So…this probs isn’t news to you at this point, but Megan Thee Stallion, aka the music industry’s favorite Hot Girl™, is off the market. ICYMI, Megan hopped on Instagram Live back in early 2021 and very publicly announced that (a) she is dating someone new and (b) she is incredibly happy with said someone. More than a year later, she and her boo are still going strong, and if you’re not familiar with Megan Thee Stallion’s boyfriend, Pardison Fontaine, then it’s high time to get acquainted, friends.
Even if you’ve never heard the name Pardison “Pardi” Fontaine (seriously, wyd??), there’s a good chance you’re familiar with his work. He’s collaborated and cowritten for some of the biggest names in music (in addition to releasing his own tracks), and it seems he’s doing an A+ job of making his GF happy too. Here’s everything you should know about the rapper and songwriter, including how he and Megan met and how he broke onto the music scene.
He Almost Pursued a *Very* Different Career
After growing up in Newburg, New York, Pardi (who was born Jorden Kyle Lanier Thorpe) was accepted to Goldey-Beacom College in Delaware, where he earned a full scholarship to play Division II basketball (!!). However, he ended up dropping out to pursue a career in music instead.
“I was always 100 percent basketball—I did everything you could do to be good at basketball,” Pardi later explained to XXL when asked about the decision. “Then one day I was like, ‘Nah. I got a real drive and hunger for music.’ It literally took over my whole purpose.” We’d say the risk paid off, don’t ya think?
He Used to Work as a Substitute Teacher
Fun fact: While trying to find his way in the music industry, Pardi had a side hustle as a substitute teacher at a Hudson Valley middle school. Unfortch, his students eventually discovered his alter ego, and once the administration found out that he was the man behind 2013’s “Oyyy,” he was let go from the position. Honestly, rude.
As Pardi later joked to Billboard, the school “wants [him] to come back” now, but he’s a bit too busy for the gig nowadays.
His Stage Name Was Inspired by Back to the Future
Pardi told People back in 2019 that he actually used to call himself Pardi McFly, which is inspired by Marty McFly…aka Michael J. Fox’s ICONIC character from the Back to the Future movies. “Then I thought to myself, Jay-Z is not going to do a song with somebody named Pardi McFly,” he added. “So I just dropped the ‘McFly’ and I kept the ‘Pardi.’” LOL.
Randomly enough, the latter part of his stage name was inspired by a French women’s fashion brand. As he explained to People, “I used to walk past this Anne Fontaine store all the time, and I didn’t know exactly what it meant or what it sold, but I just knew ‘Fontaine’ sounded hella important.” Pardi did a lil googling and discovered French poet Jean de la Fontaine. Deciding that the name suited him, he eventually made his Myspace debut as Pardison Fontaine.
He’s a Dad
Pardi has a suuuper-cute daughter named Jordy Jr., who was born in November 2016. Although Pardi hasn’t publicly revealed who the mother of his daughter is, that doesn’t stop him from posting the most adorable pics of his baby girl. 😍
According to Pardi, one of the songs he wrote for Kanye West’s 2018 album Ye, “Violent Crimes,” was actually inspired by his experience of having a daughter. As he explained to GQ, “I know how I looked at things prior. I know how I look at things now. And I can see the duality of the situation, like being a man and being able to take advantage versus seeing legitimate feelings that are there for a woman.” Speaking of writing songs…
He’s a Rapper (and a Ghostwriter)
Pardi has been active as an artist since 2013, which is when he released his first single, “Oyyy.” Two years later, he dropped his first mixtape, Not Supposed to Be Here, and in 2018, Pardi really shot to fame when he released his song “Backin’ It Up” feat. Cardi B. The song hit the number 18 spot on the Billboard Hot 100, and Pardi released his first album, Under8ed, the following year.
In addition to releasing his own music, Pardi has done TONS of work as a ghostwriter for well-known rappers and singers. He wrote several tracks for Cardi’s 2018 album Invasion of Privacy, and he’s written for artists like Lil Nas X and Ed Sheeran as well. One of his biggest brag moments: when his childhood idol Kanye asked him to write on Ye. As Pardi recounted to Billboard, “When Kanye cosigned [me], it was like, Damn, who’s going to tell me otherwise?”
Songs that he’s worked on include (but are not limited to):
- “Savage Remix” and “WAP,” by Megan Thee Stallion
- “Bodak Yellow,” “I Like It,” “Wild Side,” and “Up,” by Cardi B
- “Violent Crimes,” “Yikes,” “Ghost Town,” and “All Mine,” by Kanye West
- “Rodeo,” by Lil Nas X feat. Cardi B
- “Taki Taki,” by DJ Snake feat. Ozuna, Selena Gomez, and Cardi B
- “South of the Border,” by Ed Sheeran
He and Cardi Go Waaay Back
Before they were collaborators, Pardi and Cardi became friends while working together at Sue’s Rendezvous gentleman’s club in Mount Vernon, New York, where Cardi was a dancer and Pardi was an MC. After Pardi released “Oyyy,” she invited him to collaborate, and the two of them became a music match made in heaven.
“Every time we work together, it’s amazing,” Pardi said of Cardi during his People interview. “I decided she was going to be my homegirl. So it was, like, a perfect match.”
He and Megan Became an Item in October 2020
While she’s never taken credit for playing matchmaker, Cardi’s friendship with Pardi was probs at least partially responsible for his eventual relationship with Megan. After collaborating on a remix of Meg’s hit song “Savage” (on which Pardi has a songwriter credit as Jorden Thorpe) and later “WAP,” dating rumors starting circulating, and by February 2021, Megan confirmed that she and Pardi were, indeed, an item. Cute!
In May 2021, Pardi and Megan made their red carpet debut at the iHeartRadio Music Awards, and in October 2021, they both took to IG to celebrate their one-year dating anniversary. Fast-forward to this October, and the happy couple just posted the cutest two-year tributes that actually wound up prompting Meg to announce that…
No, They’re Not Engaged (Yet…👀)
In classic Hot Girl fashion, the rapper logged on to Twitter and simply dropped the following statement last night:
I mean, could you really blame us though?! Let’s take a look at their celebratory posts, shall we?
“Yr 2 with U 💙,” Meg wrote alongside a series of photos that featured everything from the duo enjoying truly enviable nights out to chill nights in bed (face masks and all!).
Not to be outdone, Pardi’s post also definitely got us totally in our feels:
Here’s hoping these two have many more music collabs (and cute IG pics) together in the future!!
