Grown Women, This Young Queen Is Here to Remind Us We Can Do Whatever We Want

If you’ve ever caught an episode of Spike TV’s Lip Sync Battle, you know it can be addictive. Based on a recurring segment on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, it premieres its fourth season Jan. 18. There’s something about watching celebrities get silly for the sake of a song that makes for irresistible entertainment.

But when the hit series spawned a pint-sized spinoff called Lip Sync Battle Shorties on Nickelodeon last fall, I shrugged it off. Maybe its current hosting team of Nick Cannon and YouTuber JoJo Siwa just felt a little less … age-appropriate than its parent show’s duo of LL Cool J and Chrissy Teigen. Plus, how good could a bunch of noncelebrity kids be?

Well, at least one is pretty phenomenal. She’s a young dancer and actress named Jené Marie, and after sleeping on her recent performance (hey—I love sleeping, period!), when a friend DM’d me a link to her super-hype rendition of Beyoncé’s “Grown Woman,” I knew it was definitely a gift I needed to keep on giving.

Ironic song choice aside, this girl’s talent is absolutely unreal; not to mention her chorus of adolescent backup dancers. Their execution is, as Bey would say, flawless—but Jené’s attitude? Pure fire, just like the Queen herself. Her confidence and pure joy are not only the hallmarks of a true entertainer but completely contagious. If you’re so inclined, you can catch her on the upcoming Step Sisters on Netflix; but in the meantime, Jené’s got that Tuesday transformational energy we could all use.

Being a grown woman myself, “I remember being young and so brave; I knew what I needed.” And on this #TransformationTuesday, I’m grateful to have a joyful reminder that I can do whatever I want. So, I’ll walk with a vengeance.