Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few weeks, you’ve heard some mention of Cardi B’s latest hit, featuring her mirror image, Meg Thee Stallion. ‘WAP,’ is a provocative and evocative track that is everything we needed this summer. But why?
For starters, this track is empowering women. All too frequently we are attacking and shaming sexually confident women while men go untouched and unaffected. Still with the release of this track, Cardi B and Meg Thee Stallion are being chastised by men, most famously, Ben Shapiro.This song is celebrating feminine sexuality in all of its glory, while explaining their extremely detailed, and at times bawdy requests. And what’s so wrong with that?
This female forward track is what we need right now in this male dominated genre. Artists like Chris Brown, Lil Wayne and Ludacris have commanded the rap genre for too long with their misogyny. Audiences were so quick to accept Biggie Smalls’ objectifying “f*ck b*tches get money” and Aiko’s lyric, “But he got to eat the booty like groceries.” But ‘WAP’s,’ “Macaroni in a pot/That's some wet...,” is the snack metaphor we draw the line on?
Very few tracks are just raunchy enough to be fun - this track hits the mark. It’s witty and blush-activating. Everyone will have this tune on repeat learning every catchy and uproarious lyric like Cardi’s, “I want you to park that big Mack truck/ Right in this little garage.”
Who doesn’t love an entertaining music video? Whether you’re a fan or not, it’s hard not to be captivated with the allure of this video. The sample of Frank Ski’s ‘Whores in This House,’ is perfectly tied in to this dream-sequence mansion Meg and Cardi find themselves exploring.
Women are notoriously assumed for being good role models, and when they’re not they’re shamed for it. James P. Bradley—a Republican running for the House in California’s 33rd District, exclaims that he’s, “sorry for future girls if this is their role model!” Male artists are never held to this standard and their crudity is often chalked up to the ‘boys will be boys’ sentiment. It is not an artist’s job to maintain a squeaky clean persona for your child, and gender should not be a factor. Artists are artists; not role models, they are entitled to freedom of expression.
Love it or hate it, there’s no question that this track is gritty and controversial. Cardi B and Meg Thee Stallion are two boss-ass bitches who are rapping about what they want to rap about. Far be it from me to judge. This sizzling piece of pop culture is just the drop of vigorous life we need to revitalize 2020.