Honest Review: Cardi B Returns With Hyper Sexual "WAP" Feat. Megan Thee Stallion

Cardi B’s long awaited return to music happened today on August 7, 2020. What started off as an announcement tease via her official Instagram page was followed by the actual announcement the next day. The Bronx-native revealed the kickoff to her sophomore era starting with the debut single.

“WAP” was revealed as the title of the Ayo N Keyz-produced first single. Oh yes, let us not forget that the single would also feature none other than the “mutual friend” Hot Girl femcee, Megan Thee Stallion. It was obvious that WAP was an acronym and after speaking to a friend we both agreed that it probably stood for “Wet Ass Pussy.” Were we right? Well let’s take a listen to the track below.

Well, “Wet Ass Pussy” is exactly what “WAP”… So about the single, where do we begin? The single samples Frank Ski’s 1993 Baltimore club anthem, “Whores In This House.” Backed by some kick-in-the-gut bass the song’s instrumental makes you think instant bop but that is not the case. Cardi is first up and from the jump she sounds like the Cardi we have come to know but her flow is not hitting as hard it usually does. Her clever and sexual soaked one-liners are there and Megan Thee Stallion rides the beat oh so well but there is something off about this song. After several listens, the single is still taking some time to grow on us but in conclusion the song on its own has little to no longterm replay value. Let’s see how the video changes that.

After the first full watch, the Colin Tilley-directed video aids the song greatly. In fact, the video overpowers the song which is kind of disappointing. At this point, Cardi and her team will give you an amazing visual; great sets and beautiful looks. Altogether there are six looks: Cardi and Megan donned in pink and yellow in a spiraling hallway, Cardi and Megan covered in snakes, A Willy Wonka factory moment, Cardi in leopard, Megan in white tiger and then the duo dripping wet in black latex and fishnet apparel. It’s quite the sexual treat.

Speaking of sexual, the video adds to song’s horny vibe, taking it to hyper levels of sex. Now we are sex positive but we have to be realistic from a mainstream perspective. Cardi has done her part in normalizing sex on such a widespread level. I believe she is the first stripper to become such a household name. The video follows the theme of a brothel as the ladies are walking down a hallway and looking into each room presenting a different scene. We are so distracted by how gorgeous everyone looks but are overlooking the messages that are being sent out to millions. At almost 23 million views, I’m sure there are many young minds that have taken in these messages. These are certainly some more “liberated” times compared to our childhoods. Also, with the dolly zoom camera effect and the spiraling lines in the Wonka scene, the video has a hypnotizing effect. That could be an exaggeration but it’s worth a mention.

In conclusion, this seems to be the pattern that we experience with almost every Cardi B single at this point. She is such a huge star at this point. Her social media interaction is a great indicator of this. She is able to get 30+ million views on some of her videos out of her 72.1 million following. This percentage is nearly 50 percent engagement which is incredible with the ridiculous algorithm. Due to her being such a huge star we expect such a memorable sonic moment from her and most times it just does not happen. “WAP” is one of these moments.

“WAP,” the song will not be replayed much after these initial couple weeks. The hyper sexual video is bait to a lot of people and will carry the song on its back. Oh can we mention Kylie Jenner… yes we understand from a marketing standpoint but really? All in all the song is fun and nasty but was it as big as the hype, HELL NO. ‘Invasion of Privacy’ had the same rollout in the way that “Bartier Cardi” was a mediocre song but when the full album was released she saved all the real bangers and hits for the album. Here’s to album number two!