Unceasing in her ability to bring the noise, Megan Thee Stallion accompanied the release of her latest EP, Suga, with a fierce video for its lead single, “B.I.T.C.H.” As a bravado-filled anthem about embracing a word that women have repurposed the same way N.I.G.G.A. has (in keeping with spelling it the same way 2Pac does in “Rather Be Ya N.I.G.G.A.,” the same song Megan Thee Stallion pays homage to with this track), it can be nothing short of a Bad Bitch 101 tutorial for those who have yet to nuzzle into the so-called “slur” against being a woman who speaks her mind without fear of not seeming “ladylike.” For those still afraid, Megan Thee Stallion’s alter ego, Tina Snow, is here to coach even her on how to feel fresh out of fucks forever.
Giving her a pep talk in her blonde, 20s-inspired ‘do, Tina Snow insists, “You can’t keep lettin’ muhfukkas walk all over you. You don’t need to be playin’ too nice with errbody.” Megan Thee Stallion returns, “But what if I’m not strong enough?” Eye rollingly, Tina demands, “Who you gon’ listen to? Dem or Tina Snow? What you need to do is go in there and show ‘em dat you dat bitch.” Having gotten her message across, Megan Thee Stallion admits, “You right. I am dat bitch.” For extra meta effect, Tina, who is Megan Thee Stallion, asserts, “I know.”
From there, the Eif Rivera-directed video segues into the image of a cool, calm and collected Megan Thee Stallion sticking her head out the window (“doggy-style,” after all) of the front seat in a neon green coat before we cut to an image of her brandishing two pitbulls in a skintight animal print latex body suit. This is intermixed with scenes of her sitting on a throne, of sorts, in a black leather and fur jacket in between pulling on her long ponytail as she dances in something like a bondage-y bikini. All of which serve to combine to create the effect of a female in total control of herself and her image. Because, as one will note, Megan Thee Stallion is the one who has put herself in any bondage, with no trace of men anywhere in the video, thereby remaking the accoutrements into sources of self-empowerment.
Fulfilling all of her goals and desires by sheer virtue of being the very descriptor men once tried to use as a tool to brainwash women into thinking they ought to be meeker. But as Madonna once said, “I’m tough, I’m ambitious, and I know exactly what I want. If that makes me a bitch, okay.” And very okay with it Megan Thee Stallion is, indeed. In fact, there are moments when it’s difficult to imagine that she could be feelin’ anyone–least of all a dude–more than herself. This much is apparent in the hot tub she takes it upon herself to relax in. Overlooking the cityscape, Megan Thee Stallion is moved only by the gyrations of her own ass while she twerks, declaring, “It’s 2020, I ain’t finna argue ‘bout twerkin’.” And, presumably, its undeniable value to this thing called American culture.
As the video comes to a close with a supercut of all of Megan Thee Stallion’s various looks (giving Nicki Minaj a run for her money), we see her once more in her drive by mode sticking most of her body out the window in a black car as she rides through the streets at night unafraid of what might happen to her. For how could anything bad befall a B.I.T.C.H.? She is her own form of superhero, unfazed and bulletproof. And, in the end, that little pep talk from Tina Snow only served to reiterate what she knew she already had within from the start: the power to not be held down by the misogynistic voices that have been swirling in every woman’s head since the beginning of time. The ones that have said, “Shh, be quiet. Don’t be too loud. You’re not going to get a man’s approval or love like that.” Well, Megan Thee Stallion is here to push back with, “I’d rather be a B.I.T.C.H./’Cause that’s what you gon’ call me when I’m trippin’ anyway/You know you can’t control me baby.” Though, for awhile there, we all really made you believe that you could.
