Despite Its Flaws, Megan Thee Stallion’s “Suga” is a Sweet Treat
Texas rapper Megan Thee Stallion has returned with her new 9 track EP, Suga. It’s good to see that it was released, because Megan was stuck in a legal dispute with her label earlier this month. Megan has been on my radar since I first heard her freestyle on the 2019 XXL Freshmen Class. Megan has something to prove, and the confidence in her delivery reflects it. She wants everyone to know that she’s the best at everything she does, and that she will not back down.
It wouldn’t be a Megan Thee Stallion project without the vulgar lyrics she’s well known for. Most if not all songs on Suga feature heavy amounts of explicit content in them. The opening track, Ain’t Equal, is Megan telling the world that nobody is equal to her when it comes to rap. She addresses her haters very aggressively, going as far to say — “Disrespect me and this shit gon’ get lethal.” It’s very in-your-face, with great production thanks to producer Helluva Beats. Savage is a track bragging about how Megan views her status. She sees herself as a bad-ass (which I honestly have to agree with) due to her financial status and looks. The chorus to the track also gets stuck in my head every time I hear it — it’s wonderful.
Captain Hook is my favorite track on the album thanks to it’s sound and hilarious lyrics (though I’m not sure if they’re supposed to be funny or not). Megan opens up the track by explaining that she likes to switch up her style, both with her music and physical appearance. To give Megan credit where credit is due, she actually does switch her style up in this song. So many artists like to claim they’re evolving and changing styles, but then rehash the same stuff, whereas Megan actually delivers. The whole point of Captain Hook is to exclaim Megan’s love for sex. She even states that she enjoys a guy’s genitals to have a bit of a curve, naming that Captain Hook. Referring to what I said earlier, thanks to how confident Megan is in herself, she kept the song interesting the entire time. The lead single, B.I.T.C.H., was a catchy song to get people hyped up for this project. It’s one of Megan’s safest songs, not trying to be special, but that’s not always a bad thing.
This project started to lose me a little bit when I heard Stop Playing. The track features Gunna, who does his typical melodramatic drowsy auto-tuned voice for his verse. I think Megan can sing wonderfully, so it was upsetting to see her mimic Gunna’s style for the song. Crying In The Car fails to fit the mood that Megan is trying to set with the track. The more intimate and emotional lyrics reminisces about the times when Megan would sit alone in her car and cry. The entire track talks about her refusal to give up, and how she’s going to continue to push herself harder. I appreciate the tone of the track, but it’s accompanied by some awful vocals and mixing. The auto-tune sounds like there was no effort put into it, and made the track a chore to get through.
I enjoyed the closing track, What I Need, quite a bit. I thought it gave the project a nice ending. It had a slightly more serious tone to it, but it was still about love and sex. Suga has its flaws, but overall it was fun to listen to. The style switch-ups that Megan pulls are hit or miss, but thankfully mostly hit. It was a short and sweet EP packed to the brim with hilarious bars, head-bopping bangers, vulgar lyrics, and incredible writing talent from Megan.
