Megan Thee Stallion ft. Beyoncé - "Savage Remix"
By: Bailey Moser
The first official “Savage Remix” by Megan Thee Stallion ft. Beyoncé dropped this week on Thursday, April 30th and it’s already #1 on Apple Music’s U.S. Daily Top 100. Listeners are treated to the usual catchy Tik Tok hit, that’s now only been elevated with verses and harmonies provided by the Queen B herself. Bey lays down the intro plus two quirky verses with catchy one-liners that will grace Instagram captions all Summer 2020 long, such as “if you don’t jump to put jeans on baby you don’t feel my pain”. Of course, there’s plenty of her iconic vocals as well, echoing in validation that - yes, Megan Thee Stallion is a savage, indeed. The dynamic duo’s already setting the tone for another ~hot girl summer~ after Megan Thee Stallion dominated top charts all Summer 2019.
“Savage” has been a smash with a chorus that celebrates female confidence. It’s fun and relatable – who doesn’t want to be “classy, bougie, ratchet…sassy, moody, nasty” all at once?! There’s 19.3 MILLION Tik Tok videos (including her own) of young women showing off their moves and counting…all thanks to Thee Stallion herself. With the rumor that everything Beyoncé touches turns to gold, it’s more than just Tik Tok users and longtime fans stating “I’m a savage” now. Beyoncé’s fan base is massive and diverse when it comes to age and genre and that opens the opportunity for Megan Thee Stallion to become a household name herself, which she totally deserves. The juxtaposition in the lyrics, “Hood but I’m classy. Rich but I’m ratchet” implies the versatility women have and how it fits in our narrative of evolving from societal expectations that are also placed on us. This song feels not only like a celebration, but a declaration of womanly power.
Okay that’s getting a little too deep, but in a more realistic scope, Megan Thee Stallion has received her own criticisms as a black woman making waves in the music industry. Plastic surgery rumors, tipsy Instagram lives, and even disapproval over her sexualized song lyrics are probably only a portion of the drama she has put up with to get where she is today. Megan also uses her prominence to speak out on the double standards women face in hip-hop. In an interview with Fader back in May 2019, Megan Thee Stallion said, “Being a girl too – they criticize you hard than they criticize men…If I was out there making little noises like Uzi and Carti be making, they would not rock with that.” In an interview with Marie Claire, she goes into further detail on that double standard, specifically when it comes to her song lyrics. She says, “A man can talk about how he’s about to do all of these drugs and then come and shoot your house up. But as soon as I say something about my vagina, it’s the end of the world?” Megan Thee Stallion’s lyrics are normalizing the idea of women enjoying and owning their own sexuality. See her featured in Tyga’s ‘Freak” music video for BDSM reference, *insert eyeballs emoji here*.
Beyoncé Knowles is obviously one of the most popular black female artists to take control of her platform’s narrative. Should we thank her again for “Lemonade”? Who knew an elevator could be so scandalous… or how about that “Partition” music video? Anyway, you get the point that both Beyoncé and Megan Thee Stallion are beautiful, sexy, strong black women in the music industry and they’re dominating the music charts. As a newer artist breaking into the mainstream, Megan Thee Stallion came in blazing. According to MTV, “From 2016 to now, Megan has worked to become a member of rap’s class of female elite.” Beyoncé hopping on the “Savage Remix” track proves Stallion has officially made it big. Beyoncé recognizing Stallion’s talent and wanting to come along for the ride is a huge deal for Stallion’s career. Beyonce’s pinky finger has more influence than almost anyone, and we know she takes her artistic work very seriously so the success of their collab is a no-brainer. It makes sense Beyoncé would add her touch to Megan Thee Stallion’s latest banger, almost like a nod of encouragement from the Queen herself to a deserving, young predecessor. The momentum does not seem like it will be slowing down anytime soon either as the “Savage Remix” already has its own Tik Tok dance challenge as well. It’s too soon to call “Savage Remix” the hit of Summer 2020…but we’re calling it. As of right now, the immense popularity surrounding the remix track is only growing, so the competition is not looking up for other artists hoping to hit #1 this season. It’s going to be a savage summer!