Ballad Breakdown: Megan Thee Stallion is All Bite on “Cobra” and “Hiss”

Megan Thee Stallion’s recent two singles create a satisfying duology: With “Cobra,” thee Stallion of rap reflects on her past pain before using that very anguish in follow-up “Hiss” to warn those praying on her downfall that, through the hurt, she is back and ready to not only kick ass but take names.

Written by Arundhati Ghosh

Photo courtesy of Ramona Rosales

Buddha said it first, but Megan Thee Stallion brought it back to life in the 21st century: “Just as a snake sheds its skin, we must shed our past over and over again.”

No stranger to speaking of her anxieties and personal life — after all, that is the central theme of album Traumazine — there is a tragic depth to Megan. The artist’s personal brand maintains confidence even in the face of adversity, so admitting just how lonely she felt in one of her darkest — and most publicized — moments is a welcomed shift. On “Cobra,” she sheds light on past pain while opening doors for the inevitable rebirth she will undergo before claiming her future, honoring her beloved brand while displaying a new vulnerability. Before she can continue being Megan Thee Stallion, she must reconcile with the emotions she, as Megan Jovon Ruth Pete, feels.

Thee Stallion leads her first single in a snake-themed duology with a heavily personal question. Setting the tone for her phoenix-like comeback following the Tory Lanez ruling, she rhetorically asks, “Breaking down and I had the whole world watching / But the worst part is really who watched me?” The wording is short and dichotomous, as heavy electric guitar riffs and syncopated drumming set a dark scene. The 29-year-old trudges forward, first gently touching on feelings of suicidal ideation and abandonment before outright stating, “(Yes), I'm very depressed / How can somebody so blessed wanna slit they wrist?”

Pete intricately implies a negative relationship between her fame and wealth and her inner circle’s constitution, going on to graphically rap that, even if she “slit [her] wrist,” she would “probably bleed out some Pinot / When they find me, I'm in Valentino.” Though she has money and influence, she is still human — the material quality of her life is disconnected from the emotional quality. In part due to fame, her suicidal ideation has been written off as people, both celebrities and non-famous individuals — continue to support her abuser. She continues, remarking that “He pourin' me shots, thinkin' it's lit / Hah, little did he know,” as those around her have been unaware of her inner turmoil due to an unfazed facade. Her ‘friends’ may see her drinking as purposeless partying behavior but, in reality, she is drowning her woes. Pete uses this reveal regarding her relationship with her alleged lifestyle — another facet of her existence that constantly garners questions from those praying on her downfall — to lead into the chorus, once again outright speaking on her mental health by stating that “This pussy deprеssed / I'm about to stress him.” 

Though her meaning of “stressing” an unspecified “him” is purposefully left unclear, she utilizes this line in the chorus to lead into the shocking revelation that her previous long-term boyfriend, rapper Pardison Fontaine, known as Pardi, allegedly cheated on her: “Pulled up, caught him cheatin' / Gettin' his dick sucked in the same spot I'm sleepin'.” Considering Pete had not previously made the reason for their breakup public, this scathing account of events delivered matter-of-factly over smooth, repetitive instrumentals bestows a once-lost power back into her hands and, simultaneously, gets her point across. This event is even more shocking after Pete emotionally delivers the lines “Man, I miss my parents / Way too anxious, always cancel my plans.” As a relatively young star, it is no doubt devastating that she has lost both parents, and the behavior of those around her is rendered even more insidious when considering that she no longer has the physical support of her mother and father. Juxtaposing Pardi’s infidelity with the reality that her other loved ones cannot even comfort her, outright alluding to her anxiety as an effect, demonstrates just how much recent events have influenced the San Antonio-born rapper. 

“Cobra” is not solely a chronicle of tragedy; however — just like she sheds her skin in the music video, the rapper finishes out the song by reaching the understanding that “Damn, I finally see it / I'm killin' myself when bitches would die to be me.” Despite all her struggles, she is, ultimately, Megan Thee Stallion in addition to being Megan Pete. She is tearing herself down when so many others view her as the epitome of a strong, successful woman — in recognizing this, Pete regains some strength, as well as the remnants of her old persona, as she develops it further into a new, heightened version of Thee Stallion. 

After delivering a heartfelt, sadness-and-anger-tinged first single, at the end of which she begins an evolution, it is no surprise that Pete’s follow-up single, “Hiss,” is a scathing diss track at those who have publicly lambasted her. Without outright saying it, she makes it very clear that it’s her turn now. On “Hiss,” she levels up to involve her second-layer persona, “Tina Snow,” in the conversation. 

A Drake diss at its very core, but still capable of inflicting intentional collateral damage, Pete’s voice stands alone, loud and proud, as she “kicks [“Hiss”] off” by telling anyone and everyone deserving, “fuck y’all.” A Jaws-esque rhythm leads into the second verse, where she immediately references Mariah Carey’s hit track “Obsessed,” which, like her upcoming lyrics, centers around delusional men. “Hiss” is full of similar references — such as half-joking about her pussy getting managed by Kris Jenner and likening herself to cocaine’s addictive quality when rapping that “He hooked, nose full of that Tina Snow.” As Megan Thee Stallion artfully connects point A to point B, then point B to point C, and so on and so forth, she weaves a web meant to catch the sources of her ire.

Thee Stallion goes on to throw shots seemingly at Nicki Minaj for name-dropping R. Kelly in “Up in Flames — “I could never be judged by a bitch / That was dancing, making R. Kelly go viral” — as her voice dominates the track. However, it can be noted that Drake, who Pete fully makes the centerpiece of the song, fell into hot water during his Certified Lover Boy era for sampling the aforementioned abuser on “TSU.” She reasserts her dominance over male counterparts by throwing out, “Say he fucked Megan, and now he the topic,” implying that several male rappers have attempted to use her name and sexual capital for personal gain, recognizing that she has no need for attempting the same. Pete’s tone remains incredibly stable as she does everything but outright name Drake, rapping that he says, “he a playa, but he in his feelings,” which references his incredibly popular song “In My Feelings.”

The beat thunders, joined by short spurts of gospel-esque chords as Pete deals a killing blow to kick off the next verse: “Aye, these hoes don't be mad at Megan / These hoes mad at Megan's Law.” Megan’s Law, named after the brutal assault and murder of young girl Megan Kanka, is a federal law that requires the United States to have a sex offender registry. Though Nicki Minaj took this to be a shot at her husband, Kenneth Petty, a sex offender who pleaded guilty to the attempted rape of a 16-year-old girl, it could potentially again hit at Drake, who was widely known to associate with far younger actress Millie Bobby Brown.

Pete takes on a mocking tone as she raps, “Bitches swear they G but the G must stand for Goofy,” riffing on the association the letter G has as an abbreviation for the word “gangster.” She makes fun of the allegedly “hard” rappers that came to Tory Lanez’s support during his shooting trial, calling them his “groupies.” In a short interlude consisting solely of the foreboding two-note rhythm and her spoken word, Pete derides Lanez’s friends and fans for celebrating “fake news” against her but makes it clear that, no matter what, she ends up on top. As the cutting thrum of deep instrumentals kick back in, she asks, “ain't you hear? / I ain't scared of dick,” calling back to “Consistency” off of Traumazine, which boasts the line “Why you keep talkin' that shit like I’m scared of that dick?”

Finishing the verse off by pointing out that some men “hate on BBL's / And be walking around with the same scars,” Pete simultaneously references the BBL Drake meme plus his insistence that he has not gotten a liposuction as rumored. Pete continues hitting at the Canadian rapper, making fun of his come-up story despite his known middle-class upbringing as she calls out, “cosplay gangsters, fake ass accents” before damning his masculinity by matter-of-factly stating that he is “posted in another n---- hood like a bad bitch.” This line is particular in its verbiage. Pete’s usage of the n-word is meant to be read as a masculine delineator, though she throws it back in listeners’ faces — more importantly, in Drake’s face — by likening him to a “bad bitch,” a descriptor that is inherently feminine. All of this is in response to him flippantly rapping that “This bitch lie about getting shots but she still a stallion” in his 21 Savage collaboration “Circo Loco,” a line that is a double entendre implying she gets ass shots (or a BBL) while saying she is natural, and that she was not shot by Tory Lanez when she claims — and won in court — that she was.

Pete calls back to another one of her songs, “Plan B,” when specifying that nobody has been “hitting it raw and mad / I'm not one of your baby mamas.” She calls out the plethora of exes and male rappers who have speculated on her sex life or claimed to be involved with her while throwing their obvious misogyny back at them because, as stated in “Plan B,” she “ain't planned to be stuck with [them].” She gets a shot in at ex Pardi, claiming that “I'm way too fucking cocky to take him back if he been cheating,” a complete 180 in emotion — though not in sentiment — from the cheating reveal in “Cobra.”

As the song ends, Pete, fully in her Stallion flow, brings everything back to the source of her public struggles over the past few years: Tory Lanez. She addresses his supporters, practically laughing while questioning their motives as they misplace their adoration for him as vitriol for her: “On the internet typing that shit to me? / Write him a letter or something.” She references the influx of support letters Lanez has gotten following his conviction and then reminds listeners that, once more, she landed on top like (Tina) snow: He’s in jail, and she’s free to bust his ass as she pleases. Megan Thee Stallion says her ill-wishers can “download J-Pay,” an inmate commissary service, or “schedule a conjugal visit” with Lanez as they please but can leave her out of it.

Megan Thee Stallion leaves little to the imagination as she scathingly lays out her hit list and picks the members off one-by-one in “Hiss,” turning her inner pain on “Cobra” into an outward-facing justified massacre. She lets everyone know that it’s time she sheds her skin and all her past emotional turmoil surrounding Lanez and his supporters.