Bebe Rexha’s list of smash hits over the past decade, paired with her genre fluidity from country, to pop, to now EDM, makes her one of those interesting artists always exciting to hear from. Seeing her as the opener for a few stops on the Jonas Brothers’ 2019 Happiness Begins Tour made me realize how many of her songs I actually already knew (and liked), not to mention how energetic of a performer she is. Her stage presence oozes confidence, from the way she moves her body to the effortless way she perfectly belts out every note in her songs. Aka, she knows she’s good, so why not flaunt it?

Her sophomore album, Better Mistakes, even follows that aura, meaning she’s owning the mistakes she’ll continue to make, but this time around they are even better for her growth. The song titled the same name shows her battling with the “I should do ___” expectations from others, and rejecting it for what she actually wants to do. It’s clear she’s in total control, right where she wants to be, but the takeaway of most of the new songs is just as easy to decipher: she wants to be sure the partner she chooses won’t screw her over. The lead single, ‘Sacrifice’, is the fast-paced dance track earworm she claims to have always wanted to make. While its music video takes on a more imaginative tone with vampires as the key players, it just goes to show her passionate intensity with her art; when she commits, she really goes there and follows through.

Since her debut album three years prior, she’s blossomed as a woman and singer-songwriter, determined to not be just that female artist you immediately associate with other acts. With talent like hers, she really does deserve to be the center of attention. The new album still boasts a bevy of edgier collaborations though, such as Rick Ross, Travis Barker, Lil Uz Vert, and Ty Dolla $ign, and she even experiments with a raspy tone of voice on ‘Death Row’, because why not.

From the beginning stages of the Better Mistakes creative process, Bebe declared it would have feminist nods, saying, “everything I have been writing now is very empowering and in-your-face and I am really excited about it.” The track ‘Die For A Man’ certainly delivered on that badass anthem promise, declaring that she “wouldn’t even cry” about suddenly being single, and “would never change who I am/even if I loved him, hopelessly adored him/you should know that I would never die for a man.” I know that’s right.

While we can all hope to get to a point in our lives where we simply label our own missteps as “better”, the biggest lessons sung here are to have fun and put yourself first. Will do, Bebe!