Houston native Megan Thee Stallion for Billboard

2019 is the year of Megan Thee Stallion. Rapping for years while simultaneously working towards a degree in health administration at Texas Southern University, Megan Thee Stallion dropped her first EP, Make it Hot in 2017. The next year, she released her second EP Tina Snow in June, a collection which shot the rapper into up-and-coming stardom from being relatively unknown, sans for a video of her in a cypher that went viral in 2013. Tina Snow is not simply just a title, it is also a persona. This marks the beginning of Megan Thee Stallion adoption of characters and cross cultural references within her work. The cover art for Tina Snow is intended to mimic the look of a Playboy Magazine. As a persona, Tina Snow is a play on Tony Snow, a character embodied by her favorite rapper Pimp C. Megan Thee Stallion describes Tina Snow as “the pimp and the mack” and that she is intended to make listers feel “cool as hell” when they hear her.

On no song is the aspect of cool more present than on Tina Snow’s seminal track “Big Ole Freak.” Using a sample from the 1992 R&B track “Is it Love This Time?” by Immature, “Big Ole Freak” is a smooth and sexy track that encompasses not only Megan Thee Stallion’s sensuality, but embraces self confidence as well. The success of the Tina Snow EP and the track “Big Ole Freak” led the rapper to sign onto 300 Entertainment near the end of 2018, making her the first female rapper to sign onto the label.

With a record label behind her and a rapidly growing fanbase of “Hotties,” admirers and skeptics of the Houston sensation have been eagerly awaiting the release of her next project. Their wait was over last week when Megan Thee Stallion dropped the fourteen song collection entitled Fever last week. Although several publications have considered Fever to be her debut studio album, Megan Thee Stallion asserts on Twitter that the project is just another mixtape. Whether you consider Fever to be an EP, mixtape, or full length debut album, one thing is certain: The project is a banger.

The aesthetic of Fever makes a cross cultural reference to the film genre of blaxploitation. Popular in the 1970s, blaxploitation films were essentially crime/action/drama pieces that focused on pushers, pimps, and other gritty aspects of the inner city lives of black Americans at the time. One of the most prominent performers within the blaxploitation was Pam Grier. Pam Grier played several characters throughout the 70s with more or less the same archetype: A jaded independent woman with a desire for revenge and undeniable sex appeal. Megan Thee Stallion embraces Pam Grier's energy on the cover of Fever, designed to look just like a movie poster from the blaxploitation genre and era.

Cover art for Fever (2019) Movie poster for Coffy (1973) starring Pam Grier

On Fever, Megan Thee Stallion introduces a new persona she calls “Hot Girl Meg.” If Tina Snow is meant to be a pimp and a playa, Hot Girl Meg is meant to be wild child. Describing Hot Girl Meg as a “college party girl,” Megan Thee Stallion maintains her rep of rapping about sex, confidence, luxury, and hard work on Fever. Opening with the hard-hitting track “Realer,” Megan Thee Stallion lets everyone know that she is, in essence, nothing to fuck with. Accused of things like “not being about” the lifestyle she raps of and getting plastic surgery to attain her hourglass figure, Hot Girl Meg makes it clear that she does not care about what others think of her. She raps the song in a lower, huskier vocal register to accentuate her toughness. On the chorus she spits, “Fuck all the critics and fuck how they feel” then telling the same critics not to worry about her a few bars later because she “Ain't worried ‘bout you (Bitch!)”

On the next track “Hood Rat Shit,” Megan Thee Stallion delivery style changes. Her voice is higher, her flow is fast, the lyrics are repetitive, and her ad libs are more present. This style is the most indicative of her “Hot Girl Meg” persona. It’s pumped up, a little bratty, and little annoying, but in the best way possible. The subject matter of the track is just like the title suggests. It is a song dedicated to hanging out with friends, partying, drinking, and getting into all kinds of trouble, just like a college party girl does.

For rest of the project, Megan Thee Stallion shifts mainly between the vocal styles of the first two tracks and subject matter stays largely within the vein of cockiness, sexual appeal, friendship, and newly attained riches. Features on the album include up-and-coming rapper Da Baby on the track “Cash Shit” and Juicy J on the track “Simon Says.” Both are super fun and add another level of hypeness to Fever. Megan Thee Stallion has great chemistry with both rappers, creating two tracks that help to diversify an album that can err on the side of sounding identical at times.

Fever is a great project. Megan Thee Stallion is a strong rapper with a clear artistic vision and style that will only continue to attract fans and haters alike. Although it runs longer than it needs to, Fever has a good array of standout tracks perfect for those with plans to act up all summer 2019. This is only the beginning for the premire Houston hottie. Her talent extends outside the gamuet of “female rap” and should not be discounted as such. Megan Thee Stallion can hold her own in the rap game and as she continues to refine her skill, she will only get better and better.