The Beauties of 'V Magazine's' Music Issue

Three of music's hottest women on the rise have joined Sam Smith as cover stars for V Magazine 's 2015 music issue. The magazine dropped news of the three additions to the issue today, following Smith's cover announcement yesterday. No offence Sam — I'll keep belting your songs out alone in my car as my own private shame — but these three new cover stars are infinitely more exciting. And the three musicians all look amazing in their respective shoots.

The covers are super vamp-y and dramatic, with minimal sets and wardrobe — which, of course, kept the focus on each woman's look. I mean, Jessie Ware is wonderfully brooding and glamorous in a textured leather jacket, light pink lips and simple stud earrings. Perhaps the pink lips are a nod to her collaboration with Nicki Minaj on The Pinkprint? Twigs's stunning, nearly-nude look is made up of some well-placed necklaces and skin-tone underwear. The "Two Weeks" singer's beauty game is seriously on lock with her red lips, tassel-like braids and signature embellished septum ring. Tinashe, who was styled by one of Rihanna's favorite stylists, wore black leather shorts and a furry hat. And that's about it. They're stunning shots of gorgeous, talented women.

So... I would never suggest that Twigs and Tinashe didn't have a say in how they were styled for their images — because how could we even know? But it's hard not to notice that the covers with the nearly-nude musicians both belong to women of color. In Sam Smith's cover, his body was actually hardly visible. And Ware is dressed, too. I'm 100 percent for using your own nudity for empowerment: Full stop. So I hope the decision for Twigs and Tinashe's near-nude shoots was made by the artists, and not by hyper-sexualization via the publication. Regardless of the imagery, nabbing the cover is a huge accomplishment for all three women, who I hope we all start hearing and seeing more of as a result.

Images: V Magazine