Fever

Fever is the third and debut commercial mixtape by American rapper Megan Thee Stallion, released on May 17, 2019, via 300 Entertainment and 1501 Certified. Primarily produced by LilJuMadeDaBeat and written by the rapper herself, it also features guest appearances from rappers DaBaby and Juicy J. Fever is a hip hop record driven by minimal bass-heavy trap production. It is widely considered by music critics as Megan Thee Stallion's mainstream breakthrough. The mixtape received widespread acclaim from music critics, with many praising the rapper's delivery and sex-positivity. Apart from being featured on various year-end lists, Fever also won the BET Hip Hop Award for Best Mixtape. Commercially, it debuted at number 10 on the Billboard 200, and was certified gold in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America. Fever also spawned the RIAA double-platinum song "Cash Shit". Background and release In April 2019, Megan Thee Stallion scored her first chart entry on the Billboard Hot 100 with the single "Big Ole Freak" from the EP Tina Snow (2018), signifying her mainstream popularization. With this newly-cumulated audience, the rapper formally announced the release of Fever, alongside a trailer posted to her social media accounts on May 8, 2019, which introduces "Hot Girl Meg", an alter ego for the mixtape. The trailer is a snippet of the music video for "Realer" in which Hot Girl Meg drives in a red convertible with three other women. The rapper officially revealed the album cover and tracklist on May 14, 2019. In July 2019, Megan Thee Stallion teased the release of Fever: Thee Movie, a cinematic project directed by Hype Williams. Despite the announcement being captioned "coming soon", the project was not released. The lead single from Fever, "Sex Talk", had prior been released to all major streaming services and digital platforms on March 22, 2019. The second single, "Realer", was released a day before the mixtape. This single was later accompanied by a music video on May 21, 2019. The song "Cash Shit" featuring DaBaby was released as the third single and reached a peak of number 36 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Cash Shit" would also go on to become Megan Thee Stallion's first-ever RIAA-certified platinum single, and her second-ever top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, after "Hot Girl Summer".