Biography

Megan Jovon Ruth Pete (born February 15, 1995), known professionally as Megan Thee Stallion (pronounced "Megan the Stallion"), is an American rapper, singer, actress and songwriter. She released the EP Tina Snow in June 2018. She signed to 300 Entertainment in November 2018, making her the first female rapper on the label. Her first full-length project, Fever, was released on May 17, 2019.

Early life

Megan Jovon Ruth Pete was born on February 15, 1995 in Bexar County, Texas, and raised in the neighbourhood South Park in Houston. Her mother, Holly Thomas, rapped under the name Holly-Wood and would bring her daughter with her to recording sessions, instead of putting Pete in daycare. Pete and her mother eventually moved to Pearland, Texas, a suburb of Houston when she was 14 and lived there until she was 18.

Megan Thee Stallion began writing her own raps at age 16. When she revealed to her mother that she wanted to rap, Holly required that Megan wait until she was 21 to pursue rapping as a career. Her mother, although impressed by her daughter's rapping skills, commented that her lyrics were too suggestive for her young age.

In 2013, a clip of Megan Pete (now "Megan Thee Stallion") went viral, where she was battling against male opponents in a "cypher" while a student at Prairie View A&M University. The viral video helped Pete gain a larger digital presence and following on social media. She has garnered fans by posting her freestyles on her Instagram since college. She refers to her fans as "hotties", and credits her hyperactive fan base for her early success. She adopted the stage name Megan Thee Stallion because she was referred to as a stallion during adolescence due to her height (5'10") and beauty.

After taking time off school, she resumed her studies at Texas Southern University in health administration, where she is a third year student as of 2019. Megan also attended Pearland High School and graduated in 2013.

Career

In 2016, she released her first mixtape, Rich Ratchet, and her first single "Like a Stallion" was produced by TA. The next year, she released her first EP, Make It Hot. One song on the EP, "Last Week in H TX", has four million YouTube views. In 2017, she released a video, "Stalli (Freestyle)" that is a rework of XXXTentacion's "Look At Me!"

In early 2018, Megan Thee Stallion signed with 1501 Certified Entertainment, an indie label in Houston owned by former baseball player Carl Crawford. She then performed at SXSW in March 2018. In June of that year she released a 10-song EP under the label called Tina Snow. The EP is named after her alter ego, who she describes as "a more raw version" of herself. She stated in an interview with Mic.com, that she is not afraid to talk about sexuality, nor does she feel boxed in to either the "intelligent" or "freak" dichotomy. The EP was positively received by critics: Eric Torres of Pitchfork.com wrote "she provided plenty of freak anthems with quotable lyrics to wield against ain’t-shit men"; Revolt referred to her flow as "effortless". Nandi Howard of The Fader referred to her ability to rap with "electrifying pace and precision".

In November 2018, she announced that she had signed with 300 Entertainment; she is the first rapper who is a woman to be signed by the label.

In 2019, she released the single "Big Ole Freak" from her EP Tina Snow, and also filmed a music video for the track. The single "Is it Love This Time" is sampled throughout the single. On April 15, 2019, Megan Thee Stallion achieved her first entry on Billboard Hot 100 at number 99 with her single "Big Ole Freak". "Big Ole Freak" later peaked at number 65 on the Hot 100.

Her first full-length mixtape, Fever, was released on May 17, 2019. The album received generally positive reviews. Taylor Crumpton of Pitchfork rated the album 8/10 and wrote in the review, "Megan's delivery of perfectly executed bars are comparable to successions from a fully automatic machine gun; a carefully studied aim of fiery stanzas that could only be carried by a rapper with extensive knowledge of the genre's early practices of battle rap." The album was selected as a NYT Critic's Pick, and reviewer Jon Caramanica wrote, "Before this album, Megan Thee Stallion's standout moments have come via radio-appearance freestyles — a familiar proving ground for rappers of an earlier generation, and one where she has thrived...Fever, however, is more cohesive, polished and forceful than her previous releases. The production — especially the songs by Lil Ju ("Ratchet", "Cash ____", "Realer") — is ominous and spacious, a foundation that's sturdy and not distracting." Writing for Fader, Amani Bin Shikhan stated in a review, "That's the magic of her appeal, and the magic of Fever: listening to Thee Stallion feels like listening to the advice of your most entertaining girlfriend, lovingly scolding you to both get your shit together and fuck it up for a real one."

On May 21, 2019, she released the music video for the opening album track "Realer", which is inspired by blaxploitation film style. On June 20, 2019, she was announced to be one of eleven artists included in the 12th edition of XXL's "Freshman Class". Her freestyle in the cypher was praised. In July 2019, Chance The Rapper released his debut studio album The Big Day where Thee Stallion was featured on the track "Handsome".

On August 2, 2019, A Black Lady Sketch Show premiered on HBO; the show uses Megan Thee Stallion's song "Hot Girl" in the opening title sequence. On August 9, 2019, Thee Stallion released the single "Hot Girl Summer", featuring fellow American rapper Nicki Minaj and singer Ty Dolla Sign. The song, an ode to her viral "hot girl summer" meme, came about after an Instagram Live session between the two rappers. It topped the Rolling Stone 100 and reached number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Thee Stallion's highest charting song to date. The week thereafter, she featured on Quality Control compilation album Quality Control: Control the Streets, Volume 2 on the track "Pastor", alongside Quavo and City Girls.

In September 2019, Megan Thee Stallion signed a management deal with Roc Nation. In December, she performed a NPR Tiny Desk Concert. In January 2020, Megan Thee Stallion released the single, “Diamonds” with Normani, for the Birds of Prey soundtrack.

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