The H Town Hottie brought the whole cookout to the O2 Academy in Brixton last night for a show that demonstrated how she’s ‘been that bitch, still that bitch, will forever be that bitch’
You know a show’s going to be good when there’s jerk being cooked in an oil drum grill outside the venue. Billowing smoke into the sky surrounding the O2 Academy, the vendors capitalising on crowds waiting for Megan Thee Stallion in Brixton acted as an unofficial signal for good times ahead, adding to the general frenetic energy that brings London to life in the days leading up to Notting Hill Carnival. Booked and busy being the first Black woman to headline Reading and Leeds festival that weekend instead, Megan still delivered in the spirit of the capital at its best, bringing her Hotties together for a sweaty summer night of dancing our demons away.
Megan knows these demons well, opening up about the one’s she’s faced most explicitly on her latest album TRAUMAZINE. With a truncated release shortened by leaks allegedly coming from within her own label, the Hot Girl lowers her guard to speak candidly about her troubles on the album that releases her from this contract. At times swapping her trademark braggadocious raps for softer lyrics around her experiences of being orphaned, not knowing who to trust, and absorbing the hate and speculation around her shooting – TRAUMAZINE is a document of how “bad bitches have bad days too”. Contrary to critics who consider Megan Thee Stallion as little more than shaking ass, this vulnerability is unsurprising to the fans who have followed her through it all.
A community formed around her rallying raps, Hotties have always found strength in Megan’s lived example of being the most unapologetic version of yourself. To them, “Hot Girl Summer” is a lifestyle, not a season – a daily decision to enjoy yourself despite what the universe is currently throwing at you. A mantra to keep you going through the long, dark winter while ass-shaking doubles as another way of keeping warm, Hotties have borrowed Megan’s words to infuse their own lives with her infectious energy – and they’re more than ready to return the favour now we’re outside again. Only two weeks old, her new material (“Her” especially) already receives the same hype as older songs for OG Hotties on the set list (“Freak Nasty”, “Big Ol’ Freak” from her Tina Snow days). With each hollered lyric, you can feel how buoyed by her fans Thee Stallion is.
The feeling is mutual. To say Megan Thee Stallion fans are dedicated is an understatement – before a hoof even hit the stage, people were being carried out from the centre of the crowd having passed out from the heat while attempting to hold their spots. Once Megan was on stage, it’s clear the crowd’s safety was as important as the show itself; she stopped several times to check on her fans and personally throw out water bottles to keep them cool. (Hot Girl hydration is important!) Thriving off live interactions with her fans, her performance was punctuated by intervals inviting them on stage to join the “Hottie party” for two birthdays within her crew. Just experiencing the adrenaline rush as a spectator, Megan’s seemingly nonstop hot girl tour (she was just in Tokyo before this) begins to make more sense. Documented via hyperspeed TikTok vlogs, you feel out of breath just watching how she pings from place to place, wondering how she has the energy to do all these appearances. The fans are the answer: hook the Hotties up to the Coldplay kinetic energy floor and you could probably power the UK through its predicted winter blackouts.
At her core, Megan Thee Stallion is a good time girl, capable of shaking ass and hyping her Hotties even on the worst of her bad bitch bad days. It’s this unshakeable strength and determination to dance despite the drama that galvanises the girls, gays, and theys to ride hard for their Hot Girl leader wherever she goes next. To them, she’s always “been that bitch, [is] still that bitch, will forever be that bitch.” And in Hot Girl Meg’s own words, “If you still ain’t know, ask your man.”
