2022 studio album by Megan Thee Stallion
Traumazine is the second studio album by American rapper Megan Thee Stallion, released on August 12, 2022, by 300 Entertainment and 1501 Certified.[1] This album marks her final release under the labels before her departure in October 2023 after two years of lawsuits.[2]
Upon release, Traumazine received positive reviews from critics, who complimented its production and Megan's flow. It was nominated for the BET Hip Hop Award for Album of the Year.[3] The album's lead single, "Sweetest Pie" with English singer Dua Lipa, peaked at number 15 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Commercially, the album debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200 becoming Megan Thee Stallion's fifth US top-10 album, but did not achieve high placements in international charts, starting a lawsuit by the rapper for the label's low interest in its promotion. The album was later certified gold by the RIAA for selling over 500,000 units.
Background and label lawsuit
In 2020 Megan Thee Stallion filed suit against her record label 1501 Certified Entertainment to renegotiate her contract, after her management company Roc Nation found it "iffy".[4][5] When Something for Thee Hotties was released the record label didn't recognize it as an album, because it has 29 minutes of new material instead of 45, so the rapper would have to release two more albums in addition to Something.[6] On February 18, 2022, Megan filed suit against the label claiming that Something respects the definition of an album with at least 45 minutes of material.[5][7]
On August 11, 2022, Megan took to Twitter to announce that her second studio album Traumazine would be released the next day.[8] The rapper also wrote about the lawsuit, expressing her disappointment and emotional distress at the difficulty she is experiencing in releasing her music, but ending her message to fans with the phrase "we almost out".[9] Megan defined the album title as referring to a chemical released in the brain when forced to deal with "painful emotions caused by traumatic events and experiences. See synonyms: self-realization".[10][11]
After the low promotion of Traumazine by the label, Thee Stallion has started a second lawsuit, accusing the company of contributing to the album's poor sales and marketing.[12] On October 19, 2023, lawyers from 1501 Certified Entertainment confirmed that they and Thee Stallion had reached a confidential agreement to resolve their legal differences by parting amicably.[13]
Composition
Lyrically, Traumazine contains themes related to self-expression, the empowerment of African-American women, death, and overcoming difficult moments in life.[14][15] In an interview with Ebro Darden and Nadeska Alexis of Apple Music, the rapper discussed the meaning of the record project:[16]
Usually when I write songs […] I could be sad. […] I don't write songs about how I feel, I write songs about how I want to feel. So I feel like, on this album, it's probably the first time I figured out how to talk about what I want to say… express myself a little bit more. So that's just how I've been living life. And I feel like it's been so easy for people to tell my story for me, speak on my behalf because I'm a nonchalant person, I feel like. […] But like I see now that it can get out of control so I feel like I wanted to just take control of my narrative, take control of my own story. Tell it my way, tell it from me.
The album featured severals collaborations from Dua Lipa, Future, and Key Glock, and additional guest appearances from Latto, Pooh Shiesty, Rico Nasty, Jhené Aiko, Lucky Daye, Sauce Walka, Lil' Keke, and Big Pokey.[17]
Promotion
The first single was "Sweetest Pie", with English singer Dua Lipa, released on March 11, 2022. The second single was "Plan B", released on April 22, 2022. It was followed by the collaboretion "Pressurelicious" with Future, released on July 21, 2022, and "Her", released three days after the release of the album. A music video for "Ungrateful" featuring American rapper Key Glock was released on September 6, 2022.
Critical reception
Traumazine was met with a very positive response from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album has an average score of 80 based on 11 reviews.[28]
Time journalist Moises Mendez II wrote that the rapper "alternates between knocking down every obstacle that stands in her way and realizing that some obstacles will take longer to get past than others", adding "with Traumazine, we see her dig deeper into her insecurities", citing the "most gut-wrenching lines in the album", referring to her parents' death. Mendez additionally noted the "dark and ominous" production tone, with lyrical references to the difficult rise for an African American woman in the music industry and the legal battle to dissolve her 1501 Certified record contract.[15]
NPR editor Sidney Madden defined the album as a "huge artistic step" because "tracks are offset with deep contemplations about the trauma she's experienced in her life so far and, more pointedly, the double standards in society that black women carry with them when they're objectified". Madden states that it is comparable to a diary in which "she's having a stream of conscious. [...] It's raw. It's real. And it can't be faked".[14]
In a more reserved review for AllMusic, Fred Thomas described the album as, "solid but inconsistent, with one foot in formula-tested mainstream rap and the other in a more confessional, emotionally bare territory that's new for Megan Thee Stallion. Despite its occasional unevenness, the album is exciting in both its moments of audience-tested hitmaking and when Megan cracks the veneer of her invincible persona to share feelings that are difficult, messy, and real."[19]
