Megan Thee Stallion - Suga (2020)

Fresh off fostering a movement like #HotGirlSummer, one would think Megan Thee Stallion had little if anything left to prove, but her Suga EP tells a bit of a different story. Megan uses the moment to level up as an increasingly important voice of female empowerment and at the same time remind us how easily she can traverse some of the most beloved sounds of contemporary rap. First, she sounds extremely comfortable in a Detroit street rap vibe courtesy of producer Helluva on “Ain't Equal.” A little further in, she dips her toes in West Coast G-funk for the Kehlani collaboration “Hit My Phone.” She channels the legendary 2Pac on “B.I.T.C.H.,” which takes inspiration from the late MC’s “Ratha Be Ya N***a,” and then teams up with ATL drip music innovator Gunna for “Stop Playing.” As for who she is as an MC, Thee Stallion has a couple choice ways of describing herself on “Savage” (“Classy, bougie, ratchet/Sassy, moody, nasty”) which, grouped together, only remind us that this is who we need to be listening to.