Megan Thee Stallion Once Again Reminds Haters of Her Humanity

This week, Megan Thee Stallion covered Women's Health magazine and, as is the case for any sit-down with the rapper, the accompanying story was rife with notable quotables. Stallion spilled about the importance of implementing a fitness routine into her lifestyle ("If I want to be a stallion and not a pony, I got to get up and put in the work."); maintaining strength and softness ("I am very much a flower, but my flower has thorns."); and what inspired her forthcoming album ("I was inspired to create this album about rebirth because I feel I am becoming a new person physically and mentally"). What's most striking, however, is her comments about grappling with depression. Inevitably, the conversation with Stallion turned to the fallout of  Tory Lanez's 2022 trial following the 2020 shooting that culminated in Lanez’s conviction and, in many ways, her vilification. Those who watched as closely as Jezebel did will remember the particularly ugly and outdated online discourse that labeled the rapper a liar and was riddled with misogynoir. “Before I went onstage, I would be crying half the time because I didn’t want to [perform], but I also didn’t want to upset my fans,” Stallion told the magazine. “I didn’t want to get [out] from under the covers. I stayed in my room. I would not turn the lights on. I had blackout curtains. I didn’t want to see the sun. I knew I wasn’t myself. It took me a while to acknowledge that I was depressed. But once I started talking to a therapist, I was able to be truthful with myself.” Frankly, none of this is a surprise given how difficult the past few years have been for Stallion. In 2019, she lost her beloved mother to a brain tumor then just two weeks later, her grandmother passed away. The following year, Lanez—a person she considered a close friend at the time—opened fire on her following an argument. Throughout the arduous trial, she was publicly pilloried by Lanez’s fans, and forced to navigate an onslaught of accusations. And as if all of that weren’t enough, Stallion has only just liberated herself from her former label. Oh, and she was allegedly cheated on by her ex-boyfriend, Pardison Fontaine. Stallion has long spoken about her mental health struggles, both in interviews and in her lyrics—recently, on "Cobra" where she took specific aim at the industry folks who failed to support her: “Every night I cried, I almost died/And nobody close tried to stop me/Long as everybody gettin’ paid, right?” Another verse has the rapper recounting suicidal ideations in the wake of the highly-publicized trial: “At night, I’m sittin’ in a dark room thinkin’/Probably why I always end up drinkin’/Yes, I’m very depressed/How can somebody so blessed wanna slit they wrist?” “As a Black woman, as a darker Black woman, I also feel like people expect me to take the punches, take the beating, take the lashings, and handle it with grace,” she told Women’s Health. “But I’m human.” “A lot of people didn’t treat me like I was human for a long time,” she continued of the vitriol--online and otherwise. “I feel like everybody was always used to me being the fun and happy party girl. I watched people build me up, tear me down, and be confused about their expectations of me.” Ultimately, the interview concludes with Stallion's assertion that she's proud of her mental and physical perseverance in the face of utter devastation. “I didn’t quit," she said. "I want to see myself grow and be better than I am right now. And I will. I…