Photo Source [Cassidy Meyers]: Megan Thee Stallion as “Lover Girl”
Her new era: love vs. legacy
The name of the game is love with a capital M. Your favorite Hot Girl is back, and this time she’s talking about her new relationship with Dallas Cowboys player, Klay Thompson.
It’s certainly a departure from Megan Thee Stallion’s oeuvre of proudly championing her being a boss and making no apology for it. After the last couple of years dealing with being in and out of court, from Tory Lanez’s shooting to a defamation case (both of which she had won), to say that this positive turn has been needed for the Houston rapper would be an understatement.
A kind of lows that have been reflected in her last two projects: ‘MEGAN’ and ‘MEGAN ACT II’. However, based on the songs already released, it seems that Megan is planning on putting revenge in the rearview and instead focusing on fun and loose jams, like “WAP” and “Savage”, that made her a household name.
However, actually getting herself to that point is the real struggle. Indeed, in trying to outrun her past, Megan seems to have put herself in a tighter box than before.
A packed rollout and “MEGAN ACT III”
The fact that she’s even pushing an album out is a miracle in itself.
Just this year, she pushed out a jaw-dropping music video for “Whenever” that matched the twang, almost cowboy beat, with visuals inspired by Salvador Dali before jumping on a collaboration with LISA on “Rapunzel.” She rounded out her year by releasing this October “Lover Girl”, a smoother R&B tune about her man, her man, her man.
These singles are just the preamble to her newest album, “MEGAN ACT III”. The album itself is supposed to be a change from Megans’s previous work, as the rapper announced to L’Officiel in their interview with her. While the album had been announced to drop later this year back in 2024, it seems that it will be pushed back to 2026 for now.
However, with the album pushing back and multiple songs being dropped as well as the fact that Megan has just recently gone independent, it’s clear that the Houston rapper has been dipping her hands into a lot of projects well before these acts dropped. With so much on her plate, it’s unclear how Megan Thee Stallion will be able to handle having to switch up her brand and if she will be able to stick the landing.
Do the singles land?
Unfortunately, neither “Whenever” nor “Lover Girl” gives much hope for the rest of the album.
“Whenever” is marginally better since it plays in Megan’s wheelhouse of don’t-give-a-damn/Hot Girl/Boss anthem songs that have recently been the thematic throughline of her past two albums. Indeed, what makes it work despite the abysmal lyrics and the beat that decides to quit halfway through is Megan’s attitude that still manages to notch this song up to at least decent.
However, the same cannot be said for “Lover Girl”. “Lover Girl” is, as Todd in the Shadows said in his review of her song “Sweetest Pie”, “a vibe Megan doesn’t feel at this time”.
The “Lover Girl” dilemma
Anger suits Megan Thee Stallion like a fine armour, and every song where she takes the mike and blasts into it is always a joy to watch musically when you can visually hear the person getting pounded. However, it comes at a price, specifically how she can no longer seem to find herself in songs that are about the fun times.
Even “WAP”, her song that had the most fun with such a topic, still didn’t really strike a perfect balance of sexy while fierce. “Lover Girl” also has the added bonus of wreaking of insecurity, suffocating any possible mood other than a lonesome worry that you may end up suffocated for looking her man’s way, especially with lyrics like “Need to find your own man, b*tch” and her chanting “my man my man my man” that is more like a curse.
It’s clear that the song is being weighed down by a vindictiveness and jealousy that keep it from being simply a song about how amazing being in love is. And yet. I still can’t help but root for it. I haven’t nearly been this excited for a project like I was when this dropped.
It seemed so different, as though she was really trying to expand her musical skills in a way we hadn’t seen before. While the song is awful, it also showcases a lightness that I wasn’t expecting out of Megan. The beat certainly adds to that mood that gives way to an intimacy that doesn’t hide but instead loudly proclaims itself to the world.
It’s almost flirtatious, but it breaks the immersion because of how Megan is portraying herself. Throughout the lyrics, she talks about the things she does for her man, cooking and cleaning, and making a home for her lover. She’s putting herself in this submissive role, which jolts the audience out of the song because that is simply not what Megan Thee Stallion has shown herself to be, certainly not in her music.
Why “WAP” worked and “Lover Girl” didn’t is because “WAP” wasn’t just a fierce anthem but specifically an anthem of women taking charge of their sexuality. Submissive jams have been done, and done well, and what people are in the bedroom is not my concern. But the portrayal that Megan has given us of her isn’t someone who likes to take second in her music or her life.
What comes next
While “Lover Girl” and “Whenever” have their bumps, they still show an exciting turn for Megan Thee Stallion and a new chapter for the rapper to go. What remains to be seen, however, is whether she’s willing to forge her own new path rather than deciding to tread the beaten path.