Megan Thee Stallion: Get to know 'Hot Girl Meg'
Bow down to the queen of 'hot girl summer'
Music sensation Megan Thee Stallion needs no introduction. Bringing us huge tracks such as 'Savage' and 'Sweetest Pie', the rapper has taken the music industry by storm over the last few years. But how much do you know about her?
The ‘WAP’ rapper has catapulted herself into the spotlight in recent years, through a combination of her steamy dancing videos, exhilarating rap ability and captivating personality - from Grammys to TV appearances and making history with her Forbes cover, let's get to know the icon herself.
Who is Megan Thee Stallion?
Megan Thee Stallion, aka Hot Girl Meg, is a multi-award winning rapper, singer and songwriter. Megan steadily built an army of dedicated supporters, whom she dubbed the ‘Hotties’.
Unless you've been living under a rock, it’s more than likely that you’ve heard the famous lyrics: "I’m a savage. Classy, bougie, ratchet," over a skippy hip hop beat accompanied by a perplexing dance routine. For all those unaware, the genius behind this viral sensation is none other than Texan rapper Megan Thee Stallion.
How old is she?
The ‘Big Ole Freak’ entertainer was born on 15th February 1995, making her 29-years-old at the time of writing.
Her self-described Aquarius energy is clear as day through her eccentric fashion sense, her excitable rapping style and overall free-spirited vibe.
What is Megan Thee Stallion’s real name?
Meg’s real name is Megan Jovon Ruth Pete.
Where is she from?
Meg is a real Southern girl. To be specific, she is Texas through and through. The ‘Captain Hook’ rapper was born in San Antonio and moved to Houston, where she spent the first 14 years of her life. She then moved to Pearland, a neighbouring city in Southeast Texas.
Where Meg grew up played a significant role in her development as an artist. She has cited the late Pimp C, from the Houston rap duo UGK, as a huge influence on her music. One of her many aliases, 'Tina Snow', is inspired by Pimp C’s alter ego, 'Tony Snow'.
She’s a proud Texan. Through tracks like ‘Last Week in HTx’ and ‘Big Drank’, we see her unapologetically making use of Southern slang and pronunciation. Fashion wise, Meg is never afraid to represent where she comes from, as seen with this Hot Girl Cowgirl ensemble she threw together.
How did Megan Thee Stallion become famous?
It feels like Megan was destined for greatness. Growing up, she saw her mum rapping under the name ‘Holly Wood’, and this served as her first introduction to the game, even accompanying her to the studio instead of going to daycare!
Meg began writing her own raps when she was 16. Her mum made her wait until she was 21 before releasing music, so by the time she was in university, her rapping skills were already sharpened.
She began dropping freestyle videos on her social media platforms. Her hard-hitting rap style combined with her statuesque 5’10 frame drew in followers en masse, helping Meg build her online presence and establishing her dedicated ‘Hotties’ fanbase.
Her larger than life personality was a key contributor to the early success she enjoyed. But 2016 to 2017 was evidence of Meg’s crazy work ethic and how determined she was to make it big. She released three projects in the space of two years, racking up millions of streams and views across Soundcloud and YouTube.
2018 saw Meg breakthrough into the mainstream. She signed her first record deal, with 1501 Certified Entertainment and performed at SXSW festival. Meg solidified her reputation as one of the most exciting upcoming rap talents. Her racy lyrics and pinpoint delivery continued to dazzle both consumers and critics, leading to her securing a spot on the coveted XXL Freshman Class List.
Megan Thee Stallion and Marvel
Meg confirmed in a September 2022 interview with The Cut that she was officially joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe, taking on a role in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. The show - a Marvel series on Disney+ - had episodes released weekly, with show star Josh Segarra teasing Megan's storyline.
He told Deadline: "A gentleman is being catfished by somebody that lives in another universe, let’s say. Another world." He then confirmed to Deadline that the catfish is posing as a certain recording artist. "So he thinks he’s dating one person, and he’s not, so we need to help him figure that out."
Appearing alongside show star Tatiana Maslany, we even saw Megan twerking with the one and only She-Hulk.
What are her biggest songs?
🚨 WARNING: Some explicit language is used in the following songs:
‘Big Ole Freak’
Hot Girl Meg’s hot streak of hits dates to 2019, with ‘Big Ole Freak’ introducing her to the world. It debuted at 99 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at 65, making it her first official chart entry.
'Hot Girl Summer' with Nicki Minaj
The big-time collaborations started rolling in, with multiplatinum hits like ‘Hot Girl Summer’ featuring Nicki Minaj (2019), and Ty Dolla $ign further popularising her unforgettable catchphrase.
'Captain Hook'
The charm of Meg’s music flowed effortlessly into the world of TikTok, with tracks like ‘Captain Hook’ and ‘Savage’ dominating feeds in 2020 for months on end. Owing to some good old TikTok choreography, users danced along, with friends, family and eventually Meg herself participating in the making of a viral smash hit.
'Savage'
Then came Beyoncé. Megan joined forces with her fellow Houston Hot Girl and dropped the ‘Savage’ remix to the surprise of just about everyone. The Queen B effect gave the already hugely popular track a new lease of life, catapulting it to Number 1 on Billboard. With a TikTok dance to the track also dominating users' FYPs, it's fair to say the bop will forever be one of the most popular viral TikTok sounds of all time.
On top of the success of the song, the pair pledged to donate all proceeds to a Houston-based charity and the money raised helped the organisation’s COVID relief efforts.
'WAP' with Cardi B
But if the Savage remix broke the internet, it’s safe to say that Meg’s next chart-topper obliterated the web. ‘WAP’, her collaboration with Bronx rapper Cardi B, brushed all competition to the side and skyrocketed to Number 1 on Billboard, breaking the record for the largest opening streaming week for a song in United States history.
Reneé Rapp, Megan Thee Stallion - 'Not My Fault'
Megan featured on 'Not My Fault', released in December 2023 as the lead single for the soundtrack to the Mean Girls musical film adaptation, singing with Reneé Rapp who appeared in the film as Regina George.
The song plays on one of the 2004 original film's most famous lines: "It's not my fault that you're, like, in love with me or something!" Performing in the music video, Megan also took to the stage alongside Reneé to perform the song on Saturday Night Live in January 2024.
🚨 WARNING: Explicit language! 🚨
Albums and discography
2016
Meg’s debut project ‘Rich Ratchet’ was a self-released mixtape that she uploaded to Soundcloud herself in 2016. She then dropped ‘Megan Mix’ the following year.
2017
After signing her deal with 1501 Certified, she released her debut EP, entitled ‘Make it Hot’ in 2017. In 2018, she signed another deal with label 300 Entertainment, home to stars like Young Thug and Gunna, releasing her second EP called ‘Tina Snow.’
2019-20
Next came another mixtape, ‘Fever’ in 2019, her first project to chart on Billboard, entering at Number 10. Following a legal dispute with her 1501 label, Meg dropped her third EP, ‘Suga’ in March 2020. The project was intended to be her debut studio album, but due to complications in renegotiating her contract with 1501, it was released as an EP.
2020
In November of the same year, her debut album finally arrived, called ‘Good News’. The sleek project sees Meg experimenting with different sounds while providing the club anthems she is perhaps best known for. Good News features artists like Beyonce, City Girls, SZA, 2 Chainz and debuted at Number 2 in the US Charts.
2021
Following her huge success, Meg dropped a compilation album in 2021 titled 'Something for Thee Hotties'. Released on 29th October, the album included a collection of some of her YouTube freestyles, as well as previously unreleased archival songs.
The album had 21 tracks in total, and peaked at Number 3 on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard).
2022
The following year saw the release of her second studio album, 'Traumazine'. The album dropped on 12th August, complete with 18 amazing tracks and several collabs with the likes of Latto, Dua Lipa and Future.
2023
Megan teamed up with Cardi B once again, with their pair dropping their track 'Bongos' in September. Meg also released the track 'Cobra' in November, which is from her upcoming third album.
Megan Thee Stallion's Forbes cover
In November 2022, Megan made history when she appeared on the cover of Forbes 30 Under 30 - becoming the first ever black woman to appear on the front cover.
On the day of the cover's release, Megan took to Instagram to celebrate the historic moment, writing: 'First BLACK WOMAN on thee cover of @forbes 30 under 30 🔥 real hotgirl sh-t 💵💵 see you soon hotties love yall'. (sic)
In her cover interview, she told the publication: "I can’t slow down right now. I’ll take a break when I’m dead. I’m trying to really build something. When I start sitting, I feel like I’m not doing enough or I’m giving somebody else the opportunity to pass me."
She added: "I want to be bigger than just my music. I want people to know Megan as everything that she ever wanted to be. Megan the artist."
Her most popular music videos
Megan has had some HUGE music video releases in her time. At the time of writing, her most viewed video to date is 'Body', with a whopping 152 million views. Next up is 'Hot Girl Summer' with Nicki Minaj and Ty Dolla $ign, with 132 million views, followed by 'Captain Hook' with 128 million views.
Other popular videos include the iconic 'Cry Baby' (123 million views), 'Big Ole Freak' (117 million views) and, of course, 'Sweetest Pie' with Dua Lipa (72 million views).
Less than a week after dropping her 'Traumazine' album in 2022, Meg thrilled fans with the release of the music video for track 'Her'. The sleek black and white video shows Meg dancing, posing, and rapping in various outfits, and fans quickly became obsessed with it.
Which awards has she won?
The ‘Body’ superstar is heavily decorated. Following her breakthrough, her first recognized award came in 2019, with ‘Fever’ securing the Best Mixtape accolade at the BET Hip Hop Awards. Other gongs that year include ‘Hot Girl Summer’ picking up Best Power Anthem at the MTV Video Music Awards.
2020 saw the awards rolling in. Meg’s star power was recognised through awards such as Breakthrough Artist of the Year at the Apple Music Awards, Artist of the Year at the BET Hip Hop Awards and Collaboration Song of the Year for 'WAP' at the People’s Choice Awards. Meg was lauded for her body-positive acceptance speech after winning Favourite Rap Song for 'WAP' at the American Music Awards.
2021 was illustrious for Meg. She picked up Top Rap Female Artist at the Billboard Music Awards, further highlighting that she is sitting pretty at the top of the game. Then, of course, came her historic triple-win night at the Grammys. Powered by the impact of the ‘Savage’ remix with Beyonce, the smash hit picked up Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song, with Meg herself scooping up Best New Artist.
She also took home four gongs at the 2021 BET Awards - winning Best Collaboration and Video of the Year for 'WAP' with Cardi B, the Coca-Cola Viewers' Choice Award for 'Savage (Remix)' featuring Beyoncé and Best Female Hip Hop Artist.
In September 2022, BMI named Megan Songwriter of The Year, with the rapper celebrating the news on Instagram. She wrote: 'Thank youuuu @bmi for naming me song writer Of thee year ! 🖊🖊🖊🖊 thank you hotties for always supporting me 🔥🔥🔥 let’s keep running it up 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾' (sic).
Megan's collaborations
In terms of collaborations, it doesn’t get much bigger than Beyoncé and Cardi B, but those two aren’t the only superstars with the privilege of sharing a song with Meg.
On her own tracks, Meg has welcomed the likes of Young Thug on ‘Don’t Stop’, SZA on ‘Freaky Girls’ and Nicki Minaj on ‘Hot Girl Summer’, also featuring Ty Dolla $ign.
She featured on DJ Khaled’s ‘I Did It’ with Post Malone, Lil Baby and DaBaby. Meg has also collaborated with Normani on ‘Diamonds’ for the ‘Birds of Prey’ soundtrack, and Maroon 5 on ‘Beautiful Mistakes'. In 2021, it was also revealed that Megan will be featured on DJ Snake's single 'Sxy Girl', along with Ozuna and Lisa of Blackpink.
Megan also teamed up with Dua Lipa to release her track 'Sweetest Pie' in March 2022. On 11th March, the pair released their first collab together and also shared their eye-opening music video which featured both artists in a spider-shaped building hidden in the undergrowth of a fantasy world's forest.
Watch 'Sweetest Pie' by Megan Thee Stallion and Dua Lipa:
And of course, who can forget when she teamed up with none other than Ariana Grande on the '34+35' remix, along with Doja Cat.
The music video included all three artists, and it's fair to say that fans LOVED it.
Her newest collab with Cardi B 'Bongos' is out now.
Family and personal life
Meg has overcome some personal tragedies along her journey. Her father passed away when she was in high school and Meg’s mother passed away in March 2019 after a long battle with cancer. She had a huge influence in both Meg’s personal life and her music career.
Meg attended Texas Southern University whilst her career was beginning to take off. She studied health administration and her mum’s story inspires her ambition to eventually open an assisted living facility in Houston. Meg’s mum used to be a rapper, so when 16-years-old Meg revealed that she wanted to follow the same path, her mum made her wait until she turned 21. Keeping a watchful eye over her baby, Meg’s mum was her manager up until her sad passing.
In July 2020, Meg was the victim of a shooting incident involving rapper Tory Lanez, which she addresses in more detail on her song ‘Shots Fired’ from the album ‘Good News’.
Meg was in a relationship with rapper Pardison Fontaine. The New York native is credited as one of the pens behind Cardi B’s smash ‘Bodak Yellow.’ She took to Instagram Live to discuss their relationship, confirming that he was in fact her boyfriend. The pair reportedly split in February 2023.
Did Megan Thee Stallion play Coachella?
She sure did! Megan confirmed in January that she would be playing the Californian festival in April 2022, performing on the same night as Billie Eilish, Flume, 21 Savage and London artist Arlo Parks.
Check out these artists that rose to fame through social media:
Justin Bieber
A young Justin Bieber had been uploading covers of songs when a talent manager discovered him through YouTube in 2008. Since then he has become a super successful artist around the world with hits like 'Baby', 'Never Say Never' and, of course, who could forget the summer hit of 2017 'Despacito'. More recently, we've enjoyed hits like 'Holy', 'Lonely' and 'Hold On'.
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The Weeknd
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Shawn Mendes
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Calvin Harris
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Halsey
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5 Seconds Of Summer
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Dave
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Troye Sivan
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Charlie Puth
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Carly Rae Jepsen
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Justin's manager, Scooter Braun, soon signed Carly to a record deal, with the singer later releasing huge bops like 'I Really Like You', 'Run Away With Me' and 'Cut to the Feeling'.
KSI
Rapper KSI, now known for huge hits like 'Don't Play' and 'Holiday', actually started out on YouTube, with his accounts dating back to 2008! The rapper became popular on the streaming platform for a slightly different reason, however, uploading gaming–commentary videos from 2014!
Megan Thee Stallion
Megan Thee Stallion built up a following by posting her freestyle raps on social media. She became hugely popular with her fanbase and quickly racked up plays on Soundcloud and YouTube which led to her signing a record deal in 2018.
Saweetie
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Mimi Webb
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Sam Ryder
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Mae Stephens
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Caity Baser
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Cat Burns
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