Wap

“Y’all remember when the FCC almost sued me cuz I performed WAP at the Grammys?” Cardi B asked on Twitter today. “What about when all the republicans literally harassed me over it? On the news everyday… Y’all remember? Oooohhh cuz I do.”

Cardi is, of course, reflecting on the weeks-long backlash to the 2021 Grammy Awards performance of her raunchy hit song, “WAP” with Megan Thee Stallion. While the news cycle has long since moved on, with conservative commentators finding plenty of other outrage-bait with which they could incite their audience, Cardi B — like Pepperidge Farms — remembers the aggravation they heaped on her for the audacity of celebrating her sexuality as a woman in the public eye.

In case you forgot, here’s a recap: After the show-stopping performance, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson worried that “WAP” would “hurt our children” on his show — while playing nearly the entire titillating performance from the night before, conservative grifter Candace Owens called the show an “attack on American values,” and the Federal Communications Commission supposedly fielded over 1,000 complaints of indecency (complaints Cardi herself laughed off).

What was the reason for all this faux consternation? Cardi’s theory is that “they secretly like it.” They definitely seemed to enjoy the attention (and advertising dollars) complaining about it brought them, but since then, Tucker’s been fired, Candace is now agreeing with Cardi, and the Republican political apparatus has turned its ire against drag shows — which is going about as well as you’d think. It just goes to show, you don’t want to get on Cardi’s bad side; even when she wins, she doesn’t let anything go.

Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

On Hillary and Chelsea Clinton’s new docuseries, Gutsy, the mother-daughter duo sits down with women artists, activists, and leaders inspiring change. In the series’ second episode, the two sit down with Megan Thee Stallion, as they each paint a portrait while discussing the criticism and misogyny they’ve faced in their careers.

“I kind of came to awareness of you with Cardi B, ‘WAP,‘” said Hillary, referring to the collaboration the pair dropped two years ago.

“I’ve always wanted to do a song with Cardi,” Megan said. “As soon as she sent it to me, I think I sent [my verses] back to her the next day.”

“It’s great to see women be so fierce,” said Chelsea.

Elsewhere in the interview, Chelsea asked Megan, “Were you surprised by the conservative backlash to you?”

Megan responded, “I was surprised that in this day in time, when you have so many options of so many things to look at and listen to, that the first thing you want to critique and talk about is something that you don’t like.”

Hillary then refers to Megan’s video for “Thot Sh*t,” in which an elected official is seen watching one of Megan’s music videos, and commenting on the video calling Megan and her dancers, “stupid regressive whores.” This portion of the video is likely in response to commentary from political commentators like Ben Shapiro, who called the song “really really really vulgar.”

“They dissect my lyrics, they dissect my life,” Megan said. “Well, let me give y’all something y’all might actually want to see. So I’m like, ‘Boom, here you go.’ I think they secretly like it.”

“I do too,” Chelsea said.

“I feel like they’re the majority of the views,” Megan said.

All episodes of Gutsy are now available for streaming on Apple TV+

Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Last summer, on August 7, 2020 to be exact, Cardi B and Megan The Stallion shook the music world with their first collaboration, “WAP.” The track quickly became a favorite of both rappers’ fans mostly because of the sex-positive message the song delivered. It also became Cardi’s fourth No. 1 single while it was the second for Megan.

For as much praise as it garnered, “WAP” also received criticism, mostly from conservative politicians who took issue with the song’s explicit nature. Nonetheless, “WAP” was absolutely one of the biggest moments of 2020 and a year later, the two rappers took a moment to celebrate their chart-topping song while hinting at more to come in the future.

“Wow I can’t believe wappity WAP turned one today,” Cardi wrote on Twitter. “It don’t even feel like it. What a record! @theestallion we should do it again sometime.” Shortly, Megan responded to Cardi’s tweet with her own celebratory message. “Happy WAPIVERSARY,” the rapper replied. “Thank you for having me. I think the people deserve another collab.”

A future collaboration between Cardi and Megan could come on the latter’s next project which the Houston rapper said is slowly coming together.

“I am keeping my next project pretty quiet but it will be a complete shock and complete surprise,” she said during an interview with People. “I am just creating things that feel good to me right now.”

You can view the rappers’ tweets above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.