"Don't Stop" is a song by American rapper

Megan Thee Stallion Megan Jovon Ruth Pete (born February 15, 1995), known professionally as Megan Thee Stallion, is an American rapper and singer-songwriter. Megan initially gained recognition when videos of her freestyling began to circulate widely on social me ...

featuring fellow American rapper

Young Thug Jeffery Lamar Williams II (born August 16, 1991), known professionally as Young Thug, is an American rapper. Known for his eccentric vocal style and fashion, he is considered an influential figure in modern hip hop music, hip hop and trap music ...

. It was written alongside Ricky Remedy and producer Buddah Bless. The song was released on October 2, 2020 by

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and

300 Entertainment Theory Entertainment LLC, doing business as 300 Entertainment, is an American record label founded by Lyor Cohen, Kevin Liles, Todd Moscowitz, and Roger Gold. The label's roster includes acts across multiple genres such as hip hop, rock, pop, ele ...

as the second official single from her debut studio album '' Good News'' (2020). Musically, it is a sex-positive

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

song with production inspired by electronic and industrial music. "Don't Stop" debuted and peaked at number 30 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. To promote the song, Megan performed it alongside Young Thug during the season premiere of the 46th season of ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

''. A music video inspired by the 1951 film ''

Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...

'' and directed by

Colin Tilley Colin Tilley (born June 27, 1988) is an American filmmaker, music video director, and television commercial director. Tilley is the CEO and owner of Boy in the Castle Productions. He has directed more than 300 music videos. Tilley directed, pr ...

was released on the same day as the song.

Background and release

The collaboration was first teased via the Instagram page of 300 Entertainment after they posted a picture of the two artists in the studio together, a week before the song's release. On September 28, 2020, Megan posted the song's cover art and release date to her Instagram. The song was released on October 2, 2020. On October 8, 2020, Megan partnered with

Amazon Music Amazon Music (previously Amazon MP3) is a music streaming platform and digital music store operated by Amazon. As of January 2020, the service had 55 million subscribers. It was the first music store to sell music without digital rights manag ...

to create the "Don't Stop" scholarship fund, which provided two women of color pursuing an

associate degree An associate degree or associate's degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of academic qualification above a high school diploma and below a bachelor's degree ...

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

postgraduate Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor' ...

degree in any field of study with $10,000 each.

Composition

"Don't Stop" is a

song with elements of electronic and industrial music in its production. The track is backed instrumentally by "glitch" sounds and heavy percussion ''

MTV Australia MTV was a 24-hour general entertainment channel specialising in music and youth culture programming which serves Australia and New Zealand. Paramount Networks UK & Australia headquartered in London with a local office at Network 10's headquarte ...

''s Jackson Langford compared the song's production to that of British record label

PC Music PC Music is a record label and art collective based in London and run by producer A. G. Cook. It was founded in 2013, uploading its first releases to SoundCloud that year. Artists on its roster have included Hannah Diamond, GFOTY, Danny L H ...

. The song includes "raunchy" and "sex-positive" lyrics, such as "I've got a stank ass walk and a reckless ass mouth" and "Don't stop, pop that cat".

Critical reception

Jessica McKinney of ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

'' identified the song as one of the best released during the week ending October 2, 2020. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

''s Jason Lipshutz praised the song, writing that it "sounds like it would absolutely ignite any dance floor or arena crowd upon which it is dropped", and calling the production "one of Buddah Bless' most spectacular productions to date". Andrew Sacher of ''

BrooklynVegan ''BrooklynVegan'' is an American online music magazine founded in 2004 by David Levine. The company is headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, and originally focused on vegan food and the music community in and around New York City, before broadeni ...

'' called the track a "banger". Langford of ''

'' wrote that, with "Don't Stop", "Megan asserts her dominance over the globe once again – just in case you forgot who was in charge.". Writing for ''

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'', Sarah Mai complimented the song's lyrics, referring to them as "clever and fun".

Live performances

A day after the release of "Don't Stop", Megan performed the track during the

season premiere A season premiere is the first episode of a new season of a returning television show. In the United States, many season premieres are aired in the fall time or, for mid-season replacements, either in the spring or late winter. In countries su ...

of ''

'' alongside Young Thug.

Commercial performance

"Don't Stop" debuted and peaked at number 30 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart for the week ending October 17, 2020, with 13.8 million domestic streams and 5,000 downloads. The single also debuted at number one on ''Billboard''s Top

Triller The trillers are a group of passerine birds belonging to the cuckooshrike family Campephagidae partially making up the genus '' Lalage''. Their name come from the loud trilling calls of the males. There are about 12 species that usually exist i ...

US and Top Triller Global charts, displacing

Dixie D'Amelio Dixie Jane D'Amelio ( ; born August 12, 2001) is an American social media personality and singer known for her videos on TikTok. She is the elder sister of Charli D'Amelio. Early life Dixie Jane D'Amelio was born on August 12, 2001 in Norwalk, ...

's " Be Happy", and at number 61 on the ''Billboard'' Global 200 chart, amassing 18.6 million streams and 6,000 downloads globally.

Music video

The music video for "Don't Stop", directed by

, was released alongside the song, serving as the first official music video from Megan's debut album Good News. Megan Thee Stallion appears throughout the video dressed in outfits inspired by various characters from ''

'', including

Alice Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...

, the Queen of Hearts, and the

Cheshire Cat The Cheshire Cat ( ) is a fictional cat popularised by Lewis Carroll in ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and known for its distinctive mischievous grin. While now most often used in ''Alice''-related contexts, the association of a "Chesh ...

. The video also features voguing dancers from the

HBO Max Max (known in other countries as, and soon to be reverted globally to HBO Max) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. It is a proprietary unit of Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming on behalf of Home Box Of ...

series '' Legendary'' (on which Megan is a judge), Megan riding a giant

rocking horse __NOTOC__ A rocking horse is a child's toy, usually shaped like a horse and mounted on rockers similar to a rocking chair. There are two sorts, the one where the horse part sits rigidly attached to a pair of curved rockers that are in contact wit ...

and twerking, and an animated cat which resembles the Cheshire Cat. Young Thug appears during his verse dressed as ''

Edward Scissorhands ''Edward Scissorhands'' is a 1990 American gothic romantic fantasy film directed by Tim Burton. It was produced by Burton and Denise Di Novi, written by Caroline Thompson from a story by her and Burton, and starring Johnny Depp as the title ...

''.

Reception

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''s Eric Torres named the video for "Don't Stop" the third best music video released in October 2020, calling it "a delirious trip through familiar cinematic imagery, all delivered by Megan’s tongue-wagging, irreverent charisma." Zoe Haylock of ''

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to Nort ...

'' reviewed the video positively, writing, "The music video is endless twists on classics, with just enough Meg in there to make them feel brand new. And, it’s carefree."

Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal. *

vocals, songwriting *

vocals, songwriting * Buddah Blessproduction, songwriting * A. "Bainz" Bainsengineering, vocal recording engineering * Shawn "Source" Jarrettengineering * Aresh Banajiassistant engineering * Jaycen Joshuamixing * Jacob Richardassistant mixing * Mike Seabergassistant mixing * Colin Leonardmastering

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control 2020 singles 2020 songs 300 Entertainment singles Megan Thee Stallion songs Songs written by Megan Thee Stallion Young Thug songs Songs written by Young Thug Songs written by Buddah Bless Song recordings produced by Buddah Bless Music videos directed by Colin Tilley American electronic songs Industrial songs