WAP WAP WAP

I’ve always much preferred indie and R&B music to the pop and hip hop tracks that typically reign supreme on the radio, but since downloading TikTok this March I’ve developed something of a taste for the latest hits. So imagine my disappointment upon finding out that Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s hit single “WAP,” the song that appeared on my social media feed for months after its debut, was not submitted for the 2021 Grammy Awards for recognition as a significant contribution to the music industry, despite its obvious popularity and the immediate media attention it received. 

If I’m being perfectly honest, my first reaction to the song wasn’t exactly positive. Growing up, my parents always made sure to switch the radio station when songs had dirty implications, keenly monitoring my juvenile exposure to sex. I’m more blasé towards sexual implications now, but I still like music that makes a statement, and upon my first listen to WAP I struggled to look past the lyrics and find deeper meaning.  Lyrics like ‘There’s some wh*res in this house’ and ‘It's going in dry and it's coming out soggy,’ left me at a loss for words (the only thing I want to think about that’s ‘going in dry and coming out soggy’ is bubblegum, thank you very much). I was not a fan and I simply couldn’t get past the fact that this type of music is just not my style. 

Despite my not-so-positive initial reactions to the song, however, seeing all of the negative commentaries it received after its release made me start thinking about the song’s implications. Conservative politicians and political commentators alike ran straight to the internet to share their distaste for the song. A quick Youtube search unveils comedian Russell Brand’s rant about WAP. For those of you who don’t have 17 minutes to waste listening to a middle-aged white man in a peculiarly low-cut shirt mansplain everything wrong with WAP, here’s the gist: Brand equates Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion to Margaret Thatcher and uses them as examples of women perpetuating the male gaze, declaring them antithetical to the feminist agenda because they align too closely to conventional masculinity. But how does a music video demonstrating womxn being honest about their needs set feminism back by 100 years? If anything, reaching a point where people in the public eye are comfortable putting out stereotypically taboo creative content is a testament to the changes that have shaped our social climate over the past few decades.

Where Brand fails to express a coherent and solicited interpretation of WAP, he succeeds in highlighting a sad reality of being a womxn in this day and age. Our lives are politicized. A lighthearted song about wet pussy gets turned into an internet frenzy, rife with questions of whether or not womxn in the public eye are contributing positively to the feminist movement. Yes, WAP is raunchy, and it doesn’t make any grand statements about womxn, but why does it need to? Two women who are confident in their bodies, and comfortable asserting their wants and needs in bed is not only a refreshing sight to see, it also makes for great entertainment. And much to the chagrin of those conservative politicians that hit the internet this August to share their distaste, the masses don’t seem to mind these song lyrics, instead using them as an opportunity to talk about feminine sexual health and pleasure, two grossly unmentioned topics of conversation. 

I know I started off by saying that I wasn’t the biggest fan of this song, but it has started to grow on me, and the lyrics don’t make me quite as uncomfortable anymore. It’s been several months since the song’s release, and I must say, I don’t mind that the infamous dance, remixes, and memes still hold real estate on my For You page.

By Anita Mukherjee

Indie rock enthusiast and home chef who will always make time to watch a stand-up special