MEGAN THEE STALLION SHOWS LOVE FOR JAPANESE HIP-HOP AND ANIME ON NEW ALBUM

American rapper Megan Thee Stallion is a self-defined "hot girl" as well as an avid anime fan. Time and time again, Megan has shown her love for anime, whether it be through her music, colorful cosplays, or just talking about it in interviews.

Her third studio album, Megan, was released on 28 June 2024. One of the standout tracks was "Otaku Hot Girl", a vibey song that is making the rounds on TikTok over anime fans' FYPs for all the right reasons. More highlights on the album were a song that featured Japanese rapper Yuki Chiba and the title track "BOA".

Megan's Love For Anime Shines on Her New album

Megan announced in May that an anime sample was cleared to use in one of the tracks on her new album, telling her fans that "this has never been done/very hard to do ya'll are going to scream"; this song was revealed to be "Otaku Hot Girl". To kickstart the song, we have an introduction voiced by Adam McArthur as his iconic character Yuji Itadori from Jujutsu Kaisen. In his voice, we hear the words "I like a tall woman with a nice big a**, just sayin', like Grammy winner, Megan Thee Stallion".

Any Jujutsu Kaisen fan knows how much Yuji loves women with big butts, and any Megan Thee Stallion fan knows how confident she is in her body, as a result, this opening is weeb perfection combined with a knowledge of source material and a dash of self-aware hilarity. The eye-catchers jingle from season two of Jujutsu Kaisen was also sampled. Almost every line in the song also has an anime reference, such as:

• "Can't touch me, like Gojo" in the chorus (Jujutsu Kaisen)
• "White wig on, b***h, I'm finna go Gojo" (Jujutsu Kaisen)
• "N***** bow down when I pop out like Sukuna" (Jujutsu Kaisen)
• "Sexy jutsu, I feel like Naruto (Naruto)
• "Fighting demons in my head like I'm Itadori (Jujutsu Kaisen)
• "I'm not finna argue with a Sasuke avi" (Naruto)
• "Incel mad, I'm a weeb and a baddie"
• "'Cause he wanna get caught in my domain expansion" (Jujutsu Kaisen)
• "With a Sasuke sharingan" (Naruto)

This song was not easy to record, according to Megan on Instagram Live. She said:

Megan explained that she recorded the song before asking for clearance because she had no expectations about what was going to happen to it, she just wanted to see its reception. After sending the song to the relevant people, she was met with apprehension. She had to re-record the song after being requested to change some lyrics, and she was not allowed to cosplay any characters in the music video, should she decide to shoot one. Megan expressed gratitude for the song being allowed to happen, and was willing to follow all the rules necessary to get the song out.

Then, at the last minute after the album was finalized and sent in on 25 June (three days before it was set to release), she was asked to take out the characters' names from the song. Now she had to decide on music clearance or character name clearance, which was extremely stressful because she wanted the music sample but having the characters' names "tie it all together".

This song is not the only one influenced by Japan. In the music video for the title track "BOA", the name of the song and her promotional look reference Boa Hancock from the classic anime One Piece. The music video also evidently draws inspiration from game-themed anime such as Sword Art Online, games such a Tekken and even classic Japanese arcade games such as Dance Dance Revolution, "BOA" is definitely for the geek culture. She also collaborated with Japanese rapper Yuki Chiba on the track "Mamushi", a Japanese and English record. Megan references Japan in the song and even delivers a few lines in Japanese.

With Megan Thee Stallion's obvious love for anime as a proud weeb, "Otaku Hot Girl" speaks to the anime fans in a way the general public would not understand or appreciate. She has also featured Japanese talent and culture on her album, fully embracing the art the country has spread to the world.

Sources: Billboard, Rolling Stone, Screen Rant, Instagram Live

2024-07-17T14:23:34Z dg43tfdfdgfd