Issa “WAP”: More Than Just Dance
- 82newsbulletin
- Sep 18, 2020
- 2 min read
Written by Khan Nisa
Videos of people attempting the injury-risking “WAP” dance challenge have been circulating on Instagram and TikTok. The song “WAP” featuring Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion has received a lot of excitement from its initial release. Within the first week, it was streamed 93 million times in the US and it soon debuted at No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
There have been mixed reactions towards the song, some praised the singers for liberating women’s sexuality while others thought it perpetuated sexualization of women in the music industry. A university student expressed her disdain at the content of the song, “As women we should be trying to get rid of stereotypes and this doesn’t”. Another netizen shared a similar opinion,” I get it, the independent woman and being in control, the divine femininity and sexual expression. I get it all. But at what cost?”
On the contrary, several netizens appreciated that the singers boldly empowered themselves by reclaiming controversial terms that male rappers would use, “This initiates a good conversation about the double standards in the industry”. Supporters brought attention to the backlash that female singers face with such explicit music videos as compared to men who rap about such sexually explicit content more often. References to songs like Too Short’s Freaky Tales and Eminem’s “Kim” are made that had violent and inappropriate content but weren't attacked like the “WAP” is.
Despite the slut shaming and respectability politics, Cardi B responded to the controversies by saying, “they keep talking and the numbers keep going up”. To this, her fans applauded her unaltered attitude and her celebration of female sexuality.
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