In 1999, music fans were knee-deep in pop princesses. You couldn’t turn on MTV without seeing bare mid-riffs chiseled to perfection and long sweeping locks of blonde hair. It was enough to make anyone who wasn’t a size zero feel less than beautiful. Like a breath of fresh air came “Unpretty”. The hit song by hip-hop/R&B trio TLC is a positive, confidence-booster. It talks about the need to fit into society’s standards for beauty and the pressures that people put on each other to fit the mold. The chorus promises that hair extensions and lots of make-up can’t hide feeling ugly on the inside and it’s never worth trading in who you really are for what someone else thinks you should be.

-J. Jones