungry and motivated: ‘I've been patiently waiting for a track to explode on.’ Amen, Fiddy.”