The Houston Rapper Taking the Industry by Storm

Megan Thee Stallion only takes big swings. Late in 2017, at age 22, the artist recorded “Stalli Freestyle,” a video of herself rapping in the middle of a street somewhere in a suburb of her native Houston. The backdrop of her deceptively simple video was prosaic, but Megan’s performance electrified. Switching up her flow about halfway into the track, she unleashed a cheeky, rapid-fire missive that married braggadocio and pointed commentary: “Your favorite rapper only use onomatopoeias / You don’t wanna hear it cuz you only wanna see her / I’ma show you how a real rap bitch tee up / Get up in the booth and beat the motherfucking beat up.”

In the video, which has since racked up more than 2 million views on YouTube, she strutted around and danced with the confidence of someone who knew she’d be a star. And now, a year and a half later, the artist born Megan Pete has released her debut studio album under 300 continues the artistic dominance the inventive rapper has been establishing since even before “Stalli Freestyle.” of her showcase a confident young artist, and by late 2017, she’d already put out a mixtape, , and an EP, . Last year was a catalytic one for Megan. While still a college student at Texas Southern University, she released , records. The EP was named for one of the alter-egos she inhabits: a female version of Tony Snow, the alias of the late . Bold, brash, and skillfully crafted, it introduced Megan as a rapper to be taken seriously.