MC's Music Lounge: Megan In Transition

Megan Thee Stallion fans have been waiting for the promised third installment in her Megan album series for two years now. Over the last few years, Megan’s personal life has been the focus point whenever her name is reported. Now she’s going back to her old school freestyle days to bring the attention back to what matters the most: her raps. Referring to the Tina Snow alter-ego that made her a star in the late 2010s, Megan has already put out three new freestyles in the last month, and the latest one is popping off.

Meg has released a new song every Tuesday as part of the “Tina Tuesday Freestyle” series, with the full EP just dropping this past Friday. It’s a welcome return to form for Megan and has allowed her to have her name back in the headlines for something other than a relationship or feud with a fellow rapper. It’s also been a few years since Megan has scored a major hit on the charts, with 2024’s “Wanna Be” being her last to chart in the top 20. Going back to the thing that made her audience fall in love with her in the first place is a great spot to start repairing what feels like a bit of disconnect that was developing. There comes a time in an artist’s career where their name risks becoming bigger than the actual work that they are putting out, and that was happening to Megan. Between the Klay Thompson break-up and the constant scrutiny from fans of Nicki Minaj and Tory Lanez, my girl is putting all that negative energy headed her way into the studio and delivering some great work. This next album has the potential to silence all the people who have wanted to see her fail, and if these three tracks are any sign of what’s to come, she just may do it.

Earlier this year during her stint on Broadway in Moulin Rouge! it seemed like something was going on with her confidence, eventually having to back out of the production all together after suffering from severe exhaustion and dehydration. Megan Thee Stallion was burnt out. Fast forward a few months and she clearly has got back whatever groove she lost, as she performed at the 2026 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show looking all kinds of beautiful. Megan’s performance on the show fulfills a lifelong dream of hers to be a Victoria’s Secret model, there are even tweets from 2011 that back up this wish. She performed her older pop hits “Her” and “Body” while serving us a whole lot of the latter, all while looking refreshed and most importantly, strong. It’s giving that she’s ready to dive into a new album era. Until then the hotties have these new freestyles to hold them over.

Next week, it’s the 25^th anniversary of Britney Spears’s Britney album, and we’re getting a never heard song produced by The Neptunes. This week’s new tunes include Megan Thee Stallion, Mariah Carey, Daddy Yankee with Cardi B, BigXthaPlug with Leon Thomas, and Gigi Perez. Plus, an unexpected crossover with the world of anime gives Paris Hilton a viral hit.

Listen on…

MC’s PICKS OF THE WEEK

“Thin Ice” by Megan Thee Stallion

Built around a sample of Limp Bizkit’s “Break Stuff”, “Thin Ice” is an angry Megan Thee Stallion letting it all out by bringing pen to paper. The chorus of the Limp Bizkit track (which goes hard at the gym by the way) serves as the intro to Megan’s freestyle. She starts spitting her bars not long after and she holds nothing back. If you watch the music video, it’s easy to get distracted by all that ass in our face, but that’s the point. She’s got a body that’s to die for, and it’s just distracting enough that you aren’t even realizing how much she’s destroying her targets. “He say I’m his baby; I tell him to abort it” is a particularly ruthless line. The song first dropped on YouTube two weeks ago, and fans quickly flooded the comments begging her to put it on streaming services because it’s the sickest she has rapped in years. She seems to be most in her element when she’s creating music without the added pressure of chart success. There’s less pressure to create a viral moment and more focus on clever double entendres and entering what many fans call the “flow state”, which is when the bars just fly out your mouth. There’s something so enticing about watching a rapper in their flow state when in freestyle mode. It’s an art, and Megan is proving once again that she not only got that groove back, but it never really left.

“Lead The Way – 1997 Version” by Mariah Carey

It’s been an incredible weekend to be a lamb. As many of you know given the date of this column, we are in November which according to Mimi means “It’s tiiiiiime!”. This Christmas season however, Mariah is giving us more holiday cheer than ever by also simultaneously releasing the full 25^th anniversary edition of the Glitter soundtrack, the very same weekend she goes into holiday mode. The deluxe edition is a treasure trove of tracks, but the standout is the 1997 version of “Lead The Way”. The song is a classic Mariah ballad, and one of most vocally challenging songs in her entire discography. The vocal run in the climax of the song is something that vocalists everywhere study, and you can find countless clips on social media with singers giving their best shot at it. One of my favourites behind the scenes clips of Mariah is this one where she is singing it in the studio and she must take a seat and a sip of tea after it. It’s like vocal Olympics.

The song was written back in 1997 when Glitter was still titled All That Glitters and the project was in its very early stages. I could only imagine how difficult it must have been for Mariah to hold such a masterpiece back for four years before finally releasing it into the world. This 1997 version however is structured differently than the one that the fans got to know and love over the years, including the signature riff at the end. This run while just as challenging has Mariah’s younger vocal tone and gives a re-imagined outlook for us fans who have known the song for 25+ years. The real magic here is listening to Mariah’s 1997 voice singing this song, because any lamb will tell you that we can tell when Mariah recorded something based off her ever-evolving tone. While her vocals have always been a treasure, there is something so uniquely special about her 90s voice, the gift that keeps on giving.

“COSITA” by Daddy Yankee, Cardi B

Daddy Yankee may have publicly sworn off swearing in his music, but his new songs do not lack any heat. “COSITA” is a romantic bachata-style song with sophisticated lyrics about a woman he loves. Directly translated, the title means “Little Thing” in English, and the song uses the term to reference the female, in this case Cardi B. Miss Cardi is in her Spanish bag, singing her verses in Spanish in a much tamer sound that she generally puts out. It’s nice to hear her in this type of song where she puts her voice to work, and she sounds good! She may not be a world class vocalist, but if Nicki Minaj was able to score pop hits with her mediocre voice, certainly Cardi can have a piece of that pie. I’d argue that Cardi’s vocals sound much more raw and authentic than expected. It’s such a sultry song too, something you want to dance with your lover to. We even get a section where both artists are harmonizing with each other, it’s so different for Cardi yet it suits her well. Daddy Yankee is the OG reggaeton king, and he has been able to sustain longevity in his music career while remaining at the forefront of the genre. His latest album LA POSTAL, is centred around themes of love and it only further cements his legacy.

“NO LIMIT” by BigXthaPlug, Leon Thomas

BigXthaPlug has alternated between hip-hop and country music over the last few years, expressing all his musical tastes into his work. His latest project Better Over Time is him returning to rapping and moving his country sound to the side. This album has a blend of genres including some R&B elements which is always going to be the kryptonite that reels me in. “NO LIMIT” opens with an intro that is reminiscent of a radio DJ introducing their next act which automatically gives it a nostalgic feel. Leon’s background vocals throughout the verses give it a touch of soul before breaking into the smooth chorus. Many of the biggest rap hits from the 90s have this type of smooth sound with R&B influences. The song also features a sample of “Sky’s The Limit” by The Notorious B.I.G. that runs through the whole song from the spoken word intro to the melody and lyrics in the chorus. BigX has had his share of comparisons to Biggie over the years, so from both a sonic and an image standpoint, this sample makes sense. The original version of “Sky’s The Limit” is a sample from an even older song: “My Flame” by Bobby Caldwell. Bobby Caldwell is one of the best soul crooners of the late 70s and early 80s, which is an era frequently sampled in hip-hop songs even to this day, so there are so many layers to this finished product we are hearing from BigX and Leon in 2026. For anyone reading this who like me is a major fan of all things 90s hip-hop and R&B, this song is a release worth the listening time.

“Favor – From the Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping” by Gigi Perez

After last week’s official official confirmation that both Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson will be returning for the latest installment in The Hunger Games franchise, the teenager in me who adored the first few films has been reawakened. “Favor” has that dramatic cinematic energy from the very first second it starts. The “la da da da’s” in the pre-chorus are giving traditional emotional fantasy film conclusion. The full circle moment where you’re ready to cry your eyes out and then the music pushes you past the point from tearing to full out bawling. “Favor” is an acoustic folk song with an intense climax that compliments the trajectory of pretty much every film in the Hunger Games universe. The majestic sound of the guitars mixed with strings make for an intense listen. The soundtrack for the film is also set to feature music from Noah Kahan, Phoebe Bridgers and The Smashing Pumpkins just to name a few. The new movie hits theatres in two weeks, just as the air outside is cooling off and comfort viewing is be our default state. Paired with a coffeehouse-type soundtrack, we’ve got a late fall fairytale in our midst. If you’re into the singer-songwriter melancholic performing with a guitar type of vibe, then this soundtrack is about to be your holy bible this holiday season.

MC’s VIRAL PICK

“Jealousy” by Paris Hilton

The highlight of writing this column every week is finding a new trend that is so random that I couldn’t have thought it up. Because never would I have predicted that an obscure cut from Paris Hilton’s 2006 pop album Paris would be gaining traction online, but alas, here we are. “Jealousy” is a song written about her then feud with best friend Nicole Richie. This is when they famously fell out over an alleged public viewing of Paris’s sex tape that Nicole held during an SNL after party in 2006. The feud would go on for another two years before the girls finally made up– but that falling out was real. “I was always happy when I was watching you become a star/But you were only happy when the world was opening up my scars” are just some of the obvious lines in reference to her relationship with Nicole at the time. That time in pop culture feels like fever dream now that so much time has passed and both Paris and Nicole have reunited on multiple occasions. Now it can be enjoyed as a relic of the 2000s – a simpler time in some respects, and a much more aggressive time in some others.

The trend using the song sees users using anime characters from various shows and creating a back and forth with two of them, all set to the chorus of the song. This includes (but is not limited to) characters from Takopi’s Original Sin, Pokémon, Avatar: The Last Airbender and so many more. The idea of these clips is for fans to use their own artistic skills to match the lip synch as accurately as possible – no A.I. slop over here. All videos are made by real artists who are sharing their interpretations of their favourite characters. Bonus points if the characters used have an actual feud or storyline of some sort that goes with the lyrical themes of “Jealousy”. Some of them are very impressive too, I love when a social media trend is centred on creativity and actual skill. The trend has helped boost the streams for the song too in a big way. Just a month ago, “Jealousy” was earning around 2,000 Spotify streams a day with its grand total sitting around 2 million. In the month since then, the song has earned 5 MILLION streams and has become Paris’s most popular song on the platform, outstreaming her one hit wonder hit “Stars Are Blind”. That’s hot.

The 2026 “MC’s MUSIC LOUNGE” Spotify playlist is live. You can add it here to keep up to date with my weekly picks throughout the year. 

With Love,

MC