Like a true hot girl, Megan Thee Stallion is gracing the cover of Time Magazine’s epic annual “100 Most Influential People” issue.
Actress Taraji P. Henson shared what she loves about the chart-topping rapper in a short but pointed first-person essay written for the issue. Henson, a self-proclaimed Hip-Hop head, recalled the first time she heard the Houston rapper ride a beat and how she feels about Meg now.
“Once you discover her, you become a fan. I don’t like to put the stigma of the word strong on Black women because I think it dehumanizes us,” the Oscar nominee wrote. “But she has strength—strength through vulnerability. She’s lost much of her family—her mother, her father, her grandmother—yet she is the epitome of tenacity, of pulling herself up by her bootstraps.”
Henson warns fans and critics about assuming that the “WAP” rapper is a one-dimensional woman. “You would be a fool to think that’s all there is to her,” she continued. “She’s deep. She’s enrolled in college. She’s an entertainer. She’s a free spirit; I see that in her. The industry might try to pigeonhole her in this rap game, but she’s got a plan that’s much bigger. And we got her. I just want her to keep winning.”
A few more of Meg’s celebrity peers also showered her with support for her noteworthy accomplishment on social media. Gabrielle Union chimed in with “Yes, Ma’am!” while fellow Houston native Tina Knowles Lawson commented, “Yesssss! H-Town doing it big!”
The rap star also showed her pride on her own Instagram timeline. “Still I rise,” she captioned a photo of the cover posted to her IG page. “Young black woman from Houston, Texas on the cover of Time Magazine as one of the most influential people in the world.”
Megan was one of twenty featured in the ‘Pioneers’ section of the lengthy list. She’s joined by filmmaker and activist Tourmaline, YA author Tomi Adeyemi and WNBA champ and criminal-justice advocate Maya Moore. Naomi Osaka, Billy Porter, Kamala Harris and Michael B. Jordan and others were also included in Time’s iconic list.