Album of the Week Review: Megan Thee Stallion Delivers In Her Debut, "Good News"
Updated: Nov 23, 2020
Megan Thee Stallion has had quite a year. From dropping bangers like Savage (and really, the entirety of Suga), to being shot by Tory Lanez (I promise this will be one of the few times where his name is mentioned), 2020 has been tumultuous for the Houston-bred rapper. Megan’s fans, referred to as “hotties,” have helped blow up her career this year, with no sign of slowing down. So, when Megan announced that her first-ever studio album, titled Good News, would drop on 11/20, the internet went into a frenzy. What would it sound like? Who would feature? How many songs would there be? Luckily, there were only 8 days between the album announcement and the actual release. Like the rest of the world, everyone in PB Press was extremely excited for Good News, so we knew we had to do something big.
Enter: The listening party. Special credit goes to PB’s Marketing x Media team, who organized a Zoom release party, for which over 100 people registered to attend! On the day of the event, everyone (this writer included!) arrived ready to party, with LED-lights flashing, twerking tutorials aplenty, and a mix of Megan’s previous hits playing in the background before the clock hit 12AM.
Full disclosure: I am not a Megan Thee Stallion StanTM (cue the gasps). Don’t worry - I am most certainly a fan! But as someone who only knew Megan’s hits, I was a little wary of attending a release party for her album. Megan’s hotties are very cool, and I am not, so I figured I would stick out like a sore thumb. I could not have been more wrong. The entire event was so inclusive and heartfelt and if I dare say it (and I do), cute. Everyone on there was so invested in Megan and so happy listening to her album, it just made me feel all warm and fuzzy (even as I was listening to songs like Intercourse - we’ll get to that in a second).
As it got closer to midnight, the mood grew more electrified, leading up to The Big Moment. It was here. I’ll spare you the summary of the events that ensued, but just know that there was lots of dancing, lots of vibing, and lots of praise for Hot Girl Meg. Keep scrolling to read my thoughts and review of Good News, and be sure to check out the rest of the PB Press website!
I love a good sorter, so I’ve divided the songs into 3 categories:
Eh: Listen if you have the time - Although Megan’s amazing, some songs have gotta be at the bottom. That would be these.
A Bop: The songs that are good, not great. But also, not the worst on the album.
Essentials: Self-explanatory. You just have to listen to them.
Eh
Cry Baby (feat. DaBaby)
I don’t remember much about this song, and I think that sums it up well. DaBaby and Megan’s voices and lyrics blend well together, but was DaBaby really needed on the song in the first place? In my opinion, he didn’t add much to the track, but it also needed him to spice it up. It’s a bit of a Catch-22. It just didn’t feel like Megan or DaBaby brought their A-Game here.
Do It on the Tip (feat. City Girls & Hot Girl Meg)
Anything with City Girls is exciting, and we love a Hot Girl Meg alter ego MomentTM. I really like the beat of the song and Megan’s verse was excellent. That being said, I was a little disappointed that it was less upbeat, and the chorus felt repetitive. But still, all things considered, it’s a good song.
Movie (feat. Lil Durk)
The chat section on the Zoom while this played was my favorite part of the song - is that bad? As listeners encapsulated, this song gave me “sexy felony vibes.” I feel like I would walk into a room dramatically and confront all my enemies while this blasts in the background. Props to the lyric “I’m a boss, I could buy the same thing my man bought” because that is exactly the attitude we need in 2020. The whole thing felt straight out of a movie scene - just maybe not the best scene of the movie, ya feel?
Work That
Look. I wanted to like this. I love the “Rodeoooooooo” that repeats often. At the listening party, everyone was jamming. I was one of them! It’s a catchy song, and I could definitely see it blowing up on TikTok. In the words of Tyra Banks, I was rooting for this song. So imagine my dismay when I see that R. Kelly was credited as a writer on here. I cannot in good conscience give that man a high rating when he’s been accused and arrested for countless cases of sexual abuse. Love you Megan, but that choice didn’t sit well with me.
Go Crazy (feat. Big Sean & 2 Chainz)
This song sounds like the Megan we’ve heard before, which is the main reason I included it in this section. In an album full of new styles, it seems redundant and old. It’s not a bad song - Big Sean’s verse was pretty good (although a little long), the beat was fun, and people were enjoying it on the Zoom call - but it’s forgettable in an album with so many other great songs.
A Bop
Body
I know I’ve already claimed a few different songs as TikTok audios, but I truly think this one has potential. The lyrics, which are pretty repetitive (BODYODYODYODYODY… and so on) are perfect for the video content platform. The music video had a great set, lots of body positivity, Taraji P. Henson - what’s not to like? I also loved the reference to Carole Baskin from the early-quarantine hit show Tiger King.
Intercourse (ft. Popcaan & Mustard)
People will hate me for not including it on my favorites list, but oh well! This song is good, but it’s not great. It’s very sexy and offers a lot of variety. It’s completely different from anything Megan has done before, and I love that she expanded into island-esque music. My complaint is that there isn’t enough Megan. Popcaan does a good job, but after a while, it gets boring. We want more Megan time!
Don’t Rock Me to Sleep
Here Megan experiments with a poppier sound, and it’s honestly a bit confusing. She maintains the same vocal tone throughout, which tends to make her sound disinterested at times. Nonetheless, I thought this was a really cute song, although it seems like other listeners might not agree. I’m personally rooting for Dua Lipa to feature on a remix of this because it’s giving me major Future Nostalgia vibes. I could also see The Weeknd jumping on here, or even this gaining popularity on TikTok.
Outside
This has big old-school rap vibes, which I love. A surprisingly more mellow song than expected. The lyrics are not stellar but also not bad (apparently I’m the only one who thinks this, but it’s not like I could do better, so who am I to judge?). There was a lot of collective praise for the outro on this one, which is merited.
What’s New
This song gave me Rich VibesTM. The beat sounds like the Megan we’ve heard before, and her flow was really sharp, which I loved. The song was a little short and ended kind of abruptly, but hey - we can’t have everything in life!
Don’t Stop (feat. Young Thug)
I feel like I can be honest with you guys, so I’m going to level with you: I knew this song but did not know it was by Megan (I’m hopeless, I know). However, I give my props to her for creating such a bop. This feels like an underhyped song, but it was also hard to focus on it after 16 previous tracks, so it felt a little forgettable as an album closer.
Essentials
Shots Fired
Megan starts the album off strong by addressing the elephant in the room: Tory Lanez (ew). While the song is certifiably about him, Megan has the class to never say his name, yet end him in one fell swoop (which she notes in one of my favorite lyrics - “I know you want the clout so I ain’t saying y’all names”) The lyrics in this song are amazing. Incredible one-liners from “imagine me entertaining you” to “I'm a steak, you a side plate, shrimp, stay in your place,” to my personal favorite “you’re not poppin’, you just on the remix.” Because, true. Who is Tory Lanez? I don’t even know. He’s irrelevant and Megan has put him in his place. Megan gets extra points for the lyric “let me put my mask on” because we are still in a pandemic! Points for COVID safety go to Ms. Hot Girl Meg! Overall, an incredible song and a perfect way to start the album. Megan ended him, yet in a classy and succinct way. She said what needed to be said and said it well in one song, unlike Lanez who made his whole album about her.
Circles
Would it even be a Megan song if it didn’t start with “real hot girl sh*t?” One of the best songs on the album, hands down. The music is good, the background vocals are incredible, and the whole song makes me wish that COVID was over so I could dance to this with other people at a party. I think the lyrics are overlooked here - they cover Megan’s shooting, her mother’s death, and backstabbing friends, all while being upbeat. This is the definition of a sad song with a happy tune. Circles also has a ton of superstar writers, from Mary J. Blige to Missy Elliot to Diddy, which is probably why it sounds like older rap songs (in the best possible way).
Sugar Baby
A fun, retro-inspired, 90s vibe song full of cheeky one-liners for your next Instagram caption. Someone in the Zoom chat said this gave them “Six Flags” vibes, with another person agreeing that the backing track sounded like the Mario theme music. I agree, and that’s one of the reasons I love the song. It’s just so carefree and completely different from the rest of the album - personally, I’m getting sexy pep rally vibes.
Freaky Girls (feat. SZA)
This. This is the one. Definitely the most anticipated song on the album and it did not disappoint. There were questions of whether Megan would go subtle or SZA would go hard. While there was no official answer, one of the Marketing x Media chairs who shall remain unnamed started punching the air in celebration the minute it started. Let me elaborate: this song was (and still is) It’s everything I wanted and more. Because I listened to the album at 12:00 AM, I figured I wouldn’t remember the songs when I woke up just 7 hours later. Wrong! I remembered this one. SZA gave amazing vocals, Megan gave amazing verses, and the two of them gave a sexy, fun song. As one person asked: Is this the cure for COVID? Time will tell.
Savage Remix (feat. Beyoncé)
This one is self-explanatory. Megan’s first #1 song, with Beyoncé added? Say less. If you haven’t heard this yet, where have you been? Shoutout to the TikTok lyric from Queen Bey.
Girls in the Hood
Another fairly obvious pick. It was a single for a reason! One of my personal favorites on the album. I love the beat, I love the lyrics, I love the vibe. Megan’s gift to her Hotties, and really her gift to the world. If this song doesn’t make you dance, scream, or make you feel incredibly confident, what’s wrong with you?
Overall, as someone who hadn’t listened to a lot of Megan’s music before this, I have a hard time comparing the album to the few songs I knew previously. And that’s why I think this is a great album - nothing sounds the same, and although perhaps I couldn’t remember much after the first listen, I distinctly recalled that every song had a different vibe. Good News feels like an apropos title, as Megan has delivered and lifted my spirits with this fun, cheeky, outlandish album. If you have to listen to 3 songs from the album, I would recommend: Shots Fired, Freaky Girls, and Circles.
My only criticisms would be that some of the songs felt like add-ons - there were a few tracks that felt short, such as What’s New, and I can’t help but feel like they could have been left off the album. 17 tracks is a little long for me, but for her Hotties, I’m sure it’s a dream.
The experience of listening to the album together also made me appreciate the work more - I loved hearing everyone’s opinions on each song, and it was so interesting to learn all the little details about Megan’s music that I wouldn’t have noticed by myself. So the question remains: Did Megan Thee Stallion save 2020? Maybe not as much as Dolly Parton’s Moderna funding, but definitely very close to it.
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