4 ms·

Who's taking claim for WAP?

SamBam 6y ago
Several people, all listed at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WAP_(song) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WAP_(song). The song has topped numerous charts, for instance Pitchfork and Rolling Stone's best song of 2020. Why wouldn't they want to take credit?
- Kaze404 6y ago
  I'd be proud even if it wasn't a massive hit. It's an insanely catchy song, performed by two women who deliver the lines perfectly, on top of a very creative production (I especially like the repetitive "there's some hoes in this house" line that plays throughout the entire song). I don't think it's fair to the people involved to paint it something it's not just because the sexual language makes you uncomfortable.
  - youngNed 6y ago
    that line is actualy a sample from a 1992 song, so presumably frank ski got a cut: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IHUl8CwCvI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IHUl8CwCvI
    - Kaze404 6y ago
      Interesting, I had no idea. Thank you :)
  - Rule35 6y ago
    fwiw, it's not the sexual imagery that bothers most people, it's the degradation they hear in the rest of the song. "Hoes in this house" for example. Sex is natural, calling women whores is not. One is a fine thing for a kid to see, the other is problematic and requires you to explain that their language shouldn't be repeated, that it's probably indicative of depression or systematic oppression of women, etc. Nothing in the song appears to be feminine empowerment as they defend it by saying - it's just soft-core porn masquerading as music. Porn is porn and when made without harm is a lifestyle choice, it's the masquerade that makes it icky.
    - Kaze404 6y ago
      That's completely fair criticism in my opinion, but not the one I see invoked by most people. In my experience, most of the time the sexual language is the problem, and that is completely bonkers to me because, as you said, sex is a big part of human life and it makes sense for it to be reflected in art.
      - Rule35 6y ago
        Actually, I have since watched a bit of the video and I now think it is the imagery as well. Not the scantily clad ladies dry-humping. But that they look like they're doing it for the male gaze, as they stare into the camera instead of each other's eyes. I guess it feels like what you'd get if you tried to have a three-way with two hookers. Hollow and depressing.
        Kaze404 6y ago
        While I agree with you that there's definitely a male gaze aspect to it, I don't have an opinion on whether that's necessarily a bad thing when done by women. On the one hand I can see the harm it can make by normalizing the stigma that women need to do things for the pleasure of men, but on the other hand I'm not sure preventing them from doing that would help the issue at all. It's a complex subject for sure.
        Rule35 6y ago
        Prevent? Gosh, no. I am sure that nothing good would come from that. As you say, if they choose it... (And if someone likes it, good for Cardi I guess.) I'm just trying to answer your question from a few posts back about what I found distasteful. The best summary I can come up with is 'women trying to act like whores to be attractive'. Maybe that's not how it is for Cardi, and that's her image of healthy sexuality, but I wouldn't show it to my kids or my lover. As an aside, I realized that I watched the grammy performance which may not be the same as the music video.
- TwoBit 6y ago
  Seems primarily like Cardi B's writer started it and Cardi B modified it.
- bena 6y ago
  You know what he's about. He's just a boring old culture warrior who has to inject his personal politics into every situation while simultaneously decrying how everything is now political.
  - asphaltycode 6y ago
    Or it’s a joke
    - bena 6y ago
      What makes it a joke? Why is it funny? Explain to everyone why no one wanting to take credit for WAP is funny. I don't think there's a reason that doesn't circle back to my original assessment of the guy.
      - asphaltycode 6y ago
        Because the lyrics are amazingly vulgar and are inappropriate for most conversations.
        bena 6y ago
        How does that make not wanting to take credit for it a joke? And was this the first song that was "amazingly vulgar" or "inappropriate for most conversations"?
        asphaltycode 6y ago
        This is a conversation, not a deposition.
        bena 6y ago
        Deflection after deflection. If you really have no defense of the guy, don't step in to defend him.
- StavrosK 6y ago
  For the next reason Alan Smithee exists, possibly: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Smithee https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Smithee
- farfacy 6y ago
  All the people who created WAP are not listed in this link. On Spotify, WAP's credits list Performed by Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion Written by Austin Owens, Belcalis Almanzar, Frank Rodriguez, James Foye iii, Jordan Thorpe, Megan Pete Produced by Ayo & Keyz We can compare this to a Kpop song called IDEA that 2 of the same people who wrote WAP worked on Performed by Taemin Written by Adrian Mckinnon, Austin Owens, James Foye iii, Jimmy Claeson, Moon Seol Ree, Tay Jasper Western stars are extremely dishonest about their input into their music. Korean TV giving credit to the songwriters https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4wOjOEcRZg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4wOjOEcRZg
  - commoner 6y ago
    In American rap culture, rap artists are usually expected to write their own lyrics without significant help from other songwriters, with the exception of samples, production, and any parts of the song that are not rapped. https://www.complex.com/music/2012/08/the-nas-controversy-and-why-rappers-are-afraid-of-ghostwriters https://www.complex.com/music/2012/08/the-nas-controversy-an... That's why the WAP songwriters are the rappers (Megan thee Stallion and Cardi B), the producers (Ayo N Keyz), and the songwriter of the sampled track (Frank Ski). Many other genres do not have this kind of expectation. If you are accusing the WAP songwriters of employing ghostwriters, that is a severe allegation and needs evidence to be taken seriously.

Several people, all listed at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WAP_(song) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WAP_(song). The song has topped numerous charts, for instance Pitchfork and Rolling Stone's best song of 2020. Why wouldn't they want to take credit?

Kaze404 6y ago
I'd be proud even if it wasn't a massive hit. It's an insanely catchy song, performed by two women who deliver the lines perfectly, on top of a very creative production (I especially like the repetitive "there's some hoes in this house" line that plays throughout the entire song). I don't think it's fair to the people involved to paint it something it's not just because the sexual language makes you uncomfortable.
- youngNed 6y ago
  that line is actualy a sample from a 1992 song, so presumably frank ski got a cut: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IHUl8CwCvI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IHUl8CwCvI
  - Kaze404 6y ago
    Interesting, I had no idea. Thank you :)
- Rule35 6y ago
  fwiw, it's not the sexual imagery that bothers most people, it's the degradation they hear in the rest of the song. "Hoes in this house" for example. Sex is natural, calling women whores is not. One is a fine thing for a kid to see, the other is problematic and requires you to explain that their language shouldn't be repeated, that it's probably indicative of depression or systematic oppression of women, etc. Nothing in the song appears to be feminine empowerment as they defend it by saying - it's just soft-core porn masquerading as music. Porn is porn and when made without harm is a lifestyle choice, it's the masquerade that makes it icky.
  - Kaze404 6y ago
    That's completely fair criticism in my opinion, but not the one I see invoked by most people. In my experience, most of the time the sexual language is the problem, and that is completely bonkers to me because, as you said, sex is a big part of human life and it makes sense for it to be reflected in art.
    - Rule35 6y ago
      Actually, I have since watched a bit of the video and I now think it is the imagery as well. Not the scantily clad ladies dry-humping. But that they look like they're doing it for the male gaze, as they stare into the camera instead of each other's eyes. I guess it feels like what you'd get if you tried to have a three-way with two hookers. Hollow and depressing.
      - Kaze404 6y ago
        While I agree with you that there's definitely a male gaze aspect to it, I don't have an opinion on whether that's necessarily a bad thing when done by women. On the one hand I can see the harm it can make by normalizing the stigma that women need to do things for the pleasure of men, but on the other hand I'm not sure preventing them from doing that would help the issue at all. It's a complex subject for sure.
        Rule35 6y ago
        Prevent? Gosh, no. I am sure that nothing good would come from that. As you say, if they choose it... (And if someone likes it, good for Cardi I guess.) I'm just trying to answer your question from a few posts back about what I found distasteful. The best summary I can come up with is 'women trying to act like whores to be attractive'. Maybe that's not how it is for Cardi, and that's her image of healthy sexuality, but I wouldn't show it to my kids or my lover. As an aside, I realized that I watched the grammy performance which may not be the same as the music video.
TwoBit 6y ago
Seems primarily like Cardi B's writer started it and Cardi B modified it.
bena 6y ago
You know what he's about. He's just a boring old culture warrior who has to inject his personal politics into every situation while simultaneously decrying how everything is now political.
- asphaltycode 6y ago
  Or it’s a joke
  - bena 6y ago
    What makes it a joke? Why is it funny? Explain to everyone why no one wanting to take credit for WAP is funny. I don't think there's a reason that doesn't circle back to my original assessment of the guy.
    - asphaltycode 6y ago
      Because the lyrics are amazingly vulgar and are inappropriate for most conversations.
      - bena 6y ago
        How does that make not wanting to take credit for it a joke? And was this the first song that was "amazingly vulgar" or "inappropriate for most conversations"?
        asphaltycode 6y ago
        This is a conversation, not a deposition.
        bena 6y ago
        Deflection after deflection. If you really have no defense of the guy, don't step in to defend him.
StavrosK 6y ago
For the next reason Alan Smithee exists, possibly: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Smithee https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Smithee
farfacy 6y ago
All the people who created WAP are not listed in this link. On Spotify, WAP's credits list Performed by Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion Written by Austin Owens, Belcalis Almanzar, Frank Rodriguez, James Foye iii, Jordan Thorpe, Megan Pete Produced by Ayo & Keyz We can compare this to a Kpop song called IDEA that 2 of the same people who wrote WAP worked on Performed by Taemin Written by Adrian Mckinnon, Austin Owens, James Foye iii, Jimmy Claeson, Moon Seol Ree, Tay Jasper Western stars are extremely dishonest about their input into their music. Korean TV giving credit to the songwriters https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4wOjOEcRZg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4wOjOEcRZg
- commoner 6y ago
  In American rap culture, rap artists are usually expected to write their own lyrics without significant help from other songwriters, with the exception of samples, production, and any parts of the song that are not rapped. https://www.complex.com/music/2012/08/the-nas-controversy-and-why-rappers-are-afraid-of-ghostwriters https://www.complex.com/music/2012/08/the-nas-controversy-an... That's why the WAP songwriters are the rappers (Megan thee Stallion and Cardi B), the producers (Ayo N Keyz), and the songwriter of the sampled track (Frank Ski). Many other genres do not have this kind of expectation. If you are accusing the WAP songwriters of employing ghostwriters, that is a severe allegation and needs evidence to be taken seriously.