Track Review: Megan Thee Stallion & Dua Lipa Whip Up the "Sweetest Pie"

Megan Thee Stallion and Dua Lipa have a lot more in common than you may think. Both ladies have been honored with the Best New Artist Grammy Award, they've both gotten stamps of approval from music legends (Madonna for Dua; Beyoncé for Megan), and they're both radio and streaming juggernauts. It only makes sense that two of the world's biggest pop stars join forces on a joint single. The deliciously saccharine "Sweetest Pie" evokes a 2022 version of The Dutchess-era Fergie in the best way possible. From the tasteful thumping bass to the chugging synths and tease of horns, "Sweetest Pie" is a song that's acutely aware of its purpose. It's a vehicle to 1) move Dua out of the narrowly focused sound of her landmark Future Nostalgia era and 2) quell any doubts about Megan's ability to thrive in the Top 40 sphere over indisputably pop beats.

Dua opens the song with the dreamy "You've never been to Heaven, have you?" From there, she launches into a steadily tounge-in-cheek hook that bleeds seamlessly into Megan's verses. Fergie's contributions to the pop-rap subgenre are innumerable, and both Megan and Dua take a page out of her book in the way that "Sweetest Pie" revels in its inherent campiness. This is a song that doesn't try to be anything more than it presents itself as. Lyrically, both ladies play it safe with familiar clichés that aren't entirely stale yet like "Hot girl shit, but I'm cold every season." Throughout the song, everybody involved in the creative process seems to be primarily concerned with maximizing every second of the song. From the minute the opening synths kick in, "Sweetest Pie" never slows down. There's always an ad-lib, a horn, a riff, or some sort of exclamation — silence is not the name of the game here. That's what makes it such a strong pop record: "Sweetest Pie" is big, self-aware, and pure unadulterated fun. The only true downside to the song is the undercooked bridge. Dua's backing vocals here are particularly enjoyable, and the slight decline in tempo is a smart choice that could have been milked further.

After a viral fanmade remix of Dua's "Levitating" featuring an old Megan verse and Megan's own Dua-esque attempt at pop crooning with "Don't Rock Me To Sleep," pop's leading ladies have brewed gold-star Top 40 fare to soundtrack the spring.

Score: 74