A Review of Megan Thee Stallion's "Fever"

Houston rapper, Megan Thee Stallion looks to capitalize off her viral fame with the release of her 2019 project titled, “Fever.” Megan Thee Stallion has grown her fanbase off of her ability to rap, most famously freestyling out of a car, as well as her sex appeal. She appears on Young Nudy and Pi’erre Bourne’s “Sli’merre” on their song “Shotta” with a good verse that sold me on her ability to rap. Fast forward to the release of “Fever” and her star has done nothing but go up since the beginning of 2019. For the rollout to this project, Meg put out two singles, the first being “Sex Talk” and the second being “Realer” which have had a reasonable amount of success for the bubbling artist. Both songs appear on the project, along with 12 other songs to create a total of 14 songs which add up to about 40 minutes of music. DaBaby and Juicy J both appear as features on the project which is interesting for what could be a career-defining project for Megan Thee Stallion. However, the lack of features gives her more opportunity to show what she can do on a beat which is something to pay attention to. So, without further ado, let’s get to the review.

Categories

The songs on this album divided into two lanes that are prevalent throughout the project

Megan Thee Spitter

“Realer” (1), “Hood Rat Shit” (1), “Pimpin” (1), “Cash Shit” ft. Lil Baby (1), “W.A.B.” (1), “Simon Says” ft. Juicy J (1), “Shake That” (.5), “Money Good” (.5), “Dance” (.5), “Rachet” (.5), “Sex Talk” (1), “Running Up Freestyle” (1)

Hard bass-driven beats with Megan rapping solid verses creating a party vibe.

Megan Thee Singer

“Best You Ever Had” (1), “Big Drank” (1)

Hard bass-driven beats with Megan using noticeable cadence changes giving the song more of a calmer vibe.

Must Listen Songs

The concept of Must Listen songs are the songs that would give the best overview of the album as a whole. Songs that stand out for reasons to be described in the pending descriptions of the songs.

“Realer”

The first track and second single to “Fever” starts with a variation of string instrument before the bass and high hats come in on this beat produced by LilJuMadeDaBeat. The beat is an average beat while being a quality beat, nothing really sets it apart. This song sets the vibe for the rest of the project with Meg showing her ability to keep her presence on the beat while putting her flows on display for the listener to hear. I like this song as the intro track simply because of how it gives the listener a summary of what to expect throughout the project.

“Cash Shit” ft. DaBaby

The fourth track on “Fever” starts off with what sounds like ice being poured into a cup and a high hat that isn’t too fast or too slow. LilJuMadeDaBeat adds the powerful bass with when Meg comes in with her first verse. Her ability to hang on this beat is impressive because bass of this power has been known to drown out the lyrics of many rappers. The hook on this song is a nice change of pace from Meg’s fast flow, slowing it down until DaBaby comes in for the second verse who continues with the pace of the hook. In the third verse, Meg speeds up the song with her flow just a bit, keeping the slow vibe while showing her ability to rap fast.

“Big Drank”

The thirteenth and probably my favorite song on Meg Thee Stallion’s “Fever.” The beat made by LilJuMadeDaBeat is a calm bass-driven beat, with the bass and high hats turned down to allow Meg to use a softer cadence throughout the song. The cadence change from Meg is something fresh for the listener, and a nice escape from the fast-paced aggressive flow she puts on display for 12 out of the 14 songs on the project. The song also has a nice reference to Project Pat’s hook on “Sippin’ On Some Syrup” by Three 6 Mafia featuring Project Pat and UGK. This is a nice tribute to the southern rappers from previous generations of hip-hop as well as a nice twist with that Project Pat hook serving the role of adlib throughout the song.

Final Review

Overall, “Fever” by Megan Thee Stallion can be really repetitive at times, due to the lack of versatility shown throughout 14 songs. Megan Thee Stallion can obviously spit good verses, however, there’s nothing more that she does that sets her apart from the field. The repetitive content along with repetitive hooks that weren’t executed to maximum potential. This would be tiring for someone who has the album in their everyday listening rotation. However, in a club like atmosphere, I can see this body of work performing better because of the repetitive lyrics Meg puts forth at times as well as its hard bass driven production, done mostly by either Juicy J or LilJuMadeDaBeat. However, the production does contribute to the repetitive feel of the songs because of the similar tempos, sounds, and speeds within each beat. Aside from two songs, “Best You Ever Had” and “Big Drank” I think you can throw a dart at the tracklist and end up with the same vibe. This isn’t a bad thing, it shows Meg’s ability to stay consistent, however, with the lack of features and length of the project, this consistency can become tiring. Meg’s delivery is strong, which is impressive because of her great presence on beats that can easily drown out the lyrics of other rappers. One the next project, I would like to Meg develop her ability to make more songs like “Big Drank” to give the listener something else to look to her for besides her great rapping ability. I would also like to see her rap on beats that aren’t as close to each other in their vibes to have the project feeling new when the listener is 10 songs in. Overall, “Fever” is an average project compared to the field but a good start for her to grow as an artist from.

Scoring

Raw Score: The number of good songs on a project versus the overall amount. Songs must have a +1 or above to be counted.

Quality Score: The total amount of points accumulated over the total amount of songs.

Playback value: The resonance an album is perceived to have if played again in full. Scale out of 5

Raw Score: 10/14

Quality Score: 12/14

Playback Value: 2/5

Go out and listen to Megan Thee Stallion’s “Fever” wherever you listen to your music. Also, don’t forget to check out OLDMLK’s Instagram page (@OLDMLK) and Twitter (@OLDMLKDOTCOM) for updates on OLDMLK.COM: The Most Essential Hip Hop Blog, The OLDMLK.Com Playlist, The OLDMLK Radar and more!