Megan thee Stallion - Good News
Genre: Hip Hop
Score: 8/10
This is the highly anticipated commercial full length debut album of Houston rap superstar Megan thee Stallion.
What to Expect: The jury’s out (no pun intended). Despite the hellish landscape that is 2020, Meg kept her chin level and her focus intact throughout the year, dropping hit after hit after hit following up her 2019 mixtape Fever, which was a very grimy and fun mixtape filled with dark Southern hip hop cuts. Following the release, each single release became an algorithm freezing response from the general public, and often came with a polarizing reception.
On the one hand, Meg symbolizes a change of the guard for hip hop and leads of the largest and most commercially successful cohorts of female hip hop artists in a generation. On the other hand, her success triggered a new reexamination of conventional hyper-masculine tropes of hip hop that were once accepted & dominant. And thanks to artists like Meg, more times than not, they’re now taken a lot less seriously. Sure, she’s not the only one that represents this, but thus far, she’s the biggest star. As a result, the weight of that responsibility of setting the example of a model to women in hip hop and in the music industry can inadvertently (and often unjustifiably) be thrown onto her. The extra scrutiny and chastising from hip hop’s predominantly male and historically sexist fanbase doesn’t really help either.
So now that her commercial debut album is here and Meg is already coming in with a distinct style of southern pop rap to capitalize on, I just want her to grab the crown with sharp songs and cutthroat bars. As long as that’s the case, she has the potential to drop a classic that will prove her position as the hottest rapper in the game.
Overall: She definitely sweetened it up for the greater masses. If she made another tape as raw, hot and filthy as Fever, she potentially would alienate her potential fanbase. That’s not to say that this album is squeaky clean, because it’s not at all. However, she’s cleaning her sound up and diversifying so white people can also get in on the action. If this album is your first Megan thee Stallion project that you’ve listened to, consider this an open invitation to check out her older mixtapes and projects, as they’re far more topically focused and emotionally compelling as an artist beyond her pop star surface. Despite her clearly going for a more commercial sound and a few mixing issues, it’s a good debut album with a lot of creative production. She still has the potential to go down as one of the biggest rappers to ever do it with the right classic in her cannon.
Play by Play:
1. Shots Fired – This beat is super hardhitting. The infamous Who Shot Ya sample is flipped really creatively. Meg is absolutely ruthless on this track. She just gets right into it, exposing Tory to those that don’t know him and what happened the night that led to her getting injured. I love how she dissects his awful behavior as the night came about and her emotional responses to the entire situation. It feels less like an Ether type, high octane clip emptying shotgun blast to the face that a diss track like Shether is, so much as a guided onion peeling into the fragile state of a shell of a human being (like the Story of Adidon). I hear the influences of Queen Latifah, Lil Kim, and Gangsta Boo channeled. The hook is understated and a mouthful, but very hard-hitting,. She definitely has my attention with that intro.
2. Circles – I like how catchy this sample is. Gotta look it up later. But that snare is absolutely whooping the mix’s ass right now. It keeps clashing with Meg’s voice, which sucks because the groove is great. Lyrically, she’s infectiously confident. She sounds like she’s just peeling these fragile boys like an orange. “Just like my ass, niggas talk in a circle: made me laugh for a good minute. Her hooks are way more sharper.
3. Cry Baby – Let Dababy live. We all know he has one flow. And whenever he features on a Meg track, you can’t deny the chemistry. Dababy is basically the guy version of Meg. His features always make it a hedonistic bop. Plus I love how minimal the beat is and how the humming is so eerie. Meg is as raunchy as ever, and her flow is really catchy. Think of Dababy as you will, but this is a bop.
4. Do It on the Tip (feat. City Girls) – You can never have too many strip club anthems, and this one is as good as the rest. Meg is as confident and nasty as ever. City Girls do such a great job adding to the rainmaking vibe. If this isn’t playing at every strip club in America by the end of this year, then something is fundamentally broken about the structure of this country.
5. Sugar Baby – The new Sugar Baby anthem. Sugar Daddies, take notes. She’s breaking it down for you. The beat is hilariously Cash Money and is a total trunk knocker. Mannie Fresh would be so proud. Parts of her flow remind me of Gucci, others UGK, others Weezy. I love how she channels all of her Southern Hip Hop influences all over this album into catchy songs.
6. Movie (feat Lil Durk) – This beat is so Triple Six, I love it. She definitely rapping like Gangasta Boo & La Chat on this, especially when she says “yeah, hoe!” in her verse. Durk’s dark delivery adds to the Bonnie & Clyde chamistry they have going on. The song drags a bit at the end, but it’s still a good track.
7. Freaky Girls – Classic G Funk beat. SZA’s hook is classic and sexy. Beat bumps in the whip on first drop. Meg is as nasty as ever, talking about what she likes and what she can do with it. It’s a classic Dr Dre sounding banger that reminds me of his 2001 era production. People forget that Meg can do West Coast rap as well as Southern rap.
8. Body – That sub goes hard and that sample speaks for itself. A steady twerk tempo will never do you wrong. At the very least, you’ll receive loyal plays at the local Zumba class, and that market is absolutely unshakeable. That 808 drum machine sounds as classic as ever. This song is nasty, raunchy and incredibly infectious. That hook shouldn’t work as well as it does, and that beat turns it into a mantra fit for the strip club. These shamelessly sexy hip hop tracks call back to classic nasty rappers that preceded her, like 2 Live Crew and Too Short (some Trina too!).
9. What’s New – Eerie Triple Six type beat. Sounds like something Young Dolph & Key Glock would rap over. It’s really hardhitting. She’s rapping about how her newfound fame got the haters chatting again. Her hook game is very strong throughout this record, and her ear for beats has gotten a lot sharper compared to her earlier mixtapes. This song has Meg completely in her element, and you can’t help but just nod with a stank face to it.
10. Work That – Meg needs to keep working with the best of the best, because this Juvenile sample flip is incredibly executed. Meg is as nasty as ever. If you played Meg’s album for a twerk session, you’ll probably feel the strain in your hips by now. I love this beat and her flows get more and more relentless. The hook is also very catchy. Reminds me of an old Cash Money beat that’d fit right into the archives.
11. Intercourse – Popcaan’s performance is as smooth as ever, although the autotune is a bit heavy handed. Mustard’s beat is really engaging and detailed, more so than usual. I like how Meg keeps it straightforward instead of performing vocal acrobats. The vibe is a little gentrified, but not egregious enough for it to be a huge issue for me, personally.
12. Go Crazy – The Jackson 5 sample flip is genius. This beat lives up to the song title. It sounds like a Mustard beat that YG would throw his hands up over. Big Sean sounds pasted onto the song, but his bars are as clever as his latest album, which is great. This hook is as catchy as ever. 2 Chainz sounds as great as ever. He always has a weird yet catchy flow that keeps the song engaging, though I wish he threw a funny bar now and again in the song. I dig it.
13. Don’t Rock Me to Sleep – Is this an electropop song? Why does it sound like Carly Rae Jepson would hop on the beat all of a sudden? Did her label make her make a song like this? This sounds incredibly out of place. She sang better hooks than this. For some reason, the writing just fell off a cliff. I think this is similar to when Nicki was dropping EDM tracks, but like hers, those attempts also ate shit just as hard as this does. Not that I’m against her going this electropop direction, but she just sounds so far out of her comfort zone on this song.
14. Outside – This singing delivery is weird, but not bad. This beat is interesting. The pianos are super cold, yet the drums are super cold. I think this is her “hey I can be nice too” song, which is nice considering that she was consistently skinning her haters alive and sucking you dry the entire record. I’m not as blown away from her performance on this song, and it ends abruptly without a huge change up or any progression. But she still sounded nice on it, and it’s still a vibe. It’s not a bad ending to the record, assuming the singles she dropped earlier this year are listed afterwards as bonus tracks.
15. Savage (Remix) feat Beyonce – Bey’s rapping bars are dope. Meg’s hook is an anthem. This beat is excellent. Beyonce’s whispery adlibs are so well done and add so much to the song. What more can really be said? Beyonce’s verse may have been harder than Meg’s. This song is a hit and a lot better in the context of this record as the de facto bonus tracks.
16. Girls In the Hood – This song was released a while ago and I loved it back then. I still love it now. The Eazy E sample is flipped really creatively and Meg grabs the mic unapologetically. Her hook is catchy, the beat is hardhitting, and her bars are consistently clever and witty.
17. Don’t Stop (feat Young Thug) – The beat goes really hard. Meg is as cool as a cucumber on this beat. Thugger’s feature was way more underwhelming than I wanted, but it doesn’t take away from the song. It’s not one of her best tracks but it’s an okay track to end things off officially.
Score: 8/10
Favorite Track in Bold
Just my opinion