Hey guys, it's Nessa again! I just wanted to thank everyone for the lovely comments; they mean so much to me (:
I am writing this blog post about my favorite musicians/bands and how they inspire me to be confident in myself and keep going about life even if I get hate.
One band I really like is Fifth Harmony. Fifth Harmony is a girl group consisting of Camila Cabello, Lauren Jauregui, Normani Kordei Hamilton, Ally Brooke Hernandez, and Dinah Jane Hansen. Being an autistic kid, I literally know everything there is to know about 5H, but I would put you all to sleep by telling you everything. I'll give you the condensed version. Every single member of the band speaks out for gender equality, LGBTQ rights, mental health awareness, and generally being a good person to other people. They are all women of color who came from humble backgrounds and, with perseverance, determination, and starpower, rose to the top of the charts in 2015 with their global smash hit, "Worth It." They also have a song called "Brave Honest Beautiful" about being your true self and loving yourself no matter what.
Fifth Harmony is also extremely relatable to young people, especially those with challenges in their lives, like myself. One of the members of the band, Camila, immigrated here at the age of 6 with her family, not knowing a word of English and a total of $200 in her mother's back pocket. She taught herself English by listening to music and watching TV. She got bullied because she was an immigrant and she was shy and quirky. Now, she uses her fame to speak out for important issues, and tells us how much she loves us multiple times every day. All five girls in the band are super funny, kind, smart, and talented, and listening to them never ceases to put a smile on my face.
My other favorite band is a British girl group called Little Mix. Little Mix consists of Jesy Nelson, Jade Thirlwall, Perrie Edwards, and Leigh-Anne Pinnock. They are an extremely prolific band, having put out three albums and gone on multiple tours around the world in the past four years. They won the British X Factor in 2011, which gave them a springboard to global superstardom. Little Mix is very different from Fifth Harmony in a lot of ways, but diversity is what makes music so awesome. LM is a lot more like the "traditional" bubblegum-pop teen band, but they do it well, and their harmonies are ABSOLUTE DIVINE PERFECTION. Watching their videos gives me the impression that Jade, Jesy, Leigh-Anne, and Perrie are just four normal BFFs that somehow got into singing and inspiring girls all around the world.
Like Fifth Harmony, Little Mix's main goal is to help young girls feel more confident in themselves. All of the members of Little Mix have admitted to feeling huge amounts of insecurity during childhood because of being bullied and other personal struggles. Jesy was the target of an incredibly cruel social-media campaign that tried to put down her body image while LM was competing on X Factor. Even though the girls had only known each other for a few weeks at that point, Jade, Leigh-Anne, and Perrie showed their full support and compassion towards their bandmate. If you watch just one performance from these four English powerhouses, you will practically be able to sense the confidence exuding from every note they sing, and whenever I need to feel more confident in myself, I listen to their music.
Both bands have served an important role in the past few years of my life. Whenever I am in a moment of adversity, I ask myself, What would the girls in Fifth Harmony and/or Little Mix do in this position? I remind myself that no matter what happens, they will always love all of their fans, myself included, and all they want is for me to be happy and comfortable in my own skin.
Fifth Harmony and Little Mix, if any of you are out there reading this right now, I want to say a huge THANK YOU on behalf of myself and the fans. Because of your music, I learned that there is always hope for a brighter future and that I should never, ever give up on chasing my dreams. You gave me the strength to continue on when I felt like giving up, and you are always there for me in your music. Your contributions to the music industry and the world in general are appreciated and much-needed by millions of girls in every corner of the globe. Keep doing what you're doing, and I will support all of you no matter what.
Love, a devoted Harmonizer and Mixer,
Nessa
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