March is Women’s History Month and as usual, Rolling Stone is using the opportunity to honor some of the hottest emerging voices in music with its cover for the month. This year, they’re handing the spotlight to three women who have started made their mark in 2019 and plan to do so again in 2020: Houston rapper Megan Thee Stallion, former Fifth Harmony singer Normani, and Top Dawg Entertainment R&B artist SZA. As a visual metaphor for women taking control, two of the trio are decked out in leather dominatrix gear, signifying their take-no-prisoners attitude as they take over the game.
Megan Thee Stallion, of course, may have had the biggest rookie year of the three. Since dropping her Tina Snow project at the end of 2018, she has become a near household name as her “Hot Girl Summer” catchphrase took over the internet and became a top ten hit, her Fever followup project charted and produced hit after hit, and she finally landed on some of the year’s biggest film soundtracks, including Birds Of Prey, where she shares a billing with Normani.
Normani, meanwhile, had her own stellar breakout in 2019 after dropping her summertime single “Motivation” and its nostalgic video, which went instantly viral and began building her buzz. That buzz reached a crescendo with “Diamonds” from the Birds Of Prey soundtrack and like Megan, Normani plans to capitalize with a debut album later this year.
Then there’s SZA, who’s been relatively quiet since dropping her own game-changing debut CTRL — gotta respect the commitment to the bit there — but has been in Hawaii recording its followup, which has an expected due date sometime this year as well, along with a song with Megan. Of course, SZA hasn’t had to be all that active musically when her Instagram feed has been a source of fascination for all genders of music fans all year.
