I have never attended Coachella, a fact that I am still bitter about. But the plane to Indio, California! The investment in a festival wardrobe that I'll wear for only three days! The cost of the ticket! It's an ordeal, even if the payoff of incredible music, Instagrammable food, and oodles of celebrity sightings is undeniably worth it.
Obviously, there's no replacement for Coachella — until, perhaps, in 30 years, when the Immersive Coachella Experience comes streaming to my personal VR device (a girl can dream). But even if you can't attend the festival, you can still benefit from it. By looking at this year's artist lineup, you might just find your new all-time favorite singer. After all, Spotify is a much more feasible investment than Coachella.
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This year's Coachella festival will feature a record number of women artists. According to Pass the Aux, of the 165 acts on the Coachella lineup, 55 feature women prominently. This brings the percentage of women artists up to 33% — certainly an uptick from past Coachella festivals, which, at the very highest, featured 25% women artists.
Of course, Coachella 2018 is differentiated from every other year's festival for another major reason: Beyoncé. After cancelling her appearance at last year's festival due to her pregnancy, Beyoncé is returning to headline Coachella 2018. Beyoncé will be joined by other chart-topping powerhouses, including Cardi B, SZA, Haim, and St. Vincent.
Odds are, you've heard of those artists already, if not already played them on repeat. But what about the other acts that will be in at the festival? Coachella features women artists across all genres, so there's something for everyone. Indie rockers across the spectrum, from the ethereal Angel Olson to the Regrettes, whose music strums with electric guitar. There are folk rockers, too, like First Aid Kit. Rappers, like Kamaiya and DeJ Loaf. Alt R&B artists, like Kelela and Jorja Smith. Sister duos, like Halle x Chloe and Ibeyi. Exuberant power pop singers, like Sigrid. And of course, there's lots of EDM: Check out yaeji and Hannah Wants for a start.
So today, we propose a challenge. Leave your Spotify Discover algorithm behind, and listen to our playlist of the women of Coachella instead. We're celebrating them with a round-up of their best songs — one from each of the 55 artists that feature women. If you're lucky enough to be attending the festival, which takes place the second and third weekends of April, then these are the artists you should keep on your radar. If you're not, you can still reap the benefits of Coachella programmers' tastes. Lurking in this playlist might be your next favorite song (take it from me — I've listened to Marian Hill's "I Want You" approximately 20 times today).