Much of what age a person is not just expressed in how youthful their physical features. It comes across in how open their mind is and their maturity level in how they carry themselves.
Megan Jovon Ruth Pete, better known as the young lady rapper Megan Thee Stallion, has the looks of youth on her side, the maturity in her attitude to add depth, and a strong sense of self to make it all complete.
How old is Megan Thee Stallion? At the moment she is 25-years-old, a quarter of the way through a potential century long lifespan. Megan Thee Stallion celebrated this milestone with a party in Chicago during NBA All-Star Weekend, partying with rap stars Tory Lanez and DaBaby. With her music career taking all the way off, what was the road like for the young stallion to make it this far?
Where it All Began
Megan Thee Stallion was born a day after Valentine’s Day on February 15, 1995 in Bexar County, Texas. Her mother Holly Thomas raised her in the South Park neighborhood in Houston, Texas.
With Houston already have a long legacy of rap legends like the Geto Boys, Bun B, UGK, Paul Wall, DJ Screw, Devin the Dude, and Chamillionaire, the path for her legacy to take shape in was already established geographically.
Megan explained her love for Houston’s hip hop history:
“I feel like I have to put on for my city, because we have so many legends and so many greats…But I don’t feel like we ever really had a female rapper come from Houston or Texas and shut shit down. So that’s where I’m coming from with it.” (Rolling Stone)
She has stated that the late rap icon Pimp C of UGK, is one of her biggest influences, hearing his music even when she was a toddler. His impact on her came from his effortless rap delivery that was so smooth it sounded like he was practically just talking.
Megan used the internet to discover Pimp C’s 2006 solo album, Pimpalation:
“[Songs like] ‘Take it Off’ made me feel so confident and cool…I was like, ‘If a girl was saying this stuff, this will probably go even crazier!’” (Rolling Stone)
But with Megan’s own mother rapping under the stage name “Holly-Wood,” this would give Megan Thee Stallion the hip hop home schooling that is even more rare. Holly-Wood brought her daughter Megan to studio sessions instead of dropping her off in daycare.
Between the years of 2001 to 2007, Holly-Wood released music and tried to establish a record label of her own. She even had a local hit that was dedicated to the late DJ Screw. It managed to get radio airplay on local hip hop station 97.9 The Box. This six-year career was just what it took to motivate Megan.
Between the ages of 14 and 18, Megan and her mother lived in a suburb of Houston called Pearland, Texas, graduating from the local Pearland High School in 2013.
Rapping in the Early Days
Although Megan started writing lyrics at 7, she was shy about it at first. She began rapping more seriously 9 years ago at the age of 16. Her mother Holly made it known that she didn’t want her daughter to start pursuing any kind of music career until she was at least 21-years-old.
Considering that Megan Thee Stallion’s first mixtape Rich Ratchet didn’t hit the scene until 2016, Megan clearly listened to her mother’s advice and took heed. But waiting until she turned 21 didn’t stop Megan from honing her skills and perfecting her craft as a rapper.
Back in 2013, a viral video of Megan Thee Stallion emerged of her battle rapping against several male rappers while she was still a student at Prairie View A&M University. This visual clip helped to blow up Megan’s social media exposure.
After Megan took a little bit of time off from school, Megan Thee Stallion continued her studies at Texas Southern University with a focus on health administration. As of 2019, she holds the status of a third-year junior. One of her college era goals was to open up assisted living facilities in Houston, preferring to have it staffed by her classmates.
She began to build up a fan base, which she labeled “hotties,” while she was in college with her freestyle videos get shared at a rapid rate. She took on the name Megan Thee Stallion because she was already called a stallion during adolescence because of her above average height of 5’10”.
300 Entertainment
With a lyrically suggestive reputation that pushed her in the sex appeal lane of other rap divas like Lil Kim, Nicki Minaj, and Trina, Megan Thee Stallion signed a record deal with 300 Entertainment.
Megan Thee Stallion’s 2018 mixtape Tina Snow has been streamed more than 11 million times across all streaming platforms, swinging hard as a standout among a growing list of Southern women in rap that started their careers on the internet also like: City Girls, Saweetie, Cuban Doll, Cupcakke, and Rico Nasty.
Tina Snow’s success got her on the radar of 300 Entertainment, whom already had made Southern rap stars out of Migos and Young Thugs. Now Megan Thee Stallion is known as the first female rapper signed 300 Entertainment, run by Lyor Cohen who used to be a partner with Russell Simmons at Def Jam.
Megan’s mother Holly Thomas, before she unfortunately passed away, eventually quit a full-time job to become Megan’s manager, being there at concerts, interviews and label negotiations.
Since signing her deal with 300 Entertainment, the 25-year-old Megan Thee Stallion has been a dominant force in rap. She released the before-mentioned Tina Snow EP on December 21, 2018, her mixtape Fever on May 17, 2019, featuring DaBaby, and Juicy J, and the EP called Suga on March 6, 2020, with appearances from Kehlani and Gunna.
With fans anxiously awaiting a debut album, Megan Thee Stallion has all eyes on her, with plenty of experience under her belt already.
add comment