Megan Thee Stallion: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
Watch Megan Thee Stallion play at the Tiny Desk Fest.
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This Tiny Desk concert was part of Tiny Desk Fest, a four-night series of extended concerts performed in front of a live audience and streamed live on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.
Dec. 2, 2019 | Sidney Madden — “I’m gonna get real comfortable with y’all, so I’m need y’all to get real comfortable with me,” Megan Thee Stallion told the excited Tiny Desk Fest crowd as soon as she assumed her position behind the desk. After promptly switching out her patent leather heels for some fuzzy Louis Vuitton slippers, she let the room know, “Now, don’t be scared to get ratchet.”
From there, the Houston rapper wasted no time demonstrating why she’s a superstar in the making. Megan exuded irresistible charisma, cracking jokes with the crowd and rattling off explicit bars from her award-winning mixtape, Fever, for the live audience watching on YouTube and social media.
From “Hot Girl Summer” to the platinum-selling “Cash S***,” Hot Girl Meg’s raunchy hits took on new life thanks to a live backing band, Brooklyn’s Phony Ppl, who seamlessly blend jazz, R&B and hip-hop. Midway through the spirited set, Megan and Phony Ppl surprised the audience by premiering an unreleased collaboration, a bouncy banger titled “F***** Around.” After the first verse/chorus, the adoring crowd was singing along as if they’d known the song for years.
It was the first time Megan performed with a live band in public, but then again, there’s been a lot of firsts over the past year. This time last fall, Megan was rapping her heart out at local shows, balancing classes at Texas Southern University and occasionally dropping a fire freestyle video from a suburban cul-de-sac driveway. Since then, the brilliant and bodacious rapper ascended to major festival stages, became one of the most sought-after features on other stars’ songs, and electrified late-night television audiences.
Though she’s dubbed herself a stallion because of her tall and voluptuous frame (Meg stands 5 feet 10 inches without heels,) the 24-year-old rapper has proven herself to be a workhorse when it comes to consistency. Her viral 2019 freestyles shot her online exposure through the roof and whichever alter ego she chooses in the moment — Tina Snow, Hot Girl Meg, Stalli — she’s maintained the spotlight all year thanks to a steady stream of new music, an engaging personality and her own viral social media campaign, Hot Girl Summer.
Though she’s usually known for extensive twerking during her stage performances, at the Tiny Desk, Meg played up a different skill set: impeccable timing and lung capacity. “Yall talk about Meg’s knees but sis breath control is pretty impressive too,” one viewer tweeted out during the live video stream.
Megan’s lyrical content lies in subverting established sexual dynamics and no matter the level of raunch she deploys, empowering women remains the artist’s manifesto. Co-signs from all across hip-hop, from Q-Tip to Nicki Minaj to Chance the Rapper, have only bolstered her appeal and validated her bars in the eyes of the genre’s cultural gatekeepers.
SET LIST
“Realer”
“Freak Nasty”
“Cash S***”
“Big Ole Freak”
“Hot Girl Summer”
“F****** Around”
“Money Good”
MUSICIANS
Megan Thee Stallion: vocals; Elbee Thrie: vocal, percussion; Elijah Rawk: guitar; Maffyuu: drums; Aja Grant: keys; Bari Bass: bass; Ebony Joi: vocals
CREDITS
Producers: Sidney Madden, Abby O’Neill, Morgan Noelle Smith; Creative Director: Bob Boilen; Audio Engineers: Josh Rogosin, James Willetts; Videographers: Morgan Noelle Smith, Maia Stern, Kara Frame, CJ Riculan, Jack Corbett; Associate Producer: Bobby Carter; Production Assistant: Tsering Bista; Executive Producer: Lauren Onkey; VP, Programming: Anya Grundmann; Photo: Laura Beltran Villamizar/NPR
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Tiny Desk Concerts: https://www.npr.org/tinydesk
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Hey Tiny Desk fans: We think you might like NPR’s Code Switch podcast. It explores how race impacts everything—from politics to pop culture, to history and sports, and beyond. It’s the fearless conversation on race you’ve been waiting for. Check it out here: https://n.pr/tiny-desk-code-switch
Someone please put this on soundcloud
Her laugh is so cute
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17:18 it’s worth it
This exceeded my expectations????!
She go hard
this was everything i needed today lol
However you may feel about her lyrics…. she is TALENTED
i want a studio version of this hot girl summer version
After watching the concert…I think I owe her money…dayum
The live instrumentals on the last song ????????????
<3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Better than the studio version.
Megan is so precious.
Nervosa ????????????
Say what u will but she got flow ????????????
I’m a Megan Thee Stallion fan.
I just keep starting it over from the beginning again to keep this vibe up and get my house clean✌ thank you Megan!
I need an acoustic version of hot girl summer RECORDED
she’s a legenddd
I love her laugh so much
Imagine going back in time and showing this to people in 1960 and telling them this is what the future looks like. They’re missing out imo
I’m not afraid to admit that I live vicariously through Megan’s music ????
She kilt her NPR Performance. F’cking Goals and Inspiration ! Thank you Megan for being a Beast in this game . SOSA Up Next !
shes so talented, i love her!!!
The most wholesome thing I’ve seen in 20/20
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Yasssssss!!!!! It’s almost my bday (Virgo) and I’m at work jamming in my cube!!!! Enjoy life everyone!!!
Woahhh! Megan is amazing and they all seem like they havin so much fun the whole band!
I admire her confidence she’s great, no haughty attitude
The white people listening to her music for the first time ????????????
Her lyrics are low-key hilarious (e.g. "you know I didn’t c*m boy if you had to ask me" ). That’s pure gold lol.
I just love her!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Don’t be scared to get ratchet ????????
LOVE HER <3
intro song is dedicated to the girl with short cut in the back @ 1:51
She so Young Money ???????? Wayne sign her????????
Even on the Lord’s day I’m here ????????
I still cant unsee Steve Harvey
Everything is white culture. Stop appropriating our culture. White Lives Matter!
Wwwfff muy buena
She’s just so natural with her singing love her????
Clicked cause it wag Meg, stayed cause it was Meg
Her lungs are strong af???? she’s phenomenal
omg this is prolly the worst thing i’ve ever seen in my entire life
7:05 ⚡️⚡️⚡️
there are 3.5k clowns in the room
She give me Ronnie from players club vibes attitude wise I think that’s what I like idk
*And they ask why is TEXAS the BEST state… Anymore questions! Lol*