With the June 28 release of her most recent album, MEGAN, Megan Thee Stallion has further demonstrated her status as a star. If you missed my attempt at a poorly worded pun, it was about a song from the album that has since gone viral on social media, with my whole FYP dancing to the catchy chorus hook.
Megan has experimented with a new sound style with “Mamushi,” a song that features Japanese rapper Yuki Chiba and reflects their intercultural collaboration through lyrics written in both English and Japanese.
If you’re unfamiliar with Yuki Chiba, you might be better familiar with his music under his former alias, KOHH. Under the stage name, Chiba gained recognition abroad in 2015 for his versatile rap skills after appearing on the song “It G Ma” by South Korean rapper Keith Ape. Since then, he has also worked with well-known American musicians, including Frank Ocean on his song “Nikes” and R&B icon Mariah Carey on a remix version of the song “Runway” from her 2018 album Caution. Chiba has chosen to conduct business under his own name recently and has stated in interviews that he is no longer performing songs under his former moniker.
It’s unknown when Megan and Chiba agreed to the collaboration, but it’s possible that it was in March when she traveled to Japan after being invited to the Crunchyroll Anime Awards. Megan encountered several talented local artists while touring Japan, one of whom was Chiba. The two even posed for a picture together, which Meg shared on March 5.
Fans of the artists have been listening primarily to the chorus of “Mamushi” — which is mainly spoken in Japanese — nonstop since the song finally became available. But, what exactly do the lyrics mean?
To start off, the song’s title refers to a mamushi, which is a type of snake that is mainly found in Japan. The idea of snakes alludes to Megan’s current theme of incorporating snakes as imagery and metaphors in her lyrics, which can be heard in songs like “Cobra” and “Hiss.”
“Mamushi” might subtly depict the overall theme of Megan regaining her past and letting go of it in order to represent the fame and prosperity she’s now achieving.
The romanized version of Genius’ Japanese lyrics reads: Okane kasegu, orera wa sutaa/Okane kasegu, watashi wa sutaa/Sutaa, sutaa, sutaa, sutaa, kira kira/Watashi wa sutaa. The first half of the chorus spoken by Chiba is translated as “We make money, we are stars.” It’s worth noting that “ore” in Japanese is an informal way of referring to oneself, and it’s more typically used by younger males. Megan states “Watashi wa suta” in the second part, which means “I earn money, I’m a star,” with “Watashi” addressing the feminine way of referring to oneself.
“Watashi wa suta” has been blowing up on TikTok with many — including Megan herself — dancing to these lyrics.
TikTok influencer IPHY offered to clarify the meaning of “Mamushi” by breaking down certain words from the song’s Japanese lyrics.
In another video, she delved deeper into linguistics, specifically the nuances of how the word “I” in Japanese has different words and phrasing based on the speaker’s gender, age, and social context when used in dialogue.
If you’ll excuse me, I have to sing “I’m a Star” over and over to my bathroom mirror.