I don’t envy up-and-coming rappers in 2020.
On the surface it seems easier to blow up than ever before. Back in the day you had to go to a cypher in the hood and prove you could rap while risking getting robbed by some niggas dressed like Run DMC. Nowadays all you really need is one or two viral song snippets and people will call you the next big thing. It seems simple enough but this comes at the cost of people obsessing over you quicker than ever before. Once people deem you “next” they watch your every move, what shoes you bought, who you hang out with, who you’re fucking, even what’s in your contract. It’s insanity. People will turn on you on the drop of a dime, a part of me thinks that people never really supported and were hoping that you’d fail. However the real issue is that a lot of people are just bored and watching someone fail is way more fun than watching someone win. Megan Thee Stallion is going under that scrutiny now, and it really sucks. I like Megan, I think she raps well and she’s insanely attractive; she’s hot in an intimidating way. The internet mostly agrees with me, however boredom has taken over and a lack of musical output has lead to a lot of criticism. People are losing faith in Hot Girl Meg so she’s got to do something to get that faith back.
So with that said, lets get into her new EP, “Suga”.
It’s cool.
At the moment Megan is stuck in some contract disputes (who would’ve thought Carl Crawford would’ve dropped the ball AGAIN?*) that I don’t really want to go into detail about. Partially because I think contract watching is so lame, but mostly because J Prince is involved and I want NO parts of homie. J Prince is so scary Candyman wouldn’t say his name 5 times in the mirror. I digress though, “Suga” is Meg’s 3rd release and it’s pretty ok. Megan Thee Stallion can rap really well and she’s amazing at making music for women to listen to in their Nissan Altima’s on their way to their assistant manager jobs. She’s good at making music for nerdy girls to listen to when they wanna stick their tongues out and talk dirty to the guy they’re sleeping with. This is music for the women who want to tell a guy how to make her cum but are afraid of killing the vibe. If you’re shy, listen to Megan, she’ll give you the confidence to say “it’s ok, you can choke me harder” (i really hope my family doesn’t read this).
Beyond those two vibes, she doesn’t have too much range. This isn’t much of a critique though, she’s still a very new artist and she’s working on figuring out her sound. Some rappers can only do 2 or 3 things and it totally works for them. DaBaby has 2 flows and makes the same song every single time but it is always fire, it works because you know he knows “this is what I do”, plus he’s killed people so that adds to his confidence. The problem is that when Megan Thee Stallion raps you can hear that she wants to say more but isn’t sure how to do it yet. This isn’t to say she’s not developing, you can hear distinct growth from her last mixtape on this one, however she’s not where she wants to be sonically, and that’s ok. The problem is that the internet has obsessed and hyped over her for so long that anything that doesn’t meet these lofty ideals is considered “trash”, she’s in a very tough spot, because the only thing she can really do is keep putting out music.
Right now, Megan reminds me of a wrestler who doesn’t have a finishing move. She’s like Stone Cold Steve Austin without a Stunner, it works but something is missing. In time I know that she’ll have it all figured out, I think her debut album is going to have her internet critiques deleting tweets and her fans ready to die for her. “Suga” is very ok, it has some fun moments and songs but overall it’s not a full body of work, so judging it as an Album would be a complete disservice. I’m rooting for Megan though, I want to see black girls with real asses win the way they’re supposed to.
No matter what anyone says, she has all the time to be a success on her terms. “Suga” is good preparation for the future, but not too much more. I give it 3 “J Prince i’m sorry I mentioned you please don’t kill me” pleas out of 5.
*https://images.app.goo.gl/27DK137ywvTC7RJCA