As movie theaters remain closed (for good reason!), Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion have graciously taken it upon themselves to keep the summer blockbuster alive. It’s not a feature film, but their incredible new video for “WAP,” which dropped today (August 7), is a feat of cinematic vibrance that shouts star power in every frame.
We open on twin fountains bearing the nude likenesses of the two icons and glide into a very wet mansion of ass ornaments as wall decor and Cardi and Meg alternately in a sandy snake pit, a gilded leopard-patterned oasis, a white tiger-printed palace, a purple-and-green striped kids’ birthday party set, and more. And that’s just the first few minutes.
As the pair deliver verses pulling off unequaled looks and incredible choreography, they become superheroes celebrating female sexuality — though if you want the full, explicit version, you’ll have to listen on streaming, as Cardi tweeted. Every parcel of this visual is a banquet, as directed by Colin Tilley, and that’s before any of the cameos. Oh right, the cameos!
Kylie Jenner, Normani, Rosalía, Rubi Rose, Sukihana, and Mulatto all make appearances here, behind certain doors in the mansion. But make no mistake: It’s Cardi and Meg’s show. “She’s so bubbly, she’s quirky like me, she smiles a lot, like me,” Cardi told SiriusXM’s Swaggy Sie about Meg and their initial chemistry, which shines through on the track.
“WAP” is notable, too, for being Meg’s first song to drop after she survived gunshot wounds to both of her feet in July. She addressed the continued emotional fallout of the incident in a new Instagram Live video posted today.
“It’s not fun, bitch,” she said, as captured by Complex. “I just felt very betrayed by a friend. I felt very betrayed by all my friends. I felt very shocked, very scared. But the one thing that y’all need to know about me is I’m not a person who is able to be down for a long time … I don’t like to be victimized. I don’t like to feel like ‘Oh my god, Megan, something’s wrong.’ I like to be upbeat. I like to be happy.”
Watch the show-stopping “WAP” video above — then listen to Cardi and go stream the uncensored version.
