Megan Thee Stallion shed her skin and revealed a new side in her release of the venomous single “Cobra” Nov. 3. In this single, Megan unveils her heartbreaking experience with emotional distress and an unfaithful lover.
Megan comes in with a vengeance, opening with chords of a heavy electric guitar. She immediately sets an unapologetic tone, the perfect intro to this classic revenge song.  Even the track on its own makes me feel like I am listening to a “Kill Bill” soundtrack, making me even more excited for Megan to enter on the beat, and when she does, it’s evident that she did not come to play. She starts by saying, “Breaking down and I had the whole world watching, but the worst part is really who watched me? Every night I cried, I almost died, and nobody close tried to stop me.” Since the bloom of her career, Megan has faced severe obstacles that were continuously displayed to the public. In 2020, during the production of her album “Suga,” her mother died from cancer, and in July of the same year she was shot multiple times by Tory Lanez. Lanez’s publicists attempted to spread false information about the shooting, defaming Megan. In this line, she addresses how she felt betrayed that none of her friends stood up for her. Discussing such raw emotion and impactful events creates an indisputable audience-to-artist connection and personal touch that only adds to the quality of this song. Next, she drops the bar, “Long as everybody getting paid right? Everything will be OK right?” In this jaw-dropping line, she addresses the exploitation of musicians and the disregard for mental health in the music industry. This suggests that producers prioritize a paycheck over her wellbeing, giving us a glimpse into her profession.
Deeper in, she raps, “Pulled up, caught him cheating” and says he was having relations “in the same bed I’m sleeping.” Megan debuted her relationship with rapper Pardison Fontaine in 2021, and here she announces that he cheated on her.  This event is the backbone of this song, seemingly her motivation for producing it. After the release of “Cobra,” Fontaine released his rebuttal “Thee Person”, where he accuses Megan of being the one who cheated. There’s no knowing who is telling the truth, but in terms of the music, Megan has got him beat by a mile.
On Nov. 9, six days after the initial release of “Cobra,” Megan released a rock remix with the Canadian-American heavy metal rock band Spiritbox. The addition of the rock instrumental only elevated the already phenomenal song to an out-of-this-world experience. Although the remix only added to Megan’s talent, Spiritbox’s verse makes my whole-body cringe. The lyrics “I need to harden my heart to protect myself from the pain” are so cliche and bring me back to early 2000s emo, and not in a good way. Every time I listen to the remix, I have to skip their verse, so it doesn’t ruin the song for me.
Later that day, she released its life-changing music video. The video depicts Megan crawling out of a giant snake, shedding special FX skin and dancing in the rain forest. This all compiles to create the greatest music video I have ever seen. The cinematography and effects put me in awe, making me even more impressed with Megan’s unmatched talent.
All things considered, Megan Thee Stallion has constantly proved herself through and through as a female rapper. She deserves more recognition, as the quality of her music is above and beyond that of the male rappers in the industry, while she only receives half the support. Her music is only getting better and better, as “Cobra” is her newest song and is easily the greatest yet.