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At the same time, she's also shown her capacity to operate irrespective of its borders, an unusual achievement irrespective of her gender. Spalding has undeniably made her mark within that male-dominated, musically conservative field. But the upset was less shocking for the vitriol of spurned Beliebers- of which there was plenty - than as the first and only time the award has been given to someone who self-identifies as jazz artist. No one expected her to win, least of all herself. Spalding, then 26 years old and little-known outside jazz circles, had been nominated in the coveted best new artist category alongside Drake, Mumford & Sons, Florence + the Machine and Justin Bieber, the obvious favorite that night. Pop fans of a certain age may only remember Esperanza Spalding as a spoiler, the interloper who once robbed an obsessively worshiped teen idol of his Grammy. Our 25 Most Influential Women Musicians of the 21st Century illuminate its complexities. What is a woman? It's a timeless question on the surface, but one deeply engaged with whatever historical moment in which it is asked. As always, women forge new pathways in sound today, they also make waves under the surface of culture by confronting, in their music, the increased fluidity of "woman" itself. Some rethink the building legacies of popular artists others celebrate those who create within subcultures, their innovations rippling outward over time. The 25 arguments writers make in these pieces challenge the usual definitions of influence. This series of essays takes on another task. Our list of the 200 Greatest Songs By Women+ offers a soundtrack to a new century. This year, Turning the Tables considers how women and non-binary artists are shaping music in our moment, from the pop mainstream to the sinecures of jazz and contemporary classical music. The Turning the Tables project seeks to suggest alternatives to the traditional popular music canon, and to do more than that, too: to stimulate conversation about how hierarchies emerge and endure.
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