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Megan Thee Stallion's latest single Boa is making waves online for the accompanying music video, which was uploaded to her official YouTube channel and features a ton of anime, pop culture, and 90s gamer references.
From imitating popular cosplays to anime shows like One Piece to stacking Boa's music video with the iconic "K.O." from Street Fighter, Megan delivers animated visuals packed with 90s nostalgia.
Megan The Stallion's Boa was released to all streaming platforms yesterday (May 10) as the official follow-up to her February record, Hiss. The title of this single appears to be continuing on Meg's theme of "Snakes," hinting at her ERA of renewal as she metaphorically and physically sheds her skin, as seen in the music video for 2023's Cobra.
Megan has always claimed to be a massive fan of anime and gamer culture, even referring to herself as a "nerd" many times during interviews. Most notably, the Grammy-winning artist and anime enthusiast were found presenting an award at Crunchyroll's 2024 Anime Awards, held in March.
A list of all the nostalgic references from Megan Thee Stallion's music video for Boa
The music video opens by introducing three gamer friends residing in a fictional town called "Hottyville," who band together to play a game called The Curse of the Serpent Woman. As the game starts, a disclaimer pops onto the screen, which reads:
"Player beware. You're in for a scare... For the way you die in the game, is how you die in real life."
Each player then gets a look-alike of themselves created, drawing inspiration from Jumanji, for three separate types of games, which include Fighting, Arcade, and Endless Running.
In each game, Megan Thee Stallion plays the main boss the players must defeat to win, with the video ending with each player suffering a tragic fate at the hands of the "Serpent Woman."
The song samples Gwen Stefani's 2004 record What You Waiting For? in the chorus. Here's a complete list of all the nerdy references from Megan The Stallion's latest single, Boa.
1) One Piece and Mortal Kombat
The main boss in Megan's Arcade game for The Curse of the Serpent Woman appears to be a hybrid of two characters, namely, One Piece's Boa Hancock and Mileena from Mortal Kombat.
Her haircut is styled to resemble Hancock, pairing it with a snake weapon that references Boa's serpent friend Salome. However, her purple cosplay is very clearly drawing inspiration from Mileena's outfit from MK.
2) Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Much like the movie Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, where the protagonist (Scott) is forced to battle his girlfriend's exes in over-the-top, dramatic, and highly entertaining fight scenes, Megan's music video for Boa captures the same vibe.
There's also a direct reference to the movie when one of the players calls the warning from The Curse of the Serpent Woman "boring."
3) Duck Hunt
Duck Hunt is a popular Nintendo shooting arcade game that was created back in 1984 for their NES video game console, in which players use a "gun" controller to shoot down flying ducks to earn points.
One of the games displayed in her music video is very similar to Duck Hunt, with the player having to shoot down Megan with a catapult-like controller as she bounces around the screen set in an urban city landscape.
4) Tekken
Another major cosplay reference in Boa is a not-so-subtle nod to the classic fighting game Tekken, with Megan's top being inspired by Christie Monteiro, who first appeared in the video game series back in 2001 with the launch of Tekken 4.
Her pants, however, appear to be referencing another character from the game named Bryan Fury, who is popularly known for the golden-brown snakeskin pants he's worn throughout the series.
5) Street Fighter
The ultimate fighter game, Street Fighter, gets a major nod from Megan Thee Stallion, as every time she uses a finishing move, a big "K.O." flashes over the screen, along with an announcer chant exclaiming the elimination. Both the animations used during her finisher and the announcement are easily identified as a Street Fighter reference.
6) Dance Dance Revolution
Megan spends a lot of the video displaying her bouncy choreography on a custom-built dance floor, which closely resembles the dance tiles from Dance Dance Revolution. DDR is a game that was created in 1998 and is well known for pioneering the rhythm and dance genres in arcade video games.
Similar to how players need to step on tiles when arrow marks appear on the screen, the rapper displays light-neon-colored arrow marks in various hues across her dance floor.
7) Space Channel 5
Building on her Dance Dance Revolution reference, the outfit Megan wears during her choreography scenes is a mix of pink and blue, which includes a wig, a pink crop top, and colored pigtails.
The entire outfit appears to reference Ulala, the protagonist of another dance game created and distributed by SEGA called Space Channel 5, who battles foes through electric dance moves.
8) Temple Run
The popular mobile video game Temple Run makes an appearance by being included as part of one of the games the player in Megan's music video needs to play.
In the game, Megan Thee Stallion rides a large white serpent that chases down the player through an environment designed very similar to the classic Endless Running game.
9) Snake
Nostalgia is a big part of this music video, with Megan including a scene where one of the players is found playing the classic Snake arcade game, which used to be included in almost all Nokia devices.
10) SpongeBob SquarePants
During one of the fatality sequences, Megan crushes the player's head by sitting on his face. The smushed-up face draws a resemblance to the "Squidward the Unfriendly Ghost" episode from SpongeBob SquarePants, where Patrick accidentally sits on Squidward's face, resulting in the creation of a popular internet meme.
Boa by Megan Thee Stallion was released on May 10, 2024.
