Megan Thee Sex Positive Weeb
Album Review
Megan Thee Stallion has finally released her long-awaited follow-up to Traumazine, Megan (Thee Album), and it did not disappoint. The Texas Southern University grad flexed her pen, lyricism, wit, wealth, and sexual prowess all over this album. There were many recurring themes but the two things that stood out the most to me were her sex positivity and her recurring anime references. The two are usually in opposition as people typically consider anime fans to be reclusive, shy, anything but a Hot Girl really. Megan tying the two together was a masterclass in weaving a story and highlighting the complexity and strength of her character.
The album can be broken up into three parts. The beginning is aggressive, full of shots at her opps, flexing her wealth, and reaffirming how much better she is than her competition. The middle of the album leans heavily on anime and while it carries some of the beginning it’s sandwiched by “Otaku Hot Girl” and “Mamushi” which are packed with nods to Japanese and anime culture.
The following tracks are very sexual then moody in nature. I think this third part begins with the “Accent” featuring rapper GloRilla. This third slice of the album shines the most from “Spin” featuring Victoria Monet to “Down Stairs DJ”. The sequencing here is impeccable as the music goes from the songstress Victoria Monét crooning about spinning on the Pole to Megan rapping quite playfully about DJ French Tips (her fingers flicking that bean)! The third section ends with “Cobra” which was the first single from the album where Megan raps “this pussy depressed”. The song has a heavy rock influence but I am not sure this was the best way to end the album. I will discuss why later on in the piece.
The Weeb Raps
For those who are not chronically online a weeb is short for the term weeaboo. It originally started as an insult for those who were obsessed with Japanese comics to the point of wanting to be Japanese. In the last few years, anime/manga fans started to use it in a non-derogatory way and fully leaned into their obsessions.
Megan has for a very long time rapped about anime. If she’s not rapping about anime, she tweets about it, does anime-inspired photoshoots, and even has done anime-inspired nails. Her love has not gone unnoticed. This year she flew to Japan to present an award for Crunchy Roll, which is one of if not the biggest anime streaming platforms right now. To top it all off she presented the award dressed as Bruno, a character from the famous JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
Incels mad imma weeb and a baddie- “Otaku Hot Girl”
In this album, Megan leans even more into anime. Her second single from this album, “Hiss”, featured imagery from the iconic Tokyo Ghoul anime. Hiss,the album’s opener, is a scathing diss track that attacks many of her haters. Streets said the majority of shots fired were for Drake, Tory fans, and Nicki Minaj. The track was the first major domino to fall in Drake's disgrace this year.
“These niggas hate on BBLs and be walkin' 'round with the same scars (Ah) Real curvy, no etchin', niggas fight to get in my section”
There had been whispers of Drake having undergone surgery for his abs. Megan also mentions Drake's culture vulture ways in this single before Kendrick mentioned it in his series of disses to Drake. The Tokyo Ghoul references in the video were cool because the flowers she used is often shown when Kaneki is about to undergo a metamorphosis into his ruthless ghoul self. The ghoul self is stronger, faster, and more vicious. In short, Megan is telling us to tighten up because she’s about to come and fuck some shit up.
The album is plump with anime references. “Boa”, her most recent single, is another video that ties into the anime theme. The song itself is not as full of anime references as the video which I’ve already spent some time speaking about in this piece. As the album reaches its middle Megan gives us “Otaku Hot Girl”.
The intro, “I like a tall woman with a nice big ass like grammy winner Megan thee Stallion” is voiced by Adam McArthur. Adam voices the character Yuji Itadori who says the original phrase in the anime Jujutsu Kaisen. The intro is a play on the original line where Yuji says he likes big girls like Jennifer Lawrence. For years fans had joked that he should’ve said Megan, so it was very fun to see Megan lean into the suggestion. The video below is three years old but emphasizes the point.
”Otaku Hot Girl” is definitely one of Meg’s most catchy hooks in a while. “Can’t touch me like Gojo look good in all my photos.” In the anime Jujutsu Kaisen Satoru Gojo is one of the strongest fighters. He has a special power, The Infinity, that basically prevents anyone he’s fighting from touching him. He is quite frankly considered one of the most OP (overpowered) anime characters ever. I absolutely adore Megan’s use of Gojo as a flex on her looks as Gojo is also known for being quite suave and stylish.
Megan goes on to close out the middle of the album with “Mamushi” which features Japanese rapper and singer Yuki Chiba. Although “Mamushi” does’t feature a ton of anime references Megan does rap in Japanese emphasizing her star power and love for Japanese culture.
“In the US or Japan, if he meet me, he gon' bow
I got yen for your friеnds, if they're pretty, bring 'еm out
Goin' dumb in Madam Woo, pourin' sake in their mouth
Told him put me on his plate, bring them chopsticks to the south”
These bars do a sensational job of tying Megan’s love for Japan with her Texan pride. First she uses the cultural practice of bowing out of respect in Japan and ties it to people in the U.S still bowing to her which is such a bad ass line. She goes on to mention Madam Woo, a nightclub in Tokyo but my favorite line is the final one. Where she says the guy should eat her with chopsticks. It’s so filthy and funny.
Sex For Pleasure & Affirming Power of Self:
For as long as we have known Megan she has been open about being freaky and loving sex. In fact one of the songs that shot her to stardom was called “Big Ole Freak”. It’s no surprise then that this album is jam packed with sexual innuendos and braggadocio about the goodness and iconic stature of her vagina. “My pussy so famous might be managed by Kris Jenner next” she sings on the second song of the album “Hiss”.
She follows “Hiss” with “Rattle” where she raps “and I don't know which nigga this week I want to entertain me (Hahaha) So stop pussy watchin', bitch (Ayy, baow)”. Megan refuses to be shamed if she decides to change partners often. She implores people to mind their own sexual business.
“I'm a freak, that's known. I do what I want, I'm grown” she raps in “Where them girls at” the fourth song on the album. The lyrics in “Where them girls at” are tame in comparison to the fifth song “Broke His Heart” which explicitly details the myriad of ways Megan’s goodies wrecked this guy’s heart. You can enjoy the raunchy pleasure of the lyrics here. I’m sure it’d make erotica readers blush.
In “Find Out” Megan opens the song “get up in these insides don’t worry bout my ring size.” This toxic song is all about being a fling and not being interested in a serious relationship. She revels in just enjoying the sex for pleasure’s sake even if it hurts his girlfriend’s feelings.
Megan goes on to rap about herself, her sexuality, her love for women, and men who can act right. Eventually, we come to “Spin” where she and Victoria Monét have created something sensual and feisty. Where Victoria croons about spinning on a pole or her “fat ass booty” or “original face” Megan glides on the beat about her power to snatch a man with just one look. Megan insists that the recipient of physical affection from her would sing in joy on the way home.
“Spin” is followed immediately by the masterpiece that is “Down Stairs DJ” where Megan spends 2:44 seconds rapping about masturbating. She opens by shouting “Ayy, I love my pussy and my pussy love me Play with her for a lil' while, then fall asleep”. No subtlety, no bullshit just one woman rapping about her love of her vagina.
“ready, player one, fight
Arcade mode 'til the batteries die
Way I'm finna nut, let the CPU decide
Faithful to myself 'cause I do myself right”
Through the album, you can hear that Meg is feeling comfortable with sex for pleasure and not feeling pressured to be with a man or perform sexuality in the hetronormative way. In this song, she goes even further and states that she is also using DJing as a show of self-love.
“Two fingers give me peace, switch hands, finna cheat
Then I sleep in my own wet spot in the sheets
Nigga can't stress me if he can't sex me
Finna get lockjaw tryna impress me”
Megan wants us all to know that she has pleasured herself so much that anyone trying to please her will have to work extremely hard.
Questions and Final Musings
I chose to start the section with this photo because it was the original cover art for the album. When the image first got released it was not well received, despite it being shot by the legendary David LaChapelle. Many fans insisted it looked terrible. I think some of the outrage was valid seeing as she had used the snake theme for three other songs I could understand the sudden shift to be slightly jarring. There was room for Megan to be more intentional with emphasizing the theme of metamorphosis more than just a snake or shedding its skin.
For an album whose supposed theme was metamorphosis, it was an interesting choice to start with “Hiss” an aggressive punch and end with “Cobra” a song about depression and anxiety. When we think about metamorphosis we typically expect a metamorphosis into something better. When paired with the initial cover art of her as a butterfly I hoped that this album would end on a positive or more powerful note.
Some might argue that being strong enough to share your depression and personal struggles is strength and I’d be tempted to agree if the song ended differently. It just seemed like we went from “yes money, sex, reclaiming our life to actually I’m really struggling and this is all overwhelming”. To be clear I have no issue with that being (her) reality it just threw me off and left things on an odd note. I would’ve expected the moody and sad note to be in the middle and end on a more upbeat note. Tierra Whack’s World Wide Wack for example is a rap album that deals with heavy topics it starts with “Mood Swing” and ends with “27 club” which talks about suicide. I am not by any means saying that Meg and Tierra have to navigate their grief the same I just think that the two albums talk about some of the same topics but I felt that Megan’s left me empty. Perhaps that’s the point… I will sit with it and decide.
Overall I enjoyed this album it reminded me of all the reasons I fell in love with Megan’s work. She demonstrates her skill with sexy flair and I am glad that she has managed to rise above so much of the tribulation she has had to endure over the last 5 years. You should listen to this album.
*I’ve finally set up a “buy me a coffee” page so if you’re not quite ready to become a paid subscriber but want to spare a little coin you can do so here!*
TELL ME:
What is your favorite song about self pleasure? Is there something you learned in this piece that you’ll be thinking about tomorrow? What’s your favorite song right now?
For all of you who have already subscribed thanks so much!! For those of you who haven’t subscribed yet, it’s never too late to join my smart and funny subscribers (nickname sadly still pending)!
As usual tune in next Tuesday for my next newsletter.
Personally loved Mamushi (even though I know it’s polarizing among listeners) because it sounds so different compared to the rest of her tracks. I really hope Meg continues to collaborate with more Japanese artists - would love to see her get on a track with Awich!
I have to say that I deeply appreciate your explainers of how she was tying the anime culture because I am only really aware of(vaguely) of Naruto, sailor moon, the one where there’s giant naked people with like no skin (I cannot recall the name haha), and avatar (I’ve been told that Ang doesn’t count as anime but some ppl count it-it’s the only one I know inside out). Your piece explaining what she was doing made me appreciate the work much more so thank you! I have to say it makes me want to just listen intently to the album rather than just vibe cuz it sounds so interesting now haha. I’m still stuck in Miami Blue cuz it’s just baptizing me in southern greatness.