Count Your Days, Pardison Fontaine

On Friday, Megan Thee Stallion (Megan Pete) released her latest single, “Cobra”— the rapper’s first since she emancipated herself from 1501 Certified Entertainment and started her own independent label, Hot Girl Productions.

“Just as a snake sheds its skin, we must shed our past. Over and over again,” Pete proclaims at the opening of the track before doing just that in the accompanying music video. Over a grooving electric guitar, the rapper gets real about everything from her mental health to what sounds like catching a cheating man (her ex-boyfriend Pardison Fontaine, perhaps).

As Pete emerges from the mouth of a snake, she first details her recent grapples with depression—taking specific aim at the industry folks who failed to support her: “Every night I cried, I almost died/And nobody close tried to stop me/Long as everybody gettin’ paid, right?”

In case you haven’t been paying attention, it’s been a difficult few years for Pete. In 2019, she lost her beloved mother to a brain tumor, then just two weeks later, her grandmother passed away. The following year Tory Lanez, the famously 5’3 rapper, opened fire on Pete following an argument. Throughout the subsequent assault trial—in which Lanez was eventually sentenced to 10 years in prison—she became the subject of a coordinated social media campaign, publicly pilloried by Lanez’s fans, and forced to navigate an onslaught of accusations that she’d fabricated the account. As if all of that weren’t enough to wane a woman’s backbone, Stallion only just settled another legal dispute with her former label, whom she accused of exploitation and sabotage.

“At night, I’m sittin’ in a dark room thinkin’/Probably why I always end up drinkin’/Yes, I’m very depressed/How can somebody so blessed wanna slit they wrist?” she continues. Given her last record, Traumazine, made similar admissions—namely on tracks like “Anxiety” (“All I really wanna hear is “It’ll be okay/Bounce back ‘Cause a bad bitch can have bad days.”)—Pete’s vulnerability isn’t exactly a surprise. It is, however, truly sobering.

In the video, as the rapper sheds her own skin as a gaggle of onlookers gawk and snap photos, she then accuses a lover of being unfaithful in the same breath as lamenting her late parents’ absence: “Man, I miss my parents, way too anxious, always cancel my plans/Pulled up, caught him cheatin’, gettin’ his dick sucked in the same spot I’m sleepin’/Lord, give me a break, I don’t know how much more of this shit I can take.”

Naturally, social media has since erupted with speculation as to who Pete might be referring to. Given Fontaine—whose Instagram comments are now disabled by the way—is her most recent public boyfriend, the fellow rapper is receiving the lion’s share of fans’ rage. Pete confirmed her relationship with Fontaine in 2021 and the pair dated until earlier this year.

Frankly, whether it’s Fontaine or some other snake matters little. Whoever it is, they’re an imbecile. Not only is Pete a goddess on Earth but she’s endured more trauma in the last five years than a lot of people experience in an entire lifetime. She deserves better. Here’s hoping all that Pete’s starting to shed on the next album cycle is left where it belongs: far, far behind her.