Megan Thee Stallion’s Good News
Here are the four things that make Megan Thee Stallion great.
Firstly she’s Black. While systemic racism has historically excluded Black American women from public view, music has been an exception. Even still, rigid expectations about women of color could look, what they can say, and the material they recorded remain constant obstacles. Acts like Billie Holiday and Nina Simone broke out of these molds and chart-topping modern contemporaries Beyoncé and Rihanna have done the same. Despite these gains, there is more work to be done.
Megan Thee Stallion takes up this mantle. She says what she thinks and in the hardly equal wake of the #BLACKLIVESMATTER protests, she is the pop star her generation needs. “I want Black women to be louder, I want us to be sassier,” the Houston rapper informed GQ in an interview prior to the album’s release. “I want us to demand more, be more outspoken, keep speaking, and just keep demanding what you deserve.”
Secondly, she’s young. Megan Thee Stallion speaks for a generation who knows they are being watched. She doesn’t shy away from being sexual.
“I feel like a lot of men just get scared when they see women teaching other women to own sex for themselves,” she informed GQ. “Sex is something that should be good on both ends, but a lot of times it feels like it’s something that men use as a weapon or a threat. I feel like men think that they own sex, and I feel like it scares them when women own sex.”
Sassy, Moody, Nasty
Megan represents the views of Instagram Millennials and Generation Z. She is a response to a relentless onslaught of sexual content. Things in the world right now are, well, a little sexual. Sexuality has become a statement of positivity and empowerment. Women of color and women in general have always had sex as a means to fight back against patriarchal values. Why pretend it isn’t so?
Thirdly she’s smart. Megan Thee Stallion graduated from university at age 21. Dubbing herself Hot Girl Meg has worked her way up from the music industry’s lower ranks no small thanks to her native talent as an influencer. She has used social media, her body, her sexuality, and wit to get her music out there. Putting gender and race to the side, she is also one of the most talented rappers to emerge in recent years. She says things others think but are too afraid to say.
Real Hot Girl Sh*T
Fourthly she’s famous. There is no escaping her celebrity. Nothing captures people’s attention like crime and when Megan was shot in the foot after walking away from rapper Tory Lanez following a party at Kylie Jenner‘s Holywood home in July she became a walking tabloid news story. The event was traumatic. In fact, Megan still describes it as “the worst experience” of her life.
Fuelling public interest, legal matters relating to the shooting remain unresolved. Two days before Good News‘ release Lanez appeared before an LA court and pled “not guilty” to criminal charges related to the shooting. The exact nature of Megan and Lanez’ dispute is unknown though many fans speculate it to be sexually motivated.
Taking Shots
Good News is the story of sex, money, violence, and a good time. It is not just an album but part of the soap opera that is this rapper’s life. Good News is an album where Megan says and does what others have the “good taste” not to. And like Cardi B, who she partnered with for the chart-topping ‘WAP’, herein lays her greatest appeal.
‘Shots Fired‘ sees Megan cutting into Tory Lanez, who she labels “a pussy”. “You shot a 5’10 b*tch with a .22,” Megan raps before washing her hands on the matter (she never went to the police). Megan then dismisses haters in general. There are issues bigger than herself. “Now here we are, 2020,” she raps, “eight months later and you still ain’t got no f***in’ justice for Breonna Taylor.”
Megan’s already released Beyoncé collaboration ‘Savage‘ takes a victory lap. ‘Body‘ makes light of the absurd standards society sets for girls’ and women’s bodies. ‘Go Crazy’ vents fame-related anxieties. Stallion also delivers some lighter pop numbers like ‘Don’t Rock Me To Sleep’, ‘Intercourse’ and ‘Sugar Baby’.
Beautiful Are the Feet Who Bring Good News
2020 has been a year of bad news. Megan has a good message to deliver. Megan, like any great artist, presents herself to the brokenhearted proclaims messages of freedom and release them from darkness, comfort all who mourn, and bring joy to all who have lost hope. Good News may not right what is wrong with the world, but what this surprisingly fun debut album does provide is a much-needed respite from the difficult year that was.