As she recovers from her recent surgery, Megan Thee Stallion is turning up. The leader of the Hot Girls was recently seen twerking on Instagram, posing for Savage x Fenty, and being named as the new ambassador for Revlon. Her Cardi B collaboration “WAP” is reportedly Certified Gold and she’s also been featured on the latest editions of Variety and W. In the latter, Meg chats at length about the industry and shares how she was inspired by the many women in rap who helped pave the way for her successes.

Megan Thee Stallion, W Magazine, Eve, Lil Kim, Cardi B, Nicki Minaj
Steven Ferdman / Stringer / Getty Images

“I had never heard a woman rapping that hard before,” Meg said of what she thought when she first heard Nicki Minaj. “So it just instantly drew me to her. I was a freshman in high school, and me and all my friends were definitely jamming a lot of Nicki Minaj, and then, boom, Cardi B came out and it was like, Oh, sh*t, another girl rapping.”

“I fell in love with Kim because she’s so raunchy and raw,” she added. “She has bars, metaphors, but it’s still hard, and she doesn’t have a squeaky little voice. I don’t have a squeaky voice. My voice is pretty commanding. My first time looking at Eve, it was like, Oh my God, this lady is just super sexy. She was smooth, sensual. I just felt like that was my vibe.”

Still, Megan The Stallion also stated that being a woman in rap has its difficulties. “It’s really mind-blowing to see the nasty things that people say to you. I don’t know if people think you not gon’ see it,” Megan said. “I feel like just being an artist, waking up every day, voicing your own opinions is a risk… Just talking. Being real is a risk.”

[via]