Megan Thee Stallion begins her “Cobra” video by saying, “Just as a snake sheds its skin, we must shed our past over and over again” — the same message she used to tease the song on socials last week — and proceeding to crawl out from inside of a cobra. Objectively, the best part of an artist dropping new music is the race to subjectively decode what it all means, and in this case, the shedding of the cobra skin could very well symbolize Hot Girl Meg’s recently becoming an independent artist.
In October, Billboard reported that Megan Thee Stallion and her now-former record label, 1501 Certified Entertainment, “mutually reached a confidential settlement to resolve their legal differences,” which had lasted for over three years, and would “amicably part ways.” Days prior to the news publicly breaking, Meg hinted at it during an Instagram Live.
“Hotties — the real Hotties, not the Notties, kinda them, too — this part of my album is definitely very much funded by Megan Thee Stallion,” she said, in part. “Y’all know what’s the tea. But I have no label right now. And we’re doing everything funded straight out of Megan Thee Stallion’s pockets. So, the budget is coming from me. Motherf*cking Hot Girl Productions! The next sh*t y’all about to see about to be all straight from Megan Thee Stallion’s brain and Megan Thee Stallion’s wallet. We in my pockets, Hotties!”
As promised, “Cobra” was released under Hot Girl Productions LLC.
Watch the “Cobra” video above.
Update: On December 12, Billboard reported, “A source at Warner Music Group confirmed to Billboard that the artist has signed a distribution agreement with the company that includes services from a select global team.” So, Megan will remain an independent artist while benefiting from WMG’s distribution infrastructure.
Megan’s 1501 Certified Entertainment projects were released in partnership with 300 Entertainment, which was acquired by Warner Music Group in 2021. So, Meg’s new WMG deal has a level of familiarity.
Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. .
