Megan Thee Stallion Essentials

Growing up in Houston, Megan Thee Stallion was raised on hardcore Southern stuff: Three 6 Mafia and UGK, Pimp C especially. Her early cyphers went viral—the presence was ferocious, the flow precise. Her key tracks, from tunes like “Big Ole Freak” to the 2020 Cardi B collaboration juggernaut “WAP,” don’t just carry the torch of Houston rap, but also a legacy of trash talk that goes back to Lil’ Kim and The Notorious B.I.G.—characters so big, they read like comic books (Megan is, unsurprisingly, a lifelong anime fan). Like any great rapper, she can put the same few things to you a thousand different ways. “I’m sexy as f**k, and I’m freaky/Get whoever I want, eenie-meenie,” she raps on “HISS,” from 2024’s MEGAN. And in case Megan’s intentions weren’t clear, consider this, from “Captain Hook”: “I like to drink, and I like to have sex.” Weak? Doesn’t seem like an issue.