There was a time when Cardi B was talking about following up her radio-saturating, Grammy-winning, altogether world-conquering 2018 debut album Invasion Of Privacy within less than a year. That didn’t happen, but it looks like it may be happening now, beginning with the release of “WAP,” a new collab with Cardi’s fellow ascendant rap superstar Megan Thee Stallion.
It’s not like Cardi’s been absent from the public eye in the past two years. There have been one–off singles, an arena tour (remember arena tours?), various appearances supporting Bernie Sanders, a Super Bowl ad for Pepsi, a gig judging Netflix’s hip-hop American Idol series Rhythm + Flow, a movie role that closely resembled some of her own pre-fame hustles, court dates stemming from bar fights (including one with Nicki Minaj at NYFW), the birth of baby Kulture and relational drama with her husband Offset, and a widely remixed coronavirus rant. But she hasn’t really ever seemed to be in album mode until now.
“WAP” has big lead-single energy in part because it aligns Cardi with Megan, who has been on an incredible run of her own lately. After a breakout 2019 in which she spawned the “hot girl summer” meme and cemented her place in the rap mainstream, Megan’s had an extremely newsworthy 2020. On the positive side, she scored her first #1 hit with the Beyoncé team-up “Savage” and won a court battle against her record label. On the negative side, she was shot multiple times in a controversial incident involving Tory Lanez.
In other words, “WAP” is a convergence of two of the biggest stars in rap right now. The music video — which features the radio censored edit of the track — features cameos from Normani, Rosalía, and Kylie Jenner. Watch that and listen to the uncensored track below.
“WAP” is out now via Atlantic.
