Alpha

“Say you can’t sleep, baby, I know/That’s that me espresso,” Sabrina Carpenter declares on “Espresso”, the funky, tongue-in-cheek bop that celebrates owning your hotness—and knowing someone’s into you. “[Writing it] was one of those times in my life where I thought I was the shit, and you don’t always feel that way,” the singer-songwriter told Apple Music about the track. “So you have to capture those moments when you do.” The song is a welcome boost of cheeky confidence—and the jolt we needed to walk down the street with some extra pep in our step. It’s a feeling that can bring so much internal strength—even if, as Carpenter says, it’s not a constant. That’s exactly why “Espresso” leads Alpha, a space for redefining the meaning of a woman’s power. 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.