essence.com - To get a Black woman's attention, an artist better put their all into a song and sing about our struggles, our triumphs, our pain, and our immeasurable joy. In other words, they better sang their hearts out. In celebration of Black History Month and the Grammys this Sunday, we put together a list of 25 albums every Black woman needs in the soundtrack to her life:



Mary J. Blige: "My Life"
Lauryn Hill: "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill"
The "Waiting to Exhale" Soundtrack
India. Arie: "Acoustic Soul"
Nina Simone: "I Put a Spell on You"
Janet Jackson: "Control"
Alicia Keys: “The Diary of Alicia Keys”
Stevie Wonder: "Songs in the Key of Life"
Erykah Badu: "Mama's Gun"
Aretha Franklin: "I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You"
Sade: "The Best of Sade"
Whitney Houston: “Whitney Houston”
Toni Braxton: "Toni Braxton"
Maxwell: "Urban Hang Suite"
Marvin Gaye: "Here, My Dear"
Mariah Carey: “MTV Unplugged”
Jill Scott: "Beautifully Human Vol. 2"
Adele: "21"
TLC: "Ooooh on the TLC Tip"
Jazmine Sullivan: "Fearless"
Janelle Monae: "The ArchAndroid"
Chaka Khan: "Greatest Hits"
Beyonce: "I Am…Sasha Fierce"
Anita Baker: "Rapture"
Queen Latifah: "All Hail The Queen"

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