Megan Thee Stallion has seen her star prowess rise exponentially over the last two years. Not only has she earned two No. 1 Hot 100 Billboard singles — 2020’s “WAP” with Cardi B and the 2020 “Savage (Remix)” featuring Beyoncé — the Houston native has also landed numerous endorsement deals, including Revlon, Popeye’s Chicken and CashApp.
Additionally, her debut album, Good News, was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) eight months after its release. Despite all of her success, Joe Budden doesn’t consider the college graduate a “superstar.” During a recent episode of The Joe Budden Podcast, the show’s always outspoken host explained why he doesn’t think she deserves the title.
“You’re not a superstar if you can’t sell an album, what the fuck are we talking about right now?” he said. “What stops her from being a superstar if we’re taking out sales? She ain’t sold shit. Got every brand deal in the world, but also has all the backing from different people. She’s got a lot going on. That’s the game today.”
Joe Budden continued his argument by recognizing rappers get more endorsement deals than ever before, but he said that doesn’t mean they should be considered superstars.
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“Griselda has a lot going on,” he added. “There’s mad artists that have a lot going on, your management team as got to be a whole fucking team of people. You got to have a team of know-it-all people.” He also noted Megan Thee Stallion doesn’t get the same kind of attention as someone like Adele when she drops an album.
“Y’all are just making rules up. You still got to know how to sell a fucking album,” he said. “When Adele come out, you gotta move. When n-ggs come out, you gotta move. When a superstar comes out, you mortal, mere minion n-ggas have to move. Nobody does that for Lil Nas X, nobody does that for the seven Meg Thee Stallion releases that dropped over the past two years. What are we saying?”
Despite Budden’s feelings toward Megan Thee Stallion, he feels the opposite about Cardi B. Speaking during the same episode of The Joe Budden Podcast, the former Slaughterhouse rapper called the Bronx spitter a “superstar” and was adamant “you can’t argue that she is not.”