When Megan Thee Stallion dropped off her third studio album, Megan, in August, the 18 tracks sought to cater to every type of Hottie. The Anime-loving fans indulged in playfully specific songs like “Otaku Hot Girl” and the Hot 100 hit “Mamushi” with Yuki Chiba. The album’s serpentine-themed tracks like “Hiss,” “Rattle,” and “Cobra” all jabbed at her critics and gratified her “Real Hot Girl S**t” supporters, while party anthems like “Where Them Girls At” aimed to heat the club up. Meg saw the fruits of her labor, with the album debuting at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 last June.
So when Megan announced her follow-up album Megan: Act II last week, the album’s glossy and blinged-out cover — reminiscent of Juvenile’s 400 Degreez — the message was clear. This album would be for her Houston Hotties and tap into her southern roots in a way Megan’s mainstream commercialization didn’t. While not all of the 13 new songs touch on Meg’s southern background (there are features from metal band Skybox, BTS’ RM, and K-Pop group TWICE), there’s enough spice to satisfy.
“I really like to rap,” Megan told Billboard in her cover story last month. “Where I come from, people are really freestyling. What I come from is hardcore rap, Southern rap. The one thing in my life that I knew I was really good at was rapping. I don’t ever want to get away from that. I don’t ever want to play with it. I don’t ever want people to think I don’t take it seriously. I’ll be the rapper that is good for a bunch of verses and freestyles because that’s what I like to do.”
Check out Billboard‘s thoughts on every song that appears on Megan Thee Stallion’s Megan: Act II in our ranked list below.
“Mamushi” (Remix feat. TWICE)
“Best Friend”
Megan’s flirty relationship with her sexuality should come as no surprise (we all saw her Caresha Please interview after all), but “Best Friend” doesn’t translate that steamy openness into anything substantial. The track’s whiny, high-pitched Auto-Tuned crooning feels unnecessary, and bars like “Girl, don’t stop, keep goin’, that relax me/ You want me to join in, then ask me/ I like girls that like girls, that attract me /I got a bitch and a man, make ’em tag team” feel stripped of any lustful charm because of how on-the-nose they are.
“TYG” (feat. Spiritbox)
The band Spiritbox feels incredibly underutilized on “TYG,” which is disappointing considering how good Meg and Courtney LaPlante sound when they do appear together. The surprisingly heavy breakdown in the first chorus allows LaPlante to unleash her signature, guttural scream, but it’s too fleeting to pack any serious punch. While “TYG” should be a song that charts an exciting new path for Meg’s ferocious Hot Girl energy, it’s too brief to even leave any bitemarks.
“He Think I Love Him”
Originally released back in May as part of her weekly “Megan Monday” freestyle segments, “He Think I Love Him” feels like filler in an album full of more intentional, radio-ready singles. Still, it’s nice to hear Meg just rap for a quick 95 seconds, and the song also serves as a good interlude to “Like a Freak.”
“Fell in Love”
Megan Thee Stallion is at her most charming when she can just let herself be cheeky. “Fell in Love,” driven by Bankroll Got It’s stylish and funkified drums, Meg fools around by rapping about fishing, IUD birth control, and the sheer audacity for cooking a man his meals. When she finally admits, “Damn, I done f–ked around and fell in love,” her frustration is hilariously palpable. Meg hates how much she’s fallen, after allowing herself to fall fully, while making sure to still leave an impression of her own. “He was a lil’ borin’/ Now I got him doin’ freaky shit,” she raps.
“Right Now”
Tay Keith’s thunderous trap backdrop on “Right Now” is Meg’s bread and butter. While “Right Now” doesn’t push the Houston rapper’s creative boundaries, the song finds Meg firmly in her comfort zone doing what she does best. “A n—a can’t boss me up/When we met I was already bossy/He can take back whatever he bought me, none of that s–t put a dent in my closet,” she spits with venom in the opening bars. Calling out catty critics and misogynistic men has always been Meg’s strong suit, and while it’s more of the same on “Right Now,” it’s a vibe that’s always welcomed.
“Motion”
“Motion” is another song that just finds Thee Stallion in her bag. Meg stunts on everyone around her, calling out the men and women that hate her so emphatically she closes out the song just speaking to her critics. “B—h, y’all worried ’bout Megan Thee Stallion, I’m already rich,” she says at the end. “Motion” won’t move the needle for any of Meg’s doubters, but for her fans the song has enough movement to keep them satiated.
“Like a Freak”
For Millennials, “Like a Freak” is 75 seconds of giddy nostalgia. Megan’s spitfire flow easily keeps pace with Far East Movement’s 2010 smash “Like a G6,” and the track’s fun energy is enough to ignore the lackluster bars Meg is spitting. “I’m feelin’ like a houswife holdin’ up my peaches” isn’t the most provocative Megan lyric ever, but the song feels in on the joke, considering how quickly it flies by. It’s like Meg just wanted to remind everyone that “Like a G6” can still turn up any club.
“Neva Play” (feat. RM of BTS)
Essentially serving as a more trap-infused sequel to “Mamushi,” Meg’s lead single off Act II is bursting with energy. Through driving 808’s and a glitchy synth, Meg does her thing while a welcomed guest appearance from BTS’ RM shows Tina Snow knows how to bring out the best in her K-pop guests. RM’s slow and gravelly voice serves as the perfect contrast to Meg’s bouncy flow.
“Number One Rule”
Act II’s third track may have spliced up a sample of Bobby Womack’s “Interlude #2,” but the piano trills and trunk-rattling drums of “Number One Rule” are far more crunk then soul. As one of the songs on Act II to stylistically tap into the Houston rapper’s southern background, Meg keep things light by shouting out Warren G, Jordin Sparks, SZA and others. She also takes a moment to offer some catchy words of wisdom: “N—as chase p—y, p—y don’t chase d–k/ That’s the number one rule.”
“Roc Steady” (feat. Flo Milli)
While Megan Thee Stallion and GloRilla emerged as one of the hottest female rap duos this year, “Roc Steady” makes the case that Flo Milli and Meg need to work together more. The song samples Ciara’s 2004 crunk’n’b anthem “Goodies,” and the beat’s iconic piercing whistle helps Flo and Meg sway to the beat without having to do much heavy lifting themselves. Each of their flows fit naturally within the track’s groove, and with frisky bars like “Hoes tryna get picked, I’m just tryna get d–k/ Like Mario Kart, these n—as get switched,” “Roc Steady” deserves a few repeats while outside this winter.
“Bourbon”
While Act II is filled with a smattering of southern flavor, club-ready jams and energized trap bangers, “Bourbon” finds Meg in uncharted territory as she navigates a more ghoulish and menacing terrain. Bankroll Got It’s unsettling beat allows Meg to open up in a more transparent way then on the rest of the album, as she shouts out her independence and criticizes the scams of major labels.
“Clearly we know who been taking the payments/ We see who name bring the clicks and engagement/ We know the people in blogs with arrangements/ I know the ones that ain’t bout what they claiming,” she spits. It’s nice to hear Meg rap about her lessons learned rather than just indulge in the spoils of her career.
“Bigger in Texas”
The dusty groove of “Bigger in Texas” feels reminiscent of Juvenile’s “Ghetto Children” and some of UGK’s best material, overall fitting Megan like a glove. With the south having another moment thanks to rappers like BigXThaPlug and That Mexican OT, it begs the question: Why did it take this long for Meg to fully indulge in her southern roots? It doesn’t really matter, as Meg meets the moment by spitting some silly bars about getting head while playing Nintendo Switch, but also raps with serious conviction about how she relishes in vanquishing her haters: “If these b–ches ain’t mad, I need to go harder/ I can’t let ‘em think we same.”
