Get To Know Megan Thee Stallion
by Alessandra Guarneri
Megan Thee Stallion, better known in the hip-hop world as Meg The Stallion, began sharing her talent online at only 21 years old when people around the world were instantly captivated by her talent. One video, in particular, of the rapper delivering her own lyrics over Drake’s “4pm in Calabasas” gained popularity rather quickly. It was initially released on social media where she rapped some memorable freestyle verses in a packed cipher. One lyric became a fan-favorite: “If he asks for my number, it’s Chanel number 9.” The freestyle went viral on social media and Megan’s talent was shared with millions online through retweets, shares and tagged comments.
Although this became one way that Megan Thee Stallion was promoted as a rapper, her rise to fame did not happen overnight. Megan grew up in the hip-hop scene as a Houston-native with an intense passion for freestyling. Her mother, Holly Thomas, rapped under the name “Holly-Wood” and introduced Megan to hip-hop at a young age. Thomas brought her daughter to her recording sessions in lieu of taking her to daycare. And it wasn’t long before Megan took an interest in rapping herself, recognizing it as a form of personal expression. By age 16, she began writing her own raps and sharing them with her mother. However, Holly Thomas believed that Megan’s lyrics were a bit suggestive for her age and told her that she needed to wait until she was at least 21 years old before pursuing her career in the field.
This requirement led Megan Thee Stallion to the cipher that launched her into the viral online music scene. She ended up posting her freestyles on Instagram during college and continuing to work on original music in order to balance school with her greatest passion. As a result of her rise in popularity, Megan took some time off of school to focus on building her career. This time allowed her to establish herself in a competitive industry and return to college afterward. Currently, she is continuing her studies as a third-year student at Texas Southern University. By balancing her career in the music industry as a college student, Megan has inspired and proven that women can truly do it all without any barriers.
In a male-dominated industry, especially when talking about hip-hop, Megan Thee Stallion has managed to reach an impressive level of success at only 24 years old. When her EP Tina Snow gained mainstream attention in 2018, her recognition in the American music industry immediately skyrocketed. She eventually signed a deal with 300 Entertainment as a result and became the first female rapper to land a contract with the label.
In 2019, “Big Ole Freak” was released as the first single off of Tina Snow. A music video accompanied the track and it earned her first spot on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 99. It went on to peak at 65. Megan continued releasing original music when her full-length mixtape, Fever, was released on May 17, 2019. It was praised by several critics, including Pitchfork’s Taylor Crumpton, who stated: “Megan’s delivery of perfectly executed bars are comparable to successions from a fully automatic machine gun; a carefully studied aim of fiery stanzas that could only be carried by a rapper with extensive knowledge of the genre’s early practices of battle rap.”
Her year continued being a big year for Megan when she was named one of the artists included in the 12th edition of XXL’s “Freshman Class.” And less than two months later, she was featured on Chance The Rapper’s track “Handsome” on his debut studio album The Big Day. This exposed her talents to an even greater audience. These accomplishments, however, can now be considered honorable mentions after Megan redefined the term “hot girl summer.” On August 9, 2019, the track “Hot Girl Summer” featuring Nicki Minaj and Ty Dolla $ign was released. The track was a play off of Megan’s viral “hot girl summer” meme and within weeks it reached number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Megan’s most successful hit. It now has over 80 million streams on Spotify.
Most recently, Megan Thee Stallion signed a management deal with Roc Nation in September of 2019. Her latest track “Ride Or Die” was featured on the Queen & Slim soundtrack. Megan Thee Stallion is joining a powerful generation of female rappers, such as Cardi B and Nicki Minaj, by breaking gender barriers in the hip-hop genre and music industry. Her work and achievements over the past two years have set her up for an influential career.