Megan Thee Stallion Says This Was Her ‘Biggest Mistake’ Early On

Before Megan Thee Stallion made it big and signed her first record deal, she thought that rappers made a tremendous amount of money. She saw the social media posts they made sporting new cars and fancy clothes. She couldn’t wait to become a rapper and take care of her whole family.

However, the three-time Grammy Award-winning star, whose real name is Megan Pete, said that the reality of her first record deal was that she wasn’t getting paid what she was worth. 

At Entrepreneur’s Overcoming Impossible event last week, Pete said that when she signed her first deal, she knew “it wasn’t the best deal.” What pushed her to sign it was the knowledge that she was going to be able to take care of her mom and pay the bills with the money. She was excited to “take care of her people.”

However, the bigger she got, the more she realized how much her likeness and sound were worth.

“I started realizing I’m not making as much money as I should be making because I kind of just gave my life away to somebody else,” Pete said. “I had to take a step back and think, Okay, let me see what’s going on with my contracts. Let me figure out how I can be my own boss.”

Her biggest mistake

Pete said that her biggest mistake early on was being scared to ask questions about her contract.

“I was a little bit nervous about asking questions,” she said. “I feel like that is one of the biggest things that hold people back, being afraid of sounding stupid.”

Pete said that now, if she doesn’t understand something, she asks.

She added that she didn’t just want to be famous; she wanted to own her own music. Ownership became important to her because she was putting in all the work and felt like she wasn’t receiving anything back.

Asking questions and trying to figure out how she could be her own boss paid off. In 2024, Pete signed a deal with Warner Music Group that allowed her to have full ownership of her masters and publishing. She retains her independence as a musician while tapping into Warner Music for promotion and marketing.

“I do own my masters,” Pete said. “It was important to me, coming out of a situation where I didn’t own anything and I didn’t have control of my career. I just didn’t want to ever be in that position again.”

Her motivations

Only one topic made Pete tear up on stage. 

It happened when she was talking about her “North Star,” or the guiding light that keeps her focused and shows her the way forward.

For Pete, her North Star is her family. Her mom, dad, grandmother and great-grandmother are her foundation.

“I do things that I feel like they would have wanted to see me do,” she said. “I just keep them in mind, and I just know that my mom is proud of me, my dad is proud of me.”

Wiping away tears, Pete said that her responsibility is bigger than herself. She wants to make her family proud and give her fans “little pieces” of her to incorporate into their everyday lives. She filters decisions by how her family would respond to them.

Pete also said that anyone in any career path can achieve success. They just have to follow one principle: Be true to themselves.

“When they’re being authentic to themselves, that’s when they win,” Pete said. “That’s when they’re most successful.”

Before Megan Thee Stallion made it big and signed her first record deal, she thought that rappers made a tremendous amount of money. She saw the social media posts they made sporting new cars and fancy clothes. She couldn’t wait to become a rapper and take care of her whole family.

However, the three-time Grammy Award-winning star, whose real name is Megan Pete, said that the reality of her first record deal was that she wasn’t getting paid what she was worth. 

At Entrepreneur’s Overcoming Impossible event last week, Pete said that when she signed her first deal, she knew “it wasn’t the best deal.” What pushed her to sign it was the knowledge that she was going to be able to take care of her mom and pay the bills with the money. She was excited to “take care of her people.”