Megan Thee Stallion is renowned as a feisty firecracker with complete confidence in her allure to men. Here, the Texan boss chick describes herself as "savage" while celebrating her complexity. According to Megan, her personality is, "classy, bougie, ratchet. Sassy, moody, nasty."
Megan laid down her vocals in under an hour. The track's engineer, Eddie "eMIX" Hernandez, explained to
Revolt TV that while producer J. White Did It "was laying down the snares and the kicks, she was writing to the skeleton of the beat." Once he'd completed the production and sent it over to eMix, Megan got all her writing done and was ready to knock it out.
"Savage" first appeared on Megan's EP Suga on March 6, 2020. Choreographer Keara Wilson created an energetic dance challenge to the track on TikTok, posting it on March 11, 2020. As it spread, Megan took notice and she posted her own video, while various TikTok creators put their own spin to the challenge. The huge interest in the viral dance caused the song to chart worldwide.
The song was released as a single on April 7, 2020, and on April 29, a remix dropped featuring Megan Thee Stallion's fellow Texan Beyoncé. The new version features multiple sultry Beyoncé verses and vocal runs as well as some brand new raps from Megan. It caught fire and went to #1 in the US on May 30, giving Megan her first chart-topper.
Beyoncé kicks off the second verse of the remix by referencing the popularity of "Savage" on TikTok.
Hips tik tok when I dance
JAY-Z, Starrah, and The-Dream all have writing credits on the new version. According to a post from The-Dream, Hova came up with the TikTok line.
Bey goes on to tell us she got her confidence and self-empowerment from her mom Tina Knowles-Lawson.
And my mama was a savage
Got this from Tina
All proceeds from the Beyoncé remix benefit relief efforts by Bread of Life Houston.
One of the more creative Tik Toks based on this song came courtesy of @calebjaxin, who introduced the "
Joe Exotic Version," based on the Netflix documentary series
Tiger King. In the series, Joe Exotic accuses his rival, Carole Baskin, of killing her husband and feeding him to her tigers. The Tik Tok adapts the song to these lyrics:
Carole Baskin, killed her husband, whacked him
Can't convince me that it didn't happen
Fed him to tigers, they snackin'Megan Thee Stallion teamed up with Diplo's Major Lazer collective for
another "Savage" remix. The dance music trio's deep house influenced instrumentals add an Ibiza vibe to the song.
Megan Thee Stallion is a one-woman army in the futuristic animated video as she takes down an evil legion of guards. The Jude MC-directed clip combines the Houston Hottie's love for anime with her signature rap sound. It also doubles down on the song's honoring of powerful women across the universe.
This won for Best Hip-Hop video at the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards.
On October 3, 2020, Megan Thee Stallion performed this on the season premiere of Saturday Night Live, adding some political commentary with the message "protect black women" and audio clips from Malcolm X and the activist Tamika Mallory.
While the original version is included on Megan's Suga EP, the Beyoncé-featuring "Savage Remix" appears on her Good News album.
This won the Grammy Awards for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song at the 2021 ceremony, beating out fellow nominees in both categories that were all men. Megan also won for Best New Artist, and although "Savage" lost to "
Everything I Wanted" by Billie Eilish in the Record Of The Year category, Eilish made it clear that Megan should have won. "I think about you constantly, I root for you always," she said in her speech. "You deserve it, honestly."
Megan Thee Stallion and Beyoncé teamed up for their first joint rendition of "Savage (Remix)" at NRG Stadium in Houston on September 23, 2023. Ahead of the performance during Beyonce's homecoming Renaissance show, Bey told Megan: "I love you, Queen."
