Is Megan Thee Stallion a superstar?
Joe Budden is opining on the current state of rap following the recent discussions around who is a superstar post the Nicki Minaj/J. Cole era.
Budden has already identified female rappers who fit the bill like Nicki Minaj and Cardi B, but it seems that despite her prominence, he doesn’t think that Megan Thee Stallion has reached Superstar-dom.
Joe Budden doesn’t think the Houston Hottie is a superstar because her album sales do not reflect the type of sales other superstars reach.
“You’re not a superstar if you can’t sell an album, what the f**k are we talking about right now? What stops her from being a superstar if we’re taking out sales? She ain’t sold sh*t. Got every brand deal in the world, but also has all the backing from different people. She’s got a lot going on. That’s the game today,” he said.
The Podcast host said that even though Megan’s fans might be rolling with her and supporting her brand deals and endorsements, that still shouldn’t be the measurement for artists and their star power.
He also recognized that artists nowadays are getting more marketing and deals than what previously existed but still, It was a stretch for deciding if somebody is of superstar status.
“Griselda has a lot going on (too). There’s mad artists that have a lot going on, your management team as got to be a whole f**king team of people. You got to have a team of know-it-all people.”
Joe Budden sought to compare other artists like Adele to Megan as he pointed out the attention Adele receives when she’s dropping an album versus that which Megan receives, which pales in comparison.
“Y’all are just making rules up. You still got to know how to sell a f**king album. When Adele come out, you gotta move. When n****s come out, you gotta move. When a superstar comes out, you mortal, mere minion n****s have to move. Nobody does that for Lil Nas X, nobody does that for the seven Meg Thee Stallion releases that dropped over the past two years. What are we saying?”
Adele’s circumstance might be different still as she has a strong anti-streaming stance and is among one of those artists who strictly sells physical records versus streaming.
Despite Budden’s claims, Megan Thee Stallion is still a young artist tied up in an unconscionable contract with her label 1501 Entertainment, according to her lawsuits.
Nevertheless, her albums are still successful, with ‘Good News’ having her “Savage” single featuring Beyoncé, which earned Megan her first number one on the US Billboard Hot 100.
