Bobby Sessions knows how to evoke a reaction.
The man who wrote the chorus to Megan Thee Stallion and Beyoncé’s platinum hit, “Savage Remix,” introduced himself to the world under a tree with a noose around his neck.
In the music video for his 2018 single, “Like Me,” his first with legendary hip-hop label Def Jam Recordings, the Dallas-based rapper made it clear he’s comfortable with confrontational music by rapping about the generational effects of enslavement in what is staged as the lead-up to a lynching. Later in the video, he screams at the camera with blood pouring down his face.
Sessions’ initial EPs with Def Jam — including “RVLTN: The Divided States of AmeriKKKa” — focused on social justice and reform, rapping about state brutality and demanding that live crowds hold a fist up in honor of his cousin, James Harper, who was shot and killed by Dallas police. He had caught the attention of Def Jam on the strength of mixtapes released while he was performing in the bars and clubs of Dallas’ Deep Ellum neighborhood in the 2010s.
Given his blunt, uncompromising approach to weaving real-world commentary into his art, Sessions might not have been anyone’s first guess to help write one of the most popular songs — and viral TikTok sensations — of the century with Texas’ two biggest musical stars.
Megan Thee Stallion flew Sessions out to Miami for the recording. The two instantly bonded, “arguing like cousins” and holding hot sauce competitions “like our own version of ‘Hot Ones.’”
But in 2019, he ran into J. White, the producer who created Cardi B’s breakthrough single, “Bodak Yellow,” at Luminous Studio in Dallas. White invited Sessions to a writing session.
It wasn’t his first go-round songwriting for others. Years before meeting White, Sessions had written songs for Dallas artists that garnered local awards. Channeling a bit of that experience while trying to help craft songs for the more high profile artists that were White’s clients, Sessions developed a process for finding lyrics that fit voices other than his.
“I watch interviews with an artist and listen to all of their music,” Sessions told The Barbed Wire. “And then from there, visualize being in the car listening to a hit song from that artist. What does that sound like if it’s gonna blow my mind?”
The strategy paid off. After about five sessions working with White, they had the bones for their first song. It was “Savage.” In January 2020, Megan Thee Stallion flew Sessions out to Miami for the recording. The two instantly bonded, “arguing like cousins” and holding hot sauce competitions “like our own version of ‘Hot Ones,’” he said.
A TikTok dance helped make “Savage” a hit, and by the time Beyoncé jumped on the remix, it was a global phenomenon.
That has everything to do with the universal quality of the chorus: Savage, classy, bougie, ratchet, sassy, moody, nasty.
“I wanted to cast a wide net to get as many people as possible, so every adjective in that hook is a different affirmation,” Session said. “The main purpose of the hit is to draw them into your other material that may be more introspective or that’s getting more into the meat and potatoes of everything that you stand for.”
Sessions received a Grammy for the song, and it “opened up a whole industry” for him in terms of songwriting and connections. “It changed my life financially and in other ways, just being part of the overflow of her cup,” he said.
It also established a working relationship between the two rappers. They would collaborate again on Megan’s 2020 hit “Girls In The Hood,” an homage to Easy E’s 1987 song “Boys-n-the-Hood.” He also wrote on her 2024 project “MEGAN,” which was recently the number-one album in the country.
“Materializing a dream is a muddy process.”
Throughout, Sessions has continued to release his own music, putting out a debut album, “Manifestation,” with Def Jam in 2021. He also wrote and performed the title track to the 2018 film “The Hate You Give” and contributed a song to the soundtrack of the 2021 film “Coming 2 America” starring Eddie Murphy (the song was yet another collaboration with Megan Thee Stallion, and it’s the only example of them both performing together on a record).
But his writing experiences have bolstered his penchant for autodidacticism and self-reliance. The value of intellectual property is something he preaches publicly. More so than even real estate, which requires recurring upkeep, the royalties that come from a songwriting credit are true passive income.
“You can make a song one time,” he said. “You never have to make it again. We don’t have to update it with anything, but it continues to get streamed and continues to get consumed over time.”
Another example: In 2022, Drake and 21 Savage included lyrics that reference the hook Sessions wrote for “Savage” in their song “Rich Flex.” That earned Sessions another writing credit on a song that reached number one on the Billboard U.S. and Global charts.
As far as his public-facing music career is concerned, Sessions promises a busy “three to six” upcoming years. Earlier this year, he requested to be released from Def Jam and the label granted him his independence. After everything he’s learned firsthand about the music industry, Sessions didn’t want to be reading about independently minded moguls like Nipsey Hussle, Master P, and Jay-Z without command of his own decisions.
Sessions now wants to blaze his trail with full control. His upcoming projects will not shy away from political and social messaging (“All the shit that’s going on right now? It’s too much not to explore”). The next series of projects, Sessions promises, will be raw accounts of his own success, an inside look at how to make it in the music industry, and something he referred to as “personal development rap” for infusing manifestation and empowerment into the genre.
“Materializing a dream is a muddy process,” he said.
Sessions has come out of that process a powerful and unburdened man: He’s financially secure, unafraid of ruffling feathers, and holding a pen that’s only a few words away from capturing the world’s attention.