MORRISON, COLORADO - SEPTEMBER 02: Megan Thee Stallion performs onstage during Day 2 of "Red Rocks ... [+]
Is there a bigger, better, and more empowering female hip-hop brand today than Megan Thee Stallion? I doubt it.
Best known for the remix of her number-one single “Savage” with Beyoncé, Megan Thee Stallion again caught my attention with “WAP,” her number one with Cardi B that, let's just say, served as a lightning rod for controversy.
So how do I think this Grammy-winning musician, devoted dog mom, model, makeup ambassador, and recent Texas Southern University college graduate (that’s right, in December 2021, she graduated with a bachelor of science degree in health administration) is breaking all the rules to build her powerhouse brand?
Well definitely thanks to pioneering, forward-thinking brands like Live Nation that masterfully promoted Megan Thee Stallion to a packed out grade II listed, O2 Academy in Brixton recently.
But beyond that, a few themes emerge.
Firstly, Megan Thee Stallion is purpose-driven. As hip-hop increasingly dominates mainstream pop culture, there’s one thing we need to understand. Female hip-hop stars rapping about their sexuality, independence, and dominance does not send a destructive message to young girls. On the contrary, it sends a purpose-driven and constructive one.
Megan Thee Stallion’s cocky, self-assured lyrics and performances have one consistent purpose. They share stories of finding and celebrating female empowerment.
These messages encourage not only enormous camaraderie among female fans - I’ve witnessed this first hand at the O2 Academy Brixton, where she brought down the house - but also foster enormous support amongst other female hip-hop artists. (Refreshing, really, given the cutthroat music industry otherwise encourages artists to tear each other down.)
Secondly, Megan Thee Stallion’s brand is imbued with an enormous cultural currency.
What do I mean by that?
Megan Thee Stallion’s predominantly female fan following doesn't just appear in droves at her concerts for her music. They come for the emancipation brand experience. I can see this Stallion isn’t just a rapper but the voice of thousands of women worldwide who have been told for an equal number of years to suppress their sexual desires.
The cultural tension point that Megan Thee Stallion releases is that women are still not permitted to be as sexually expressive as men, even in 2022. Megan Thee Stallion refuses to abide by the idea that women are at the whim of male sexual desires; she keeps turning that notion on its head.
Do I think this makes Megan Thee Stallion the most family-friendly brand?
Probably not, but it does make Megan Thee Stallion the most urgently needed brand.
Although we’ve had several artists like Madonna, Britney, George Michael, Lil Wayne, Tyga, etc., explore sex in music, it’s still a problem when Black female artists attempt to sexualize themselves. When Black female artists rap about their sexual desires, they're vulgar, attacked for corrupting our youth, and don't deserve our respect.
And here, I believe, is the third and most critical takeaway for leaders and brands: Concentrate.
The devil for building authentic brands today is in the details, namely recognizing the nuances of race, ethnicity, age, gender, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, economic status, you name it.
Bottom line?
I’m calling times up on leaders still taking a one size fits all mentality to engage their audiences. If you’re serious about building a global powerhouse brand, look to find and release the tension points in our culture.
There is no doubt in my mind that female hip-hop artists like Megan Thee Stallion are the most valuable and necessary ambassadors today. Especially during a time when we should all be actively trying to unlearn our own biases and find new ways to achieve equality for all.
Now, if that isn't savage, I don't know what is.
Named Esquire’s Influencer Of The Year, Jeetendr Sehdev is a media personality, international speaker and the author of the New York Times bestselling book, The Kim Kardashian Principle: Why Shameless Sells (and How to Do It Right).
