Watch how explicit Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion were able to make "WAP" at the Grammys
Music Features Cardi
The biggest song of last year was also arguably the raunchiest. In addition to being a total bop, Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s “WAP” was a cultural lightning rod, garnering criticism from the kind of people who would’ve been absolutely appalled by Elvis shaking his hips on The Ed Sullivan Show, only somehow even more culturally clueless. So it was interesting to see how the song got re-tooled for its live performance on the 2021 Grammys, where everything that makes the song dirty and fun would potentially get censored by stern grumps desperately wondering if someone won’t please think of the children.
It turns out, the answer to “how dirty can they keep it” was, “a lot.” Sure, the title phrase got revamped to “wet, wet, wet” and there were plenty of muted moments, but Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion made up for it with some suggestive imagery and the most single entendres possible in visual form (yes, lots of liquids gushing and rushing onscreen behind them). Watch the performance below, and enjoy the thought of Ben Shapiro watching in horror, sternly making note of every single lyrical change so he can do something undoubtedly perfectly chaste with them later.
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Wait, isn’t there already an edited version? Did I imagine “Wet and gushy”?
The music video version (at least the official one on Youtube) does the “wet and gushy” line but the even more heavily edited version for the radio (and the Grammys apparantly) does the “wet, wet, wet” line.
The radio version is hysterical. Every third line is censored. I guess whore is a big no no word. Good to know.
Cardi B did open up the performance above with “wet & gushy”, but only in that first line. It went to “wet, wet, wet” after that. I’m happy my favorite line stayed untouched, as it’s not what she says, but how she says it. “I want you to park that big Mack truck right in this little garage.” That line tickles me and makes me grin every time.
Reminds me of the obscure Grace Jones song Pull Up to the Bumper:“Pull up to my bumper babyIn your long black limousinePull up to my bumper babyAnd drive it in between”
I have a new song to listen to now – thanks!
In Richard Cheese’s “lounge-style” cover version, he emits an audible little “eeww” after the word “gushy,” which cracked me up…
This is the edited version:
Anyone who hasn’t seen the explicit version needs to see it now:The whole point of the video is just how super filthy it is. Where else are you going to hear a lyric like “He got a beard, well, I’m tryna wet it / I let him taste it, now he diabetic”? It’s goddam hilarious.
“Punani dasani” is also pretty great. And just randomly saying, “macaroni in a pot.” That’s gold.
This track is a gender swapped 2 Live Crew and I love it.
Is this what “music” (I use the term lightly) has come to? Seriously? That was terrible.
More like a poetry slam. Put all non-sung rap in the “spoken word” category imo. It’s art, and it’s been recorded, so it’s Grammys-eligible. Music? Eh. I’m old and white.
I’m still confused as to what an “ass-pussy” is.
You know, an ass pussy. Synonymous with “bussy.”
Transgendered porn actresses sometimes use that term for their butthole during sex. I guess because they only have that entry but are women.
Is it like front-bottom?
Bad hat. Bad hat. Bad hat.And there’s more. Naughty sleeve. Naughty sleeve. Naughty sleeve.
“frontbottom’s a wanker!”
It’s a donkey-cat.
Yeah I still don’t know how I feel about this song. I don’t think its necessarily fair to say that only the Ben Shapiro’s of the world have a problem with it. I have an 11 year old and 13 year old daughter and its not a song I really want them listening to let alone seeing the video for. To that point, I also am not someone who is going to start some uproar over it and try to get it removed from the radio. I try to limit what my kids watch and listen but comparing it to freaking Elvis is ridiculous imo. If Elvis was talking about how he was gonna slay a girl’s pussy with his dick then it might be a little more comparable.
Did you check to make certain this was one of those aspects of society you ‘get a say in’ anymore?
Haha, no forgot to check on that one. To your point that’s also a big problem. If you dare disagree with certain people on things like this you are branded a certain type of person. Just because I don’t want my pre-teen and teenage daughters listening to a girl rap about her wet ass pussy doesn’t mean that I’m some curmudeony old asshole who thinks the music today is shit. I loved the performances at the Grammy’s last night but this one is a little much for me. Maybe I’m just getting old.
I think you’re being reasonable. I like the song and listen 90s/2000s gangsta rap all the time but wouldn’t want my kids to listen to that stuff for a while. A few weeks ago I asked my Amazon echo to play hip hop music and it opened with WAP. I was amused and had to laugh, but was like, this wouldn’t have been ideal if my kids had been home haha.
I believe one of them (I can’t be arsed to look it up) said the same thing about not letting her kid hear the song or see the video either so I think your position is perfectly acceptable.
I bet you didn’t really care when three white women were up on that stage making out with each other a decade ago…
You’re right, I didn’t. And I wouldn’t have a problem with three black women “making out” on stage as I’ve taught my kids that being gay/straight/bi/trans is cool as long as you are happy. But way to try and make it about race which has nothing to do with anything except you trying to make it about race….
A decade ago xDMGx’s kids weren’t old enough to understand what was happening and it probably didn’t matter.Also, what does that have to do with this?
You “get a say” about what your kids listen to.
The hypersexualization of young girls is a BIG issue, and you don’t have to be Ben Shapiro to realize that.
I understand not wanting your 11 year old to watch/listen but I’m not sure why that translates to “having a problem” with it. Not all media is suitable for children, nor should it be.Also, for the record, Elvis may not have sung about pussies and dicks but he did marry a 14 year old so on the whole I’d call Cardi and Megan better role models.
I mean, parents really only have so much control over what kids learn about. I remember being 13 and dancing around at my friend’s house to “Push It,” “What Man,” “Let’s Talk About Sex,” etc. by Salt n Pepa. But I also understood that Salt n Pepa were not 13 or 16 or 18. They were adult women having adult relationships and encounters. And my mom reinforced that when I asked her about those songs and the lyrics.
Yep, this. My favorite song as a kid was the Four Seasons’ “December, 1963,” and it’s not like it made me go look up what sex was. But you know what, if it did, that might’ve been a good thing. I remember how incredibly guilty I felt the first time I watched porn — that’s what you get when you make sexuality feel prohibitive. OP’s stance is reasoned as far as we can tell, but it’s (and I rarely use this term) a slippery slope.
Yes. My parents never censored me, though sometimes were very shocked about some of the media available to kids in the 90s. It was great knowing I could ask them questions and not get in trouble and also to have an understanding of all the personal responsibility sex involves.
As a parent, it’s tough to know where the line is between control and education in your kids’ lives, and the difference between protecting them and making sure they can deal with things that they’ll face when you can’t. The temptation is strong to just say, “No! You can’t consume that!” or “No! This isn’t right!” I can’t say I’ve chosen the right solution in those situations 100% of the time; but I’ve tried to be the kind of parent who explains how things are and then lets his kids make up their own minds (with more freedom the older they get and the better they can logically process stuff, of course).You have to stop your kid from eating rat poison. But sometimes you have to let them burn their fingers on a hot stove before they’ll figure out what the lesson is.In this day and age of the Internet, it’s no longer a question of whether they’ll hear (or see) “WAP” – it’s how they’ll internalize it. All I can do is help them figure stuff out.
What I have learned was nothing made a sexy song or movie less appealing than having my primary memory of it being my parents explaining it to me. Takes the wind right out of the sails!
Sure, you’re under no obligation to show this to your kids. But art doesn’t have to be “for kids” for them to process it and understand it through the lens of their age. It’s an opportunity for you to talk to them about sexuality and contextualize its adult nature.I do wonder — have you felt as uncomfortable with the overt sexualization of stars (child and otherwise) like Britney Spears, a beloved icon among many young girls in her prime, at the hands of the industry? That was sexuality enforced and packaged by men, whereas this is sexuality wholly generated by the women at the center. It’s worth thinking about.
This is probably the most rational response I’ve seen online about this song and I 100% agree with it and all your other comments further explaining your thoughts.
I just find the line “macaroni in a pot” really really gross. And I wish she could talk about enjoying sex without bringing up how she’s also having sex to get nice things and to keep her husband. It’s 1950s gender dynamics. Sex work is work, but they also say not to bring your work home with you
When I was your kids’ age, it was 2 Live Crew. Every generation has them, everyone complains, everyone then buys tons of albums and cassingles (showing my age, I suppose).
I think Elvis’s hip movements were the single most controversial thing about him. Because he WAS moving his hips like he was gonna slay some girl’s pussy.
Remembering my history, 2 Live Crew basically made a song about penis slaying in the 80s. That is very comparable. Only thing missing was Luther Campbell and Fresh Kid Ice frotting on stage…ugh…
When you see the picture as a thumbnail, it looks like Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga about to scissor to Rain on Me.
I feel it in my fingers…
I don’t know what the point of them doing this song if they’re going to edit half of it out. Either play it or don’t.Be provocative! Let the best song of 2020 go out there into the world like the badass anthem it is!
About 10 years ago, there was a classic hip hop FM station where I lived. For the most part, the stuff they played (“Can I Kick It?,” “Rapper’s Delight,” “Rebirth of the Slick,” etc.) had no trouble over the airwaves – maybe one or two things had to be censored or changed. However, every once in a while they would play “Straight Outta Compton,” and it was just like, what’s the point? They had to skip and censor so much that it sounded like listening to it on a Discman while jogging
If they had gone out and just done the original version, it’d be the only thing anyone would be talking about at the Grammys. Meaning, they should have done that.
The same people who want disclaimers on The Muppets let their 8 year old girls listen to this. What a time to be alive!
Wow look at all this lip syncing. Very talented.
I’d let Meg spit in my mouth any night of the week.
Yikes. How smug are you that you think only diehard conservatives have a sense of decorum? You can be a sex positive socialist and still think this song/performance is appropriate for some places and not others.
but who gives a shit about the decorum and dignity of the grammys?
Yeah, the “Elvis shakin’ his hips” analogy is a bit of a stretch. Elvis didn’t record “Do The Clam” until a decade or so after Sullivan.
They replaced all the most explicit lyrics with “What I’d like is I’d like to hug and kiss you.”