Step into the land of pop positivity with Meghan Trainor’s latest single, “Nice to Meet Ya,” from her third studio album, Treat Myself.
A quick, catchy tune, “Nice to Meet Ya” is all about how Trainor has learned to love who she is, flaws and all. And although one harsh profanity turns up in the lyrics, there’s not much else that mars the message of this body positive track featuring guest contributor Nicki Minaj.
Trainor has always been open with listeners about her journey of self-love, but that journey hasn’t always been an easy one. She shares some of the things she used to do to alter her appearance in an effort to feel better about herself: “I used my makeup to hide/Tellin’ you there ain’t nothin’ I haven’t tried/ … I used to care way too much/Filtered myself, I thought I wasn’t enough.”
But she’s realized that even though she can change anything she wants to on the outside, it will never alter others’ views of her (“Go ahead, go talk about me/You don’t know the half of the s— I’ve seen/Go ahead and tell them whatever you heard”) or help her love who she truly is.
So, what’s a girl to do? Well, she needs to recognize that she has intrinsic value and focus on what matters most. Imperfections and all: “I look different on the surface/You know ain’t nobody perfect/Now I’m givin’ myself nothin’ but love/’Cause I know Ain’t nobody perfect.”
Nicki Minaj seconds Trainor’s thoughts as she shuts out negative voices (“Had to cut the grass, there was snakes in the camp”) embraces success (“My guest house alone cost like three tickets”) and loves herself (“A 10 when they rate her like Tomb”).
Try again. That’s what the old saying tells us. And it’s solid advice, especially when it comes to self-acceptance.
For many women, learning to love ourselves is tough. There’s so much pressure to be a certain size, to have a specific image and to conform to the world’s standards of beauty. It can be exhausting. That’s why it’s so important for us to embrace who God has created us to be—something Meghan even hints at when she describes herself as being “blessed by the heavens.”
In the video for “Nice to Meet Ya,” Trainor and Minaj try to do this as they dance around an office (an homage to the 1980s flick, Working Girl) and have fun. And while it’s refreshing to see normal sized women confident in their own skin, unfortunately we also see a lot of cleavage and skin from both Trainor and Minaj (especially the latter).
But apart from that concern about the video as well as one harsh profanity in the lyrics, this song holds a solid message about body positivity that could do without its music video.
Kristin Smith joined the Plugged In team in 2017. Formerly a Spanish and English teacher, Kristin loves reading literature and eating authentic Mexican tacos. She and her husband, Eddy, love raising their children Judah and Selah. Kristin also has a deep affection for coffee, music, her dog (Cali) and cat (Aslan).
