Megan Thee Stallion's Traumatic and Transformative 2020

The dazzling Houston-based rapper Megan Thee Stallion is the cultural powerhouse perfectly situated for the moment. The pandemic that stopped most of us in our tracks served as an accelerant for the simultaneously genuine, and yet seemingly built-for-Instagram brand of “Hot Girl Meg.” In early March, Megan released “Savage” to the captive audience of TikTok, locked in their homes and desperate for distraction. The 19-year-old Keara Wilson gave the single an astronomical boost when she choreographed a dance challenge, capturing the attention of Beyoncé herself, who remixed the song and sent it to the global charts.

This was all prior to the flagrantly confident and strikingly raunchy single Megan tag teamed with rapper Cardi B titled “WAP.” The exultingly sexual single reached number one on the charts seamlessly, despite the loud objection of conservative audiences. Self-proclaimed free speech advocate Ben Shapiro squealed over the lyrics of the first ever female rap collaboration to reach number one on Spotify. He kindly defined the “WAP” acronym as “wet a** p-word, p word being female genitalia,” and he was absolutely correct. The single is an unabashed description of the vagina’s biological self lubrication process, as it is activated by sexual arousal. Shapiro was not the only conservative figure to be enraged by WAP. Republican Congressional candidate James P. Bradely accidentally heard the song and tweeted that he wished to “pour holy water” over his ears. Entertained by the reaction, Cardi B responded “I can’t believe conservatives soo mad about WAP.” Despite the amusement these interactions offered some of us, they beg the question of how these political figures quickly forgave the former President for grabbing women “by the pussy,” yet are enraged when women themselves use the word to describe their sexual gratification.

The discourse surrounding WAP is a demonstration of how most of what Megan does inspires debate. She can go about her life wearing a dress, or shorts that showcase her enviably toned body and will find herself caught in a conversation about the fear that surrounds the sexuality of women. She can endure the traumatic experience of being shot and is dragged into the national reckoning of racial injustice and the abuse of Black women. Megan weathered a pandemic-long storm of attention and judgment she commanded, some that was forced upon her inadvertently -- and she never slowed down.

In July, Megan left a pool party in the hills of Hollywood to return home in an SUV that belonged to rapper Tory Lanez. As has been reported, Megan exited the car and began to walk away prior to their departure, and Lanez shot at her feet. In October, Lanez was charged with felony assault, a verdict that was ultimately litigated on social media. The narrative took on a “he said, she said” tone when Megan named Lanez as her assailant, and he denied his involvement. Critics and commentators loudly discredited her experience and named her a liar, inspiring jokes and memes at the expense of her trauma. Compelled to defend herself, Megan tweeted:

“Black women are so unprotected & we hold so many things in to protect the feelings of others w/o considering our own. It might be funny to y'all on the internet and just another messy topic for you to talk about but this is my real life and I'm real life hurt and traumatized.”

The shooting positioned Megan in the cultural conversation surrounding the unpunished violence towards Black women made prominent by the murder by police of Breonna Taylor. She herself acknowledges her role in the opening track of her recently released project “Good News,” titled “Shots Fired.” She includes elements of her trauma in the song but stops short of naming her assailant because “I know you want the clout.” Despite the content of the song, her buoyant personality shines through her signature clean-yet-chatty style of rap. And her personality is far from timid. She penned a New York Times Op-ed considering the need to protect Black women and took the same message to Saturday Night Live where she called out the Attorney General of Kentucky by name for his failure to prosecute the officers who took Breonna Taylor’s innocent life.

When given a platform, Megan brings the heat, and her songs need to be appreciated for the feminist texts that they are. Her frank discussions of sexual gratification communicate to all women that they deserve to express their desires however they please. They map a route that mends past female trauma and demands empowerment.

So what should we take from Megan Thee Stallion’s unabashed success? Maybe that women will not enjoy liberation without sexual autonomy and that Black women will not achieve the justice and freedom they so deserve, without joy. Megan thee Stallion is asking the world to indulge in female-focused pleasure, and she's having fun doing it. There is no reason not to join her.

Image source:

@theestallion on Instagram