The Brief: Popularized on Twitter and inspired by rapper Megan Thee Stallion's new album, "Hot Girl Summer" memes showcase social media users living their best and often, most basic lives.

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DEEP DIVE

Often used as a great excuse for girls to post pics with their friends, this meme is perfect for showing off one’s best, basic summer self.

This summer, Millennials and Gen Zers are captioning and hashtagging their selfied with #hotgirlsummer or something similar. What might have started off as a simple summer meme has evolved to mean so much more.

Hot Girl Summer is a year round lifestyle.

The OG Hot Girl

The Hot Girl Summer meme was inspired by the lyrics of the song, “Cash S**t”, by American rapper, Megan Thee Stallion. The first line of the song is “Real hot girl s**t.”

While Megan Thee Stallion’s has used the caption “hot girl summer” for several months now, the meme only recently caught on. When it did, it spread like fire.

In a recent interview, Megan Thee Stallion said that her song, and the social media movement it’s inspired, is about “women and men being unapologetically them just having a good-a** time, hyping up their friends, doing you and not giving a damn about what anyone else has got to say about it.”

Defining a Hot Girl Summer

Cuffing is to winter as Hot Girl Summer is to summer szn.

In its simplest terms, Hot Girl Summer is about unleashing one’s most authentic self, whoever that may be, specifically during the summer months.

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#hotgirlsummer 😂😂😂 words are energy…I challenge you to tell yourself in the morning before you start your day how beautiful and fine you are. Then watch this magic work… and not in an ego way but in a kind, self loving way…watch how the universe starts shifting your world…#icecream #hotchick #badgal if you don’t feel your best, and love yourself just the way you are no one else will! And don’t depend on someone else to define you because you will never be satisfied, their definition of who you are will become a drug and addiction, when that person or those people stop telling you who you are you will feel empty and hopeless. Weather it be bad or good…#trust the process

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There is often some element of self care involved…

And more often than not, this season is meant to be spent amongst friends and free of any romantic attachments.

However, some people prefer to boo up.

While many Twitter users and Instagrammers have used #HotGirlSummer to tag photos of themselves…

Jordyn Woods:

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hot girl summer

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Others have gone as far as pointing out the Hot Girls that inspire them.

The leading ladies from Strangers Things 3:

Megan Thee Stallion and Megan Rapinoe:

It should go without saying, but one does not have to identify as “female” (or human) to enjoy a HGS.

The Struggles of a Hot Girl Summer

Generally speaking, the “Hot Girl Summer” tag falls into the same category as popular tags like YOLO or FOMO. It’s another excuse to share selfies that “might get deleted later” (but probably won’t).

That being said, plenty of social media users have taken this meme in a different direction, self-roasting for their lack of stereotypical hot girl lifestyles.

Hot Girl Summer Goals:

There are also several iterations of this meme that reinterpret the term “hot” in a much more literal sense.

In any case, by Megan Thee Stallion’s definition, anybody can enjoy a Hot Girl Summer. Just be sure to pace yourself…