Megan Thee Stallion is the keynote speaker at the 2022 Forbes Under 30 Summit hosted at the Detroit Opera House. She is joined onstage for an interview by Randall Lane, Forbes Chief Content Officer and Editor.
The original “Hot Girl” Megan Thee Stallion graced the Detroit Opera House stage on Tuesday to deliver the keynote address at the Forbes Under 30 Summit. The 27-year-old rapper, philanthropist, and entrepreneur shared her insights and experiences on building a successful business empire.
“I feel like creating your own legacy and creating you own wealth is super important to me as a Black woman because I feel like originally, we didn’t have a lot of opportunities,” said the ‘Body’ rapper.
“Yes, even as a woman, but specifically a Black woman we didn’t have a lot of opportunities. So, for me to be in this position today and be able to create generational wealth and create a future for my family, I feel like I gotta go super hard because I know if my grandmother and mom could’ve did that for me, they would have…so I want to go extra hard for what’s not even here yet.”
The summit kicked off this week for the third and final time in Detroit for a four-day gathering of almost 3,000 young creatives from across the country. Ambitious young entrepreneurs and culture makers arrived in the Motor City to network and learn best practices from an A-list line up of speakers, including Hailey Bieber, Steve-O, and Lyft President and CEO, John Zimmer.
Attendees were offered an immersive experience in entrepreneurial skill building discussions on manufacturing and industry, marketing and advertising, media, education, social impact, music, science, retail and commerce, big money startups, sports, and venture capital.
The most anticipated event of the summit was Megan Thee Stallion’s closing address.
Titled “Megan Thee Mogul,” the session hosted the heavy-hitting rapper in an exclusive interview by Forbes Chief Content Officer and Editor, Randall Lane.
The female emcee shot to stardom in 2019 with her first charting single “Big Ole Freak” from her EP, Tina Snow. The track debuted at number 99 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. She first garnered attention as an college student at Texas HBCU Prairie View A& M University while posting videos freestyling on social media platforms. Her creative style is trademarked with unapologetically assertive in owning issues of female empowerment and sexuality.
Some of her hit singles include, “Body”, “Hot Girl Summer”, “WAP” (featuring Cardi B) and “Savage” (remix featuring Beyonce).
Lane began by asking Megan Thee Stallion about her early forays into stardom as an entrepreneur and how your maintains a sense of grounding and purpose with a strong work ethic.
“I feel like when you just let people give you things, you don’t get to learn. You didn’t have to go through the hardship,” said the rapper.
“You didn’t have to learn a lesson. You didn’t have to bump your head like it was nothing, that you actually gained from somebody giving you something. I feel like for me actually being in every field, that I’m not just a rapper, when I’m taking on a new project, I’m very hands-on. I feel like I’m learning and have knowledge, so that later on I could pass it on to somebody else.”
As a multi-talented entrepreneur, Megan Thee Stallion has ventured into other business interests, including big name brand partnerships with Revlon, Popeyes restaurant and Hot Cheetos.
Recently, she began dipping her toes in the film industry with a cameo in Marvel’s She-Hulk series as herself. Last December, Netflix announced an exclusive deal with Megan Thee Stallion to produce a new series and other projects.
“I’m doing a show kind of loosely based off my life and experiences that I’ve gone through and that I’ve seen other women go through and some of my friends,” said the Houston-raised entrepreneur.
“I feel like we see so many shows based off people from New York or from the West Coast. But my experiences, I’ve never seen any show about anything southern for real, anything from Texas. I want to create this new era of Southern people being appreciated and people from Texas, to see a glimpse of our life.”
A closing ceremony hosted by Megan Thee Stallion was held at Comerica Park with a catered selection of Detroit-based eateries, including Breadless and Shell Shock Tacos. The celebration included a special with a performance by the Detroit Youth Choir (DYC).
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