International Artist- Megan Thee Stallion

Megan Pete (born February 15, 1995), known professionally as Megan Thee Stallion (pronounced “Megan The Stallion”), is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. She released the EP Tina Snow in June 2018. She signed to 300 Entertainment in November 2018, making her the first female rapper on the label. Her first full-length project, Fever, was released on May 17, 2019.

Career

In 2016, she released her first mixtape, Rich Ratchet, and her first single “Like a Stallion” was produced by TA. The next year, she released her first EP, Make It Hot. One song on the EP, “Last Week in H TX”, has four million YouTube views. In 2017, she released a video, “Stalli (Freestyle)” that is a rework of XXXTentacion’s “Look At Me!”

In early 2018, Megan Thee Stallion signed with 1501 Certified Ent., an indie label in Houston owned by former baseball player Carl Crawford. She then performed at SXSW in March 2018. In June of that year she released a 10-song EP under the label called Tina Snow. The EP is named after her alter ego, who she describes as “a more raw version” of herself. She stated in an interview with Mic.com, that she is not afraid to talk about sexuality, nor does she feel boxed in to either the “intelligent” or “freak” dichotomy. The EP was positively received by critics: Eric Torres of Pitchfork.com wrote “she provided plenty of freak anthems with quotable lyrics to wield against ain’t-shit men”; Revolt referred to her flow as “effortless”. Nandi Howard of The Fader referred to her ability to rap with “electrifying pace and precision”.

In November 2018, she announced that she had signed with 300 Entertainment; she is the first female rapper to be signed by the label.

In 2019, she released the single “Big Ole Freak” from her EP Tina Snow, and also filmed a music video for the track. The single “Is it Love This Time” is sampled throughout the single. On April 15, 2019, Megan Thee Stallion achieved her first entry on Billboard Hot 100 at number 99 with her single “Big Ole Freak”.

Her first full-length mixtape, Fever, was released on May 17, 2019. The album received generally positive reviews. Taylor Crumpton of Pitchfork.com rated the album 8/10 and wrote in the review, “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.” The album was selected as a NYT Critic’s Pick, and reviewer Jon Caramanica wrote, “Before this album, Megan Thee Stallion’s standout moments have come via radio-appearance freestyles — a familiar proving ground for rappers of an earlier generation, and one where she has thrived…“Fever,” however, is more cohesive, polished and forceful than her previous releases. The production — especially the songs by Lil Ju (“Ratchet,” “Cash ____,” “Realer”) — is ominous and spacious, a foundation that’s sturdy and not distracting.” Writing for Fader, Amani Bin Shikhan stated in a review, “That’s the magic of her appeal, and the magic of Fever: listening to Thee Stallion feels like listening to the advice of your most entertaining girlfriend, lovingly scolding you to both get your shit together and fuck it up for a real one.”

On May 21, 2019, she released the music video for the opening album track “Realer”, which is inspired by blaxploitation film style. On June 20, 2019, she was announced to be one of eleven artists included in the 12th edition of XXL’s “Freshman Class”. Her freestyle in the cypher was praised.

On August 2, 2019, A Black Lady Sketch Show premiered on HBO; the show uses Megan Thee Stallion’s song “Hot Girl” in the opening title sequence. In September 2019, Megan Thee Stallion signed with Roc Nation.