We list some interesting things you need to know about Megan Thee Stallion. Her brash delivery, unwavering sex appeal, and grit has made Megan hip-hop’s woman of the moment; they’re also the reason fans everywhere can’t stop yelling her “Real Hot Girl Sh*t” catchphrase ’round the clock.
1. Her real name is Megan Jovon Ruth Pete
Megan Thee Stallion’s real name is Megan Jovon Ruth Pete. She was born on February 15, 1995 in San Antonio, Texas. The singer/ songwriter and rapper adopted the stage name “Megan Thee Stallion” because she was called a “stallion” in adolescence due to her height (5 ft 10 in (178 cm)) and “thick” body frame; and that voluptuous and statuesque women in the Southern United States are colloquially called “stallions”. She also has an alter ego called “Tina Snow”, who she describes as “a more raw version” of herself. It was influenced by Pimp C’s alias Tony Snow, who had similar confidence and an unapologetic sexually dominant delivery.
2. She earned her first No. 1 single with the remix of “Savage” featuring Beyoncé
“Savage” is the second track from Megan Thee Stallion’s EP “Suga”. It her most successful song – primarily due to the song going viral on TikTok, leading users to create a dance to the track. Beyoncé was also featured on the remix, which reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts.
On making the song remix she said: “I got a call one day and they were like, ‘Yeah, Beyonce is gonna do a remix to ‘Savage.’ I was like, shut the f— up! [laughing] I didn’t believe it. I was like, ‘Yeah, whatever.’ I was like, ‘You know I got a studio in the house?’ So I went in there and recorded a new verse and then maybe like the next week I heard the song.””
The remix received two awards at the Grammy Awards for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song. It was also nominated for Record of the Year.
3. Her mother, Holly Thomas was also a rapper
Megan Thee Stallion credits her mother as her biggest inspiration. She grew up under the roof of her mother Holly Thomas, a.k.a. Houston rapper Holly-Wood. Megan’s mother was an artist herself as well as her daughter’s manager, and in interviews Megan recalled sitting and spending time with her mom in the studio instead of at day care, which inspired her to pursue her own rap career.
When she won her three Grammy awards in 2021, she even gave a heartfelt thanks to her late mother, who died in 2019 due to brain cancer. “I really want to say thank you to my mama; she’s not here with me today, but I know she’s with me in spirit,” Megan said. “She always believed I could do it. Thank y’all so much.”
4. She collaborated with Cardi B on the hit single “WAP”
“WAP” is a song by Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion, released on August 7, 2020. “WAP” samples American DJ Frank Ski’s 1993 Baltimore club single “Whores in This House”, which also opens the song. The track details how both Cardi B and Stallion wish to be sexually pleased.
Talking about collaborating with Cardi B on the video for “WAP”, Megan said that, “Cardi was like ‘Megan, I really wanna do a scene with some snakes.’ And I was like, ‘If Cardi say she want me to lay down with some snakes, I got lay down with some snakes with her a**.’ I met the snakes before we lay down and I felt like we were keeping the peace and then the whole time I was laying there, Cardi was like ‘Megan, Megan, Megan…’ and trying to be all sexy still, but we were scared as hell.” “WAP” received widespread critical acclaim for its sex-positive message, and for empowering women, with several publications ranking it as the best song of 2020.
But, in an interview with UK radio host Ash London, the Bronx rap star revealed the record almost didn’t happen. When she approached her label, Atlantic Records, they loved it upon first listen. Initially, the “Bodak Yellow “ rapper didn’t even tell them Megan Thee Stallion was going to be on the track until she was getting ready to film the music video. While the label ultimately loved the song, there was some concern over its NSFW-esque lyricism.
“My label was really scared to put [out] that record. They were like ‘Can you please get another record, and put Megan on it?’” Cardi shared. However, she stuck to guns. “I was like ‘No. She already did [her verses]. Like, no. Listen, just let it happen.”
Nonetheless,”WAP” debuted atop the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming the first female rap collaboration to do so and recording the largest opening streaming week for a song in U.S. history.
5. She made an appearance on First We Feast ‘Hot Ones’
Megan Thee Stallion really brought the heat behind Hot Girl Summer. The rapper appeared on ‘Hot Ones’ to feast on spicy nuggets and talk about her music career. Megan took on the challenge and actually did extremely well. You could visibly see her eyes watering by the last one which she called a “meth hot sauce” but compared to others, she nailed it. It made sense that she would do well, considering her alter ego. During the interview, she talked about how she made her mark in the music industry, working with BTS, and the time Cardi B surprised her with a 120-pound albino python on the set of “WAP,” and her intense love for anime.
6. She started gaining recognition through her viral freestyle videos
Megan Thee Stallion started rapping early at the age of 14 while accompanying her mother, Holly Thomas aka rapper Holly-Wood, to recording sessions in Houston. Megan’s career began with freestyles at college parties. She began uploading videos of herself freestyling on social media when a clip of her battling against male opponents in a “cypher” went viral. The exposure helped Megan gain a larger audience on social media.
She released three mixtapes in three years with her mother as her manager, building her buzz while still completing courses. The rapper’s slick and authoritative nature on the mic allowed her to channel different alter egos like Hot Girl Meg, who she calls “the party girl, the polished girl, the turn-up queen.” She refers to her fans as “hotties” and credits her hyperactive fan base for her early success. Later on, her song “Savage” from her EP Suga went viral on TikTok, when popular user Keara Wilson used it for a dance challenge video, which racked up millions of views.
7. She became famous when she released her mixtape ‘Fever’
Fever is the debut commercial mixtape by Megan Thee Stallion, released on May 17, 2019. The mixtape also won the BET Hip Hop Award for Best Mixtape. Commercially, it debuted at number 10 on the Billboard 200, and was certified gold in the United States by RIAA.
The mixtape got favorable reviews with Donna-Claire Chesman of DJ Booth saying: “So many artists are lauded for bridging the old school with the new school, but Megan used Fever to re-introduce a generation of rap fans to the magic of Three 6 Mafia and the South et. al. And it paid off… Fever proves there is only one Megan Thee Stallion, and we are so lucky to watch her rise to the top and get hers. Real Hot Girl shit, indeed.”
8. Megan Thee Stallion made shooting allegations against Tory Lanez
The legal battle between Megan Thee Stallion and Tory Lanez — stemming from her accusation that Lanez shot her feet in the summer of 2020 has continued to grab headlines. It all began at a party hosted by Kylie Jenner in the Hollywood Hills on 12 July 2020.
Megan and Tory Lanez, are said to have got into an argument as they drove away from the event. At a hearing in court, Los Angeles Police told a judge Megan demanded to be let out of the car and heard Tory shouting at her to dance. He then opened fire with a handgun, officers said. Megan had initially told police she’d been hurt by stepping on broken glass. It was later, on Instagram, where she first said that Tory had shot her. The pair had been in a relationship but split before the accusations surfaced. Tory Lanez has denied the charges of assault with a firearm and carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle. He’s also been ordered to stay at least 100 yards away from Megan.
9. She’s the second female rapper to win the Grammy for Best New Artist
2020 turned out to be a big year for Megan Thee Stallion who went home with three Grammys for Best Rap Performance, Best New Artist and Best Rap Song. The Houston born-and-bred rapper won the coveted Best New Artist award at the 63rd annual Grammy Awards. The previous year’s winner, Lizzo presented her with the accolade, for which she was up against Noah Cyrus, D Smoke, Phoebe Bridgers, Kaytranada, Ingrid Andress, and Doja Cat.
In doing so, she became the first female hip-hop artist to claim the award since Lauryn Hill in 1999. Already a two-time GRAMMY winner as a member of the Fugees, Hill earned her first five career GRAMMYs as a solo artist for 1998, including Album Of The Year for The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill and Best New Artist.
10. She had label issues with 1501 Entertainment
The Grammy-winning rapper took to social media to address her legal battle with 1501 Certified Entertainment, the Houston-based record label that signed her in 2018. It started when her debut album was delayed as a result of her attempting to renegotiate her contract with 1501 Certified. She started the hashtag “#FreeTheeStallion” to raise awareness of the issue, noting that “[she did not] understand some of the verbiage” when she signed the initial contract with 1501.
1501 are an independent record label founded in 2016 whose CEO will be familiar to MLB fans. Carl Crawford, nicknamed “The Perfect Storm,” started the label after retiring from a career that saw him play left field for the Tampa Bay Rays, Boston Red Sox, and Los Angeles Dodgers. 1501 signed Megan Thee Stallion in 2018 with her Tina Snow mixtape being her first project released as part of the deal.
Megan sued the company for $1 million in 2022, claiming her most recent releases—Something for Thee Hotties and August’s Traumazine—fulfilled her contractual obligations and permitted her to cut ties with the imprint. According to the rapper and her legal team, 1501’s only requirement for something to be considered an “album” in their contractual agreement with the rapper is that it is over 45 minutes in length. 1501 pushed back, arguing that their contract with Megan gave them oversight over what constituted an “album” for contractual purposes, and that they’d told her Something For Thee Hotties would not count.
12. Megan Thee Stallion is the first female signed to 300 Entertainment
Megan Thee Stallion signed on to 300 Entertainment, a record label founded by Lyor Cohen, Roger Gold, Kevin Liles and Todd Moscowitz. Megan is the first female rapper signee, a deal that was inspired by “Tina Snow,” an EP she dropped to much acclaim in June 2018. Also, Warner Music Group acquired 300 Entertainment, home to Megan Thee Stallion, Young Thug and his label Young Stoner Life, Gunna, Fetty Wap, Highly Suspect, Mary J. Blige, and others. Since its launch nearly a decade ago, 300 had been distributed by Atlantic Records.
12. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world
Megan Thee Stallion graced the cover of TIME Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of 2020. The breakout rapper, who was the face of the “pioneers” section and featured on the cover of the issue, was listed among names like basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir. Megan Thee Stallion also joined the likes of Naomi Osaka, The Weeknd, Tyler Perry, Selena Gomez and 95 others who the publication distinguished as “harnessing the power of influence to forge genuine progress.”
Oscar-nominated actress Taraji P. Henson penned Megan’s entry and praised not only her hip hop talent, but also her vision.
“I remember hearing Megan Thee Stallion on one of those famous DJ radio shows a few years ago. She rode the beat like I’d never heard anybody ride the beat in a long time—and I’m a hip hop head,” Henson wrote. “The industry might try to pigeonhole her in this rap game, but she’s got a plan that’s much bigger. And we got her. I just want her to keep winning.”
13. She graduated from university with a Bachelor of Science in Health Administration
Megan Thee Stallion graduated with a degree in Health Administration. She decided to enroll on the degree after watching her grandmother take care of her great-grandmother. “I want to get my degree because I really want my mom to be proud,” she told PEOPLE. (Megan’s mother Holly Thomas died in March 2019 after battling brain cancer.) “She saw me going to school before she passed….My grandmother that’s still alive used to be a teacher, so she’s on my butt about finishing school. I’m doing it for me, but I’m also doing it for the women in my family who made me who I am today.” Notable is that Megan was studying health administration full-time before her illustrious rap career took off. When she reached international stardom, she began taking the course part-time and enrolling in online classes.
14. Megan Thee Stallion was included in XXL’s “Freshman Class”
XXL Mag released their 2019 Freshman Class, with the group consisting of Megan Thee Stallion herself, Tierra Whack, Rico Nasty, DaBaby, YBN Cordae, Gunna, Comethazine, Lil Mosey, Roddy Ricch, YK Osiris, and Blueface. Eleven of the rappers were chosen by the staff. There was one user pick: the voters picked Blueface, who’s had one of the biggest songs of 2019, “Thotiana.” Lil Mosey jumped in first, dropping what may very well be an off-the-dome freestyle. Next was Megan, the only female in the group, whose rapid-fire verse brought the heat.
15. She became the second female rapper to perform at the Oscars
Megan Thee Stallion delivered a surprise performance during the 94th annual Academy Awards. The Houston rapper joined the cast of the award-winning Disney film, Encanto, and added a verse to the chart-topping record, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.” She made history becoming the second female rapper to perform the Academy Awards, the first being Queen Latifah in the 81st Academy Awards ceremony.
16. She credits Pimp C, Three 6 Mafia and Beyoncé as her music influences
Growing up, Megan Thee Stallion would listen to her favorite rap songs from acts like Pimp C and Three 6 Mafia. Pimp C was one half of the influential hip hop group UGK (Underground Kingz) alongside Bun B. She has considered Pimp C and his 2006 solo album, Pimpalation, an influence since her childhood, admiring his talk-rap delivery and “cockiness”, and stating that she wants to inspire the same confidence that the rapper does through his music.
She has also been influenced by Beyoncé. The friendship between Megan Thee Stallion and Beyoncé kicked off in early 2020 when the two met at a New Years’ Eve party hosted by the “Halo” singer and her husband Jay-Z. The two Texas natives are no strangers today, but years ago Beyoncé was a superstar while Megan was just a youngster. “I remember the first time I ever saw Destiny’s Child in concert,” the rapper recalled to Stephen Colbert, “I remember being a little kid like, ‘Wow, I wanna do this one day.'”
Megan Thee Stallion and Beyoncé also won the Grammy for Best Rap Song for “Savage”. In her Grammy Awards acceptance speech she said: “Ever since I was little, I was like, ‘you know what? One day, I’m gonna grow up and I’m gonna be like the rap Beyoncé.’ That was definitely my goal. [..] I love her work ethic, I love the way she is, I love the way she carries herself.”
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