Tekken 8 producer Katsuhiro Harada was left surprised after American rapper Megan Thee Stallion showed off her moves in a Christie cosplay for her ‘BOA’ music video.
On May 10, Megan Thee Stallion stole the hearts of gamers all across the net with her special-effects filled music video for her song ‘BOA.’
The video featured a slew of references from anime series and video games, but a key moment at the end of the song showed the rapper decked out in a cosplay of capoeira fighter Christie Monteiro from the Tekken fighting game series.
She showed off her moves with some high-flying kicks, and even a ‘Flying Peach’ style move where she defeated her opponent in a booty-licious beatdown.
The video got the attention of Tekken director and producer Katsuhiro Harada, who was equal parts impressed and confused about her choice of costume, wondering if she knew who she was dressed up as.
However, fans were quick to inform him that Megan is well-aware of the source material she used for her video, as she’s a loud and proud gamer girl.
“She knows Christie as she posted this herself,” one fan explained. “She’s huge into Japanese culture and cosplay, so this was totally on purpose.”
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“Oh, I didn’t know this,” Harada replied. “Thanks for the info!”
Ohh yeah nice! https://t.co/rbgerPiNud
— Katsuhiro Harada (@Harada_TEKKEN) May 14, 2024
He’s since deleted his tweet asking for information about Megan’s cosplay — but Tekken wasn’t the only game she referenced in her ‘BOA’ video.
In fact, the name of the song actually references One Piece character Boa Hancock, who Megan also dresses up as in the video. The rapper also spits bars on a DDR-inspired stage, breaks necks in a Tron-inspired fit, and chases players on a giant snake in a Crash Bandicoot-style sequence.
This is far from Megan’s first homage to video games and anime. In March, the rapper cosplayed as Gojo Satoru from Jujutsu Kaisen, and even dressed up as Mileena to announce the character’s return to Mortal Kombat 11 back in 2020 — not to mention that one anime-specific bar in her song “Girls in the Hood.”
Megan isn’t the only rapper to show off her love for video games, either. One of the biggest female rappers in the game, Nicki Minaj, released her song ‘Chun-Li’ back in 2018, a character she also referenced in her collaborative track with Willow Smith, ‘Fireball,’ all the way back in 2011.
Fans of Megan are over the moon that Harada took notice of her music video, hoping that the rapper will appear in some promotional material for Tekken 8. Harada has been quite active with the game’s fanbase as of late, even toying with the idea of adding a Waffle House stage to the game after players started begging him to do so, thanks to all the viral brawls that have taken place in the American breakfast chain over the years.