Hey everyone!
It’s a new school year, and it looks like I’m back at it for the music review column. My name is Liz and I’m a senior. I’ve done plenty of music reviews before, about everything from K-pop to video game music to the one and only Cher. I provide a little bit of everything here in Campus Life. Considering this is my first contribution this year, I figured I’d start off with something a little more mainstream. I’m sure you all have heard of Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s inescapable new hit “WAP.” Let’s discuss.
This song is hard to avoid. It’s everywhere on TikTok, be it in mashups to covers to the WAP dance challenge that’s gone viral. Not only that, but Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion are both just a bit too popular for any of their releases to comfortably go over anyone’s head. You’re bound to figure out what they’re up to just by how far and fast word of mouth spreads. These two already had the cultural prominence to make a hit, but combine those conditions with the song itself and there’s no shock that WAP has become the cultural phenomenon it is.
Even the sampled track that they use for background instrumentals and vocals, which I cannot even technically quote in this kind of publication, is catchy. It’s hard not to sing the words yourself (but perhaps people are finding it hard to sing the words correctly… the noun in the house begins with “wh-,” not “h-,” people). Once you actually get Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion on their verses, it’s even harder to stop yourself from singing along.
I have to admit, I wasn’t super impressed on the first listen. I didn’t go into the song with the best expectations, seeing as I was indifferent at best when it came to Cardi B’s music. But I was vibing with Megan Thee Stallion’s verses right off the bat. You can see “wap megan only” in my YouTube history still, even if I have warmed up to Cardi B’s parts of the songs. This song is great, I can’t tell you otherwise, but there is a fair bit about it that can make it have to be a grower for a listener.
Cardi B’s style was what made this song have to grow on me first, but another thing that might be a turn-off for some is the vulgarity throughout. The lyrics are undoubtedly unrestrained, with these two openly rapping about shameless topics like male artists have for years. It can be something to get used to, since this is pretty unusual for a song by female artists. Mainstream music normally doesn’t get many songs with such explicit sexuality in it. But, undoubtedly, half the fun comes in shouting the lyrics. Some of them are just so dirty that they’re almost laughable, especially in Cardi B’s verses. Shouting those iconic parts is the best part.
The music scene has certainly suffered a great deal from the summer lockdown. Club publicity simply isn’t a thing anymore. People just aren’t able to experience new songs in nightclubs on the dancefloor anymore. Part of me wonders if that’s a blessing or a curse when it comes to WAP. Everyone would definitely probably lose their minds when this song plays, which might be hard to watch, but at the same time, everyone misses out on that club solidarity of getting to sing the fun parts.
WAP definitely is the 2020 summer phenomenon. It’s an earworm, an infectious one at that, and it’s not going anywhere for a while. I hope it’s grown on you like it has for me, or else you’re not going to escape it anytime soon.
