MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Anybody hear anything that makes them want to holler?
(LAUGHTER)
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Listening to Michel (ph) always makes me want to holler.
MARTIN: Guess not. It's too early for that. OK.
INSKEEP: All right. Fine.
MARTIN: Well, our next story is all about how screams have infiltrated pop songs by women. NPR's Mansee Khurana has this report.
MANSEE KHURANA, BYLINE: I noticed a trend on TikTok. People were showing off their outfits to the sound of "Von Dutch," a song by Charli XCX.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "VON DUTCH")
CHARLI XCX: (Singing) I'm just living that life.
KHURANA: But also, they were using the song to just...
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "VON DUTCH A G COOK REMIX FEATURING ADDISON RAE")
ADDISON RAE: (Screaming).
KHURANA: ...Scream, the way singer Addison Rae does on this remixed version of "Von Dutch." That scream reminded me of another summer pop anthem that was all over TikTok - Chapell Roan's "Femininomenon." The song's chorus begins with a vulgar, but somewhat quiet refrain.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FEMININOMENON")
CHAPPELL ROAN: Can you play a song with a [expletive] beat?
KHURANA: That turns into an all-out frustrated yell by the end.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FEMININOMENON")
ROAN: Did you hear me? Play the [expletive] beat.
KHURANA: And as I started digging around, I just kept finding more...
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DANG")
CAROLINE POLACHEK: (Screaming).
KHURANA: ...And more...
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PTOLEMAEA")
ETHEL CAIN: (Screaming).
KHURANA: ...And more examples.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ALL-AMERICAN BITCH")
OLIVIA RODRIGO: (Screaming).
KHURANA: All of these songs were released by women in the last two years - Caroline Polachek, Ethel Cain and Olivia Rodrigo. When she performed the song in Dallas, Texas, Rodrigo encouraged concertgoers to think about something that made them really mad.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
RODRIGO: And you're going to scream your heart out about it. Can you do that for me?
(CHEERING)
KHURANA: So what's with all the yelling these days? I asked Jennifer Cox, a psychotherapist from the United Kingdom. She's the author of the book "Women Are Angry: Why Your Rage Is Hiding And How To Let It Out." She says that holding on to anger can lead to increased levels of cortisol, the stress hormone.
JENNIFER COX: We know that those chemicals aren't healthy to be sat around for long periods of time. We need to burn through those chemicals as fast as we can. We need to get them out, because - and it isn't appropriate to start fighting somebody that is making us angry.
KHURANA: But most women don't really get a chance to let their anger out.
COX: Typically, men externalize their anger. Women are often the victims of that, whereas we haven't been very interested, as a society, in where women put their anger. And there isn't really a vocabulary for them to express that in.
KHURANA: And when female artists create songs about things they're angry about, they can find their voices in their screams.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "UR MUM")
WET LEG: I've been practicing my longest and loudest scream.
KHURANA: Mansee Khurana, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "UR MUM")
WET LEG: One, two, three - (screaming).
INSKEEP: (Laughter, and imitating scream) Michel, are you going to join us in a scream?
MARTIN: I...
INSKEEP: She's like, no.
MARTIN: It's too early for all that.
INSKEEP: No, too dignified for that.
MARTIN: It's too early for all that.
INSKEEP: OK (laughter).
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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