32. Kamaiyah - “How Does It Feel”

Kamaiyah manages to pack a punch of a song into less than three minutes. It’s a jam that’s no joke, stuffed with earnestness and raw honesty, touching on a number of subjects without being overt or pandering, and pulling it all off with a bold and measured flow that shows a methodical confidence. It’s like every moment of Kamaiyah’s life has been bringing her to this declaration. She knows who she is, and she’s ready to take what’s hers by carving out her own destiny. She doesn’t mess around with conventions or trends, but instead hearkens back to the roots of Hip-Hop, to the swagger and desire that brought it from the bottom to the top and made it such a transformative genre to begin with. Her empowerment empowers the listener. You hear her and you believe in her, you find yourself rooting for her and desiring to not only see her success, but have her success be your own. You want more. You want to believe in yourself and be the best possible version of you. Because at its heart Hip-Hop has always been about empowerment, whether its the self or the marginalized, and this song embodies the spirit of that zeitgeist perfectly.