Megan Thee Stallion Says She Wants 'Black Women to Be Louder' as She Opens Up About Shooting
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Megan Thee Stallion Says She Wants 'Black Women to Be Louder' as She Opens Up About Shooting
"I want [Black women] to be sassier. I want us to demand more, be more outspoken, keep speaking and just keep demanding what you deserve," Megan Thee Stallion said
Megan Thee Stallion won't stay silent.
In fact, the "Savage" artist, 25, hopes that Black women around the world are inspired to find the power in their voice, and use it to "demand more."
"I want Black women to be louder," Megan said while gracing the cover of GQ's 25th annual Men of the Year issue.
"I want us to be sassier. I want us to demand more, be more outspoken, keep speaking and just keep demanding what you deserve," she added. "Don’t change — just get better. Grow from these situations. Don’t be beating yourself up about these situations … I feel we keep this stuff in and there’s some kind of way we flip it on ourselves. We didn’t f--- up — we didn’t do something wrong."
Adrienne Raquel Megan Thee Stallion
In the cover story, Megan opened up about her harrowing experience this summer, when she was shot, allegedly by fellow rapper, Tory Lanez. (Lanez is facing felony charges, but continues to deny the accusations.)
According to Megan's account of the evening, she had a gut feeling to get out of the car she was sharing with Lanez before the incident. However, when she tried to exit the vehicle and walk away, Megan said Lanez allegedly started shooting at her feet and wounded her.
"Like, I never put my hands on nobody," she told GQ. "I barely even said anything to the man who shot me when I was walking away. We were literally like five minutes away from the house."
Adrienne Raquel Megan Thee Stallion
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Megan said the experience became that much worse when the drama began to unfold on social media and critics called her a liar. Talking to GQ about the backlash, she said she felt like she was completely alone in her fight for justice, an experience that she realized is shared by Black women.
"When I was growing up, my mom didn't have any help with me," she explained. "Everybody was doing everything that they could do to help. But it was only so much that my grandmother could do. And it was like, there'll be times that I'm in an apartment with my mama and I know something's wrong, but I don't know what it is."
"Like, now, I'm understanding you got a lot on you; it's a lot of pressure, but you're not saying it to nobody. I know it's probably just hard, to be a single mama trying to take care of yourself and your daughter. And you're putting on a face. … You are acting like everything was okay so I feel comfortable," Megan added to the magazine. "I feel like a lot of Black girls learn that early. I did. I do that a lot."
Adrienne Raquel Megan Thee Stallion GQ cover
RELATED: Tory Lanez Slams Shooting Charges — and Megan Thee Stallion Claps Back: 'Genuinely Crazy'
Putting the drama aside, Megan is proud of all she's accomplished this year, including releasing two mega hits: "Savage," which earned a Beyoncé remix, and her collaboration with Cardi B on "WAP," which claimed the No. 1 spot on U.S. Billboard Hot 100.
Although the latter hip hop track found wide popularity, it also faced equal amounts of criticism for its raunchy lyrics and sexual innuendos.
"Sometimes people are really not comfortable enough with themselves, and I don’t think they like to watch other people be comfortable with themselves. And I don’t think they want anybody to teach other people how to be comfortable with themselves," Megan said to GQ, reflecting on the criticism of the song.
The award-winning artist explained that she wants women to own their sexuality and recognize the importance of their own pleasure.
"I feel like a lot of men just get scared when they see women teaching other women to own sex for themselves. Sex is something that it should be good on both ends, but a lot of times it feels like it’s something that men use as a weapon or like a threat. I feel like men think that they own sex, and I feel like it scares them when women own sex," she said.
"Sometimes you just got to remind people that you’re magical and everything about you down to your vagina and to your toes is magical," Megan added in the interview.
