Girls Got Soul

Forget colour or creed . . . the only criteria an artist must satisfy to feature among these Essentials are, firstly, possession of female genes and, most importantly, an inexhaustible well of soul. Amy Winehouse, who puts a modern spin on the Motown vibe with "Rehab," has soul in buckets, and the same can be said of Deni Hines, who stamps an ownership claim all over "Son of a Preacher Man." There's more of what these girls have got . . . in Next Steps.

A couple of British soul sisters make a big splash here: Ms. Dynamite — a Londoner of Scottish and Jamaican descent — fills "Put Him Out" with righteous indignation, encouraging all women to take a stand against heartless, selfish men; and Joss Stone treads a similar lyrical path on "You Had Me" (from 2004's outstanding Mind, Body & Soul) as she vows to get rid of the man who's messin' with her mind. Soul is a gift that can never be bought . . . unless you count purchasing our Deep Cuts.

American soul girl Nikka Costa is better known over here, and in Europe, than she is in the U.S.A. — Frank Sinatra, once a friend of her music producer dad Don Costa, was her godfather, and some of that old blue-eyed magic appears to have found its way into tracks like "Everybody Got Their Something." The former Mrs. Biggie Smalls, Faith Hill, gives "Mesmerized" the retro soul-funk treatment.

Some women sing with unbridled passion, but it's only when a hint a pain appears between the cracks that an artist's soul can truly show itself — and these girls deliver that passion-pain thing every time. It's there for all to hear on the live version of "Misty Blue," which Mary J. Blige dedicates to her mother (they've had a notoriously strained relationship); it's also there in Carleen Anderson's cover of Paul McCartney's emotionally complex "Maybe I'm Amazed"; and it's there in the chokes and stumbles painted in sweet-soul melancholy by Macy Gray on "I Try." No doubt about it — these girls got soul.