The highly-anticipated, sophomore studio album, Traumazine, from Megan Thee Stallion has been met with great critical reception. With tremendous features from artists like Future and Rico Nasty, high production quality, and a handful of beat choices that undeniably slap, it’s no shock that as far as hip-hop goes, some say Meg has dropped the album of the summer. Although this album possesses a few songs that will definitely garner re-listens and play listings on a personal level, objectively, I do feel like this album as a whole lacks depth and substance.
I genuinely enjoyed it and was bopping to it the whole first listen, but I felt as though it was missing something. With all but one song essentially covering the same topics, “I’m rich, have sex and dislike men I’ve dated, and am better than every woman I encounter,” perhaps Meg’s presence in drama unrelated to her music in recent times has created a false expectation that this album would feel much more personal and real.
All being said, I can not take anything away from the production quality, mixing and mastering, or rapping ability of Meg herself. With stand-out songs like “Budget,” featuring Latto, house/dance track “Her,” and incredible features from Future and Lucky Daye on tracks “Pressurelicious,” and “Star,” respectively, this album also includes an awesome “Southside Royalty Freestyle,” which pays its respects to Houston, Texas Hip-Hop.
Furthermore, Traumazine is also home to the popular single “Sweetest Pie,” featuring Dua Lipa, which crosses over into the pop spectrum. “Anxiety” is the only song that seems to evoke emotion and is self-reflective. Unfortunately, it only lasts for one verse. The following track “Flip Flop” does just that, flip flops by starting out personal and critical in verse one before reverting back to “sex, money, F you” in verse two. Megan Thee Stallion still has great potential which is on the verge of being fully tapped into as an artist.
