OP-ED: The Disturbing Conservative Response to Cardi B's New Song
Tucker Carlson condemning “WAP” on his Fox News program.
About two weeks ago, hit rap artists Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion released their new collaborative single “WAP,” and with it, they made history. Not only did it jump to number one on the Billboard Top 100, but it was the first-ever female rap collaboration to do so. The track debuted with over 93 million U.S. streams in a week, giving it the title of biggest stream release week yet. Of course, though, no amount of historic titles could allow this song to escape the wrath of conservative media outlet pundits. The song had barely debuted on Spotify before right-leaning media figures became Hip Hop experts after hearing “WAP” for the first time and finally had something to criticize other than Bernie Sanders and AOC.
It’s important to properly note that “WAP” is not your typical song of the summer. It’s startlingly vulgar and leaves pretty much nothing up to interpretation. In three minutes, Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion use full detail as they unpack all the ins and outs of female pleasure and what their partners ought to be doing. I encourage you to go listen for yourself, if you’re comfortable, as The Elliott is not in a position to publish the lyrics.
At 10 AM the morning after “WAP”’s midnight release, James P. Bradley, a 2020 Republican congressional candidate, deemed it his moral obligation to jump onto Twitter and condemn the song. He wrote, “Cardi B & Megan Thee Stallion are what happens when children are raised without God and without a strong father figure. Their new ‘song’ The #WAP (which I heard accidentally) made me want to pour holy water in my ears and I feel sorry for future girls if this is their role model!”
There’s so much to unpack here. Bradley’s credibility is completely worthless, and this tweet is so offensive on so many levels, starting with the stereotypical language being used to condemn the rappers who are both black women. Instead of Bradley’s irrelevant feelings being shut down, however, they created a snowball effect among conservative commentators on Twitter. One former congressional candidate, DeAnna Loraine tweeted that the song “set the entire female gender back by 100 years” solely because of the “disgusting and vile” song.
And then, just when things were bad enough, Ben Shapiro got ahold of it. In a nine-minute long video with over 1.6 million views, the conservative commentator awkwardly dissected the song with zero regard for anything other than the vulgar language. As he read the lyrics, he looked up at the camera several times just to add a little comment like “This is what feminists fought for!” Next, the song made its way to Fox News contributor Tucker Carlson who has an enormous platform, with the most-watched show on Fox. He covered the song just as the others did: the same dull, overtly misogynistic mansplaining as has come to be expected.
The way the right-wing media influencers covered the song was wrong for so many reasons. First of all, they addressed the song with absolutely no awareness of what rap music sounds like in 2020 (and really what it’s always sounded like.) It’s one thing to say you don’t personally enjoy vulgar music in the first place, and this song is no exception. To suddenly declare women rapping about sex taboo but never criticize male rappers for doing the same is ludicrous.
More importantly, who does this cast of characters think they are to suddenly be proactive about women’s rights and issues? Having strong opinions about what women are allowed to do with their bodies is not a new concept to these influencers. In this case, though, these ignorant claims are simply to incite their base and create a national issue that just never existed. It is arguable that this effort was orchestrated for the sole purpose of taking the focus away from the way our country is falling apart at the seams, and the inaction of our Republican lawmakers is largely to blame.
I wouldn’t willingly play “WAP” for my grandparents or expect to hear it in Kroger on a Tuesday morning. However, there’s a time and place for it, as is the case with all music, TV shows, and movies. The overwhelming response of conservatives over this, though, is twisted and deserves more than just an eye roll. We must hold our supposed bearers of truth accountable and recognize the ignorance and bigotry hidden in their messages.
By Annie Levy