Megan Thee Stallion is one of the hardest working rappers in the business right now. From her infectious presence on Instagram to her constant output of music, fans have been waiting to see the rapper achieve her first number one— and it just happened.
In 2019, the release of Hot Girl Summer, the much-anticipated single and response to an online movement in support of Meg, had all the makings of a #1 hit. With Ty Dolla $ign on the hook and the rapper's hero Nicki Minaj on a verse, the song peaked at the #3 position on the Billboard Hot 100. Though, one thing was clear — Meg was just getting started.
Today, her engagement with TikTok has helped the rapper not only proliferate the mainstream but also achieve her first #1 on the Billboard charts with Savage. The dance, created by Keara “Keke” Wilson, a 19-year-old from Ohio sparked one of the biggest TikTok trends this year, with the song itself now used in over 26 million videos. Including one from Meg, who recreated the dance wearing Rihanna's SavageXFenty lingerie.
@theestallion @savagexfenty ##savagextheestallion ##savagechallenge
The same day Keke released her dance video for Savage, Meg created a dance for another song off the Suga tape called Captain Hook. Although, the rapper released the dance on Triller, an app quickly emerging as TikTok's main rival.
Now the song has around 5 million videos on TikTok, with super creators like Charli D'Melio and Addison Rae joining in on the trend.
@tonylopez
The thing about TikTok is, its audience rarely favours manufactured moments by artists or corporations over those that are happy accidents by everyday users. Similarly, songs by unknown Russian EDM producers and old Kesha tracks - no, not TiK ToK - are more likely to become trending songs over those already enjoying charting successes.
So the accidental renewed success of Hot Girl a song from Meg's 2018 Tina Snow project on the short-video-sharing app makes as much sense as anything else does on TikTok. Despite the release of the EP predating the app's introduction to the US market by two months, the song has seen a recent surge in users soundtracking videos to the sound of Hot Girl, a gruff and powerful salvo that interpolates her iconic "hot girl summer" adage.
As Hot Girl comes back into the mix, Beyoncé's remix of Savage also makes dizzying returns on TikTok. The success of the remix reinvigorated the song on the app while Meg to the top of the Billboard charts for her first #1 song and Beyoncé's seventh.
@addisonre dc @cassidycondiee
Queen Bey threw down three verses, Meg brought two new verses to the mix and a whole lot of smooth harmonising turned an already exciting moment into a historical one. The rapper celebrated this moment on Instagram.
Once dubbed the "hot girl taking over hip-hop," Meg is now dominating TikTok, one song at a time.