Megan Thee Stallion Undergoes A Metamorphosis On Her Just-Announced New Album

Megan Thee Stallion has been dominating arenas across America while on her highly anticipated Hot Girl Summer Tour. But during her June 2 stop in Atlanta, the rapper surprised and delighted fans even more than usual by announcing the June 28 arrival of her third studio album.

The self-titled record will be the musician’s first release as a fully independent artist under her own Hot Girl Productions and her follow-up to 2022’s Traumazine. On Instagram, she shared the cover art for Megan, which was shot by David LaChapelle and sees the Houston Hottie dangling out of a butterfly cocoon.

The butterfly motif could be seen as a departure from her recent string of snake-themed singles: “Cobra,” which marked her vulnerable return to music with its striking music video; then “Hiss,” her singular contribution to this year’s dumpster-fire of rap beefs, which also earned her her first Billboard 100 no.1 single as a solo act. Her most recent solo drop was “Boa,” a fun take on Gwen Stefani’s “What You Waiting For?”

While this uptick in activity certainly hinted at a bigger release, it’s hard to imagine how Megan found the time to record a full album between “Not My Fault” with Renée Rapp and a Glorilla collaboration featuring Cardi B for “Wanna Be.” But the signs were there: In early May, the rapper even teased, outright, that she got a “never been done/very hard to do” anime sample cleared for her album. (Megan’s longtime love of the genre goes far and wide, so it could be anything.)

There’s no known track list for Megan yet and little else by way of details, but we can expect more of her ambitious visuals and even stronger concepts now that she’s making all her own creative decisions. And if the visuals for “Boa” and this resurfaced clip of teenage Megan defending nerd culture are any indication, things are sure to only get geekier.