Final BB Year-end charts '13-'22.xlsx

The American political landscape favors autonomy and independence while dismissing vulnerability and dependency. This article examines the lyrical expressions of autonomy and vulnerability through gender, race, and genre on the Billboard Year-end charts from 2013 to 2022. In this study, autonomy and vulnerability are categorized into four categories: socioeconomics, sex, violence, and emotion. Overall, men perform socioeconomic autonomy more than women, but among men, white men are more likely to express emotional vulnerability than men of color. Conversely, women mention emotional autonomy and sexual vulnerability the most in their songs. This research hopes to show the multifaceted meaning of autonomy and vulnerability and change the sentiment toward these words by providing a deeper context behind the most well-received songs in America to see what prompts artists to be autonomous/vulnerable.