Alicia Keys has stressed the importance of “feminine energy” in the current political climate.
The classically-trained pianist and pop singer, 39, said she wrote songs about female empowerment to remind herself she is “special”.
The Grammy-winning artist also called for “drastic change” during an interview with Clash magazine.
She told the publication: “Every time I’ve written a song that represents female empowerment, I never knew I was writing it. But I love that I’m the person that wrote Girl On Fire, Superwoman, Woman’s Worth.
“It’s always been because I’ve needed a push, I’ve needed to remember that I’m special, to recall that I have that strength.
“At this time in the world we’re really seeing how important the feminine energy is.
“It’s so important for balance, it’s so important for everything. And it’s definitely happening – that’s why we have to go through all this bullshit.
“It’s time for drastic change, drastic. I mean if a woman was running the country, would this shit be going on?”
She said her forthcoming album, titled Alicia, would explore her evolving identity.
She said: “There’s openness, more clarity. I’ve got a bigger perception of where I want to go.
“There are all these different sounds that I love, showing all these different parts of myself… Identity, who really am I? Who are we?
“Normally we’re only intimate with a few parts of ourselves.
“I think of my own mother’s story coming up, following a dream and being a single mother and defying the odds.”
Read the full interview in Clash magazine