“Too sexy. Too loud. Too black,” read the screens behind Megan Thee Stallion as she stalks the main Coachella stage, a simple but highly effective approach to calling out those who’ve criticised the Texan rapper for existing in a space dominated by men. Tonight the Texan rapper – real name Megan Pete – is making no apologies, wearing a skimpy silver outfit that looks like an even more bondage-focused take on Jane Fonda’s costume in Sixties sci-fi film Barbarella. She is nothing less than a force.
Her rise to fame – and second Coachella headliner status – has been fast and focused, with her 2019 mixtape Fever leading to her official 2020 debut Good News and last year’s Something for Thee Hotties compilation. But it was her guest appearance on Cardi B’s infamous 2020 single “WAP” that truly bought her to the mainstream, the perfectly filthy foil for her explicit, but proudly sex positive emceeing and dancing. Weaponising sexuality has been her modus operandi since she flipped from Instagram freestyler into a fully fledged star and this evening she fully leans into such straight-up sauciness, taking control of the very thing that has been used to dominate and disarm women for centuries.
