Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion had the Internet buzzing with the release of their cameo heavy video for “WAP.” They’ve also given the Queen Bee Lil’ Kim a shot of relevance and ruffled the feathers of conservative Republicans.
Directed by Colin Tilley, the video for “WAP” features appearances by Kylie Jenner, Normani, Ruby Rose, Rosalía, Mulatto, and others, and had accumulated close to 16 million views in just over 16 hours.
The raunchy new “WAP” single is the first official collaboration between Cardi and Megan, and has many drawing comparisons to Lil’ Kim’s first album Hard Core for the way it embraces female sexuality. “The Jump Off” rapper’s name was trending on Twitter as people commented on her obvious influence on the release, and credited Kim for paving the way for artists like Cardi and Megan. Some also pointed out how iconic it would have been to have Kim make a cameo in the video, but unfortunately it just wasn’t meant to be.
Scene from the “WAP” video
In an interview with The Breakfast Club yesterday, Cardi revealed how the collaboration came about through their respective stylists:
“[My stylist] was like, ‘You have to link up. I know you see the comments all the time; the people would love a song with y’all. You guys gotta get to know each other,’”
“WAP” is Cardi’s first official drop since dropping “Press” in 2019. She’s currently working towards the release of her sophomore album. Meanwhile, Megan Thee Stallion, presumably still recovering from getting shot in her feet, is promoting her latest project Suga which features Gunna and Kehlani.
Scene from the “WAP” video
DeAnna Lorraine: “It should be banned”
“WAP” is getting all the promotion it needs with the amount of people discussing it on social media, but some people have also been highly offended by its release. They’re losing their minds; bordering on Tipper Gore levels of bitter saltiness we saw a few decades ago. One quick scroll through the #WAP hashtag on Twitter, and you’ll have no problem finding someone saying the ladies took it too far, that it’s somehow offensive, or that the song should be censored.
“Cardi B & Megan Thee Stallion just set the entire female gender back by 100 years with their disgusting & vile ‘WAP’ song,” tweeted DeAnna Lorraine, an author, political correspondent, and unsuccessful Republican candidate for the U.S. House in 2020 in the district currently represented by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
Adding: “If @iamcardib & @theestallion think that their vile #WAP song did anything to empower women they are completely wrong. No radio station should play that trash, censored or uncensored. Aside from the content, the actual song is horrible too and Cardi B cannot rap.”
Scene from the “WAP” video
And also: “Two women who just released a song describing themselves as ‘wet a** p****es’ can never be described as queens.”
She then shifted to insulting George Floyd before attempting to politicize “WAP” by complaining about US politicians Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris associating with Cardi B on the campaign trail.
“Remember, Bernie Sanders campaigned with Cardi B. Kamala Harris called her a role model. The Democrats support this trash and depravity!”
Tweets by DeAnna Lorraine
And notably, at 8:23 AM Friday (Aug. 7), she called for an outright ban to the song after responding to someone complaining that it had been censored. “It should be banned,” she tweeted.
Hey, that’s interesting since on May 2 she was tweeting about the importance of respecting the US’ First Amendment and how she was tired of “seeing great people get censored.” The tweet also included the hashtag #FreeCandance, in reference to Conservative activist and diehard Trump defender Candace Owens.
So apparently censorship is only bad when it’s impacting something DeAnna supports.
“WAP” is available on various digital streaming platforms including Apple Music and Spotify. Check out the video for “WAP” below.
You can follow @iAmCardiB and @TheeStallion on Instagram.
