Why the wild ride of WAP makes it the perfect song for this summer

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Jochan Embley11 August 2020

WAP was always going to be a – no other word for it – smash. Cardi B hadn’t released a song in nine months, and Megan Thee Stallion was still riding high after the release of Savage, undoubtedly one of the best rap tracks of 2020. This new collaboration was two of the biggest names in the scene joining forces, and the hype was real. Posts announcing the track on their respective social media pages drew in more than six and a half million likes.

Then, when it dropped on Friday — and it became abundantly clear what that acronym stood for — things went stratospheric. The song was accompanied by a vivid, innuendo-heavy video, which soared past 26 million views within the first day, breaking the record for an all-women collaboration on YouTube.

From the first few thumps of the track, it’s clear WAP isn’t messing around. The beat is the sound of reclamation — taking its sample from Baltimore club DJ Frank Ski’s 1992 song Whores In This House and reframing its hook — and the lyrics are pure power. They’re unapologetically sex-positive and endlessly creative, with both rappers raining down one-liner after one-liner. There are thinly veiled references (similes and metaphors about big Mack trucks parked inside little garages, among other things) but mostly these are bare-faced imperatives, taking the male-dominated misogyny of hip-hop and flipping it around.

The video itself is the perfect accompaniment, a supremely sensory voyage through bold sexual imagery, and with cameos from the likes of Normani, Rosalía, Mulatto, Rubi Rose, Sukihana and Kylie Jenner.

WAP is, in a way, a welcome distraction from the world outside, gleefully unconnected to this pandemic horrorshow — the lyrics certainly don’t encourage any social distancing. But it also has real relevance to these times: two black women artists at the top of their game, presenting a powerful display of self-confident brilliance.

It wouldn’t be a truly 2020-ish track without some controversy, either, whether that was a petition to remove Jenner from the video over claims of cultural appropriation, or everyone’s favourite early-pandemic throwback, Carole Baskin, calling the video out for animal cruelty (as Baskin admits, it does look like the animals have been added using CGI trickery, but it’s yet to be confirmed either way). It has, naturally, also led to some stellar memes.

So, is WAP a late contender for song of the summer? You could certainly make a strong case for it. If the song isn’t quite your bag though, there have been some other strong contenders — from the traditional pop bangers to something fittingly despondent.

Avenue Beat — F2020

An enjoyably nihilistic bop that couldn’t be more 2020 if it tried, with lyrics about starting the year hopefully before everything goes very severely south. Oh, and it went viral on TikTok. “Low-key f*** 2020,” goes the chorus. Amen to that.

Dua Lipa — Don’t Start Now

It was released as a single last October, but given a new lease of life when re-released on Future Nostalgia in March. In any other year, this would’ve been the track being blared out of car windows and at parties.

Phoebe Bridgers — I Know The End

As soundtracks for existential crises go, the climactic closer to Phoebe Bridgers’ wonderful second album, Punisher, works pretty well. It builds and builds, before ending with lyrics of “the end is here” and some throat-shredding screams. We can all relate.

The Rolling Stones — Scarlet feat. Jimmy Page

A rose-tinted throwback to earlier times, this newly unearthed track is taken from a recording session between the Stones and Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page in 1974. It’s joyfully nostalgic, but the video has Paul Mescal in it, which gives it major 2020 points.

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