Megan Thee Stallion Gets More Serious, Sad and Stern with ‘Traumazine’: Album Review

variety.com:

A.D. Amorosi Megan Thee Stallion has had eeeenough to last her a rap lifetime, judging from the tone of “Traumazine,” her best, most fully realized recorded work to date.Megan records usually drop with spirited, humorous displays of sensuality, assuredness and empowerment, with the twists in their sobriety coming exclusively as the Houston rapper takes time-outs to come down on those who’ve made life hard for her or bad for her #Hotties.“Traumazine,” however, is made of sterner, more serious stuff — a sound of release, of letting go, of dealing with rage – with its callouts coming quicker, often subtly and ringed with tinges of sadness and disgust.

On this, her official sophomore album release, Megan lets loose the tension built up from having been in a forever-seeming contract struggle with her longtime label, 1501 Certified Entertainment, to say nothing of the ongoing court case with her alleged assailant, Tory Lanez.

And yet for all of Megan’s piss-and-vinegar raps, she adds a surprisingly reserved measure of humility, isolation and dejection, too, to the ire-filled tales, deliciously contagious melodies and throbbing rhythms on “Traumazine.”“Y’all know I always have problems with dropping my music under this label, all these games and having to go to court just to put out my art has been so stressful,” MTS wrote on Twitter as part of her new album’s announcement. “Thank you hotties for rocking with me through the bullshit WE ALMOST OUT … LETS STAY FOCUSED AND RUN THIS LAST ONE UP.”When she’s feeling righteous indignation on songs such as the Hitkidd-produced, piano-heavy “NDA” (with lines such as “I ain’t perfect, but anything I did to any of you [N-word], y’all deserved it / You see me in that mode, don’t disturb