Welcome back, Cardi B. It’s been over two years since her debut album, Invasion of Privacy, and over a year since Cardi released her last single. So, to say that fans were eagerly awaiting “WAP,” the song Ms. Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar dropped on Aug. 7, is an understatement. Helping to celebrate Cardi’s return was none other than Megan Thee Stallion, and to fans’ pleasant surprise, makeup mogul Kylie Jenner!
In addition to showcasing their trademark wordplay and danceable flow, the music video also showed off Cardi and Megan’s knack for taking style to the next level. The dynamic duo started off the video in complementary yellow and pink bodysuit dresses fit for a royal court, before switching into caged lingerie while laying in a pit of pythons fit for Burning Man. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the wardrobe pieces in this all-out production — you’ll have to catch every look by watching the video above. Kylie even had her own moment to shine in a leopard print bodysuit and elbow-length gloves that would make any seductress blush.
Kylie wasn’t the only surprise cameo. Music powerhouses Normani, Rosalía, Mulatto, Rubi Rose and Sukihana all had their own solo moments as well!
Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion's #WAP video features cameos from Kylie Jenner, Normani, Rosalía, Mulatto, and more 👅💦 https://t.co/kZkjw8x72M pic.twitter.com/Px1ZR5VPEi
— Rap-Up (@RapUp) August 7, 2020
“WAP” marks Cardi’s first new music since 2019’s “Press” (if you don’t count her “Coronavirus” remix, courtesy of DJ iMarkkeyz.) It also seemingly confirmed that Cardi will release the follow-up to Invasion of Privacy before the year is over. Cardi has been working on her second album for a while, telling Revolt TV’s Baller Alert in February that she has her “cool, calm and collected songs, just missing a couple more club hits. But we’re getting there.” When pressed for a possible ETA on the album, she couldn’t commit. “I can never put a date on it because, like, when you feel like you’ve got those songs, that’s when it’s gonna come out. I cannot put a date on my ears, you know what I’m saying? When I feel like I have it, that’s when [it’ll come out].”
“I’m just really focused on my album… my album is on my mind 24/7. It’s practically all I’m focusing on. It has evolved a lot,” she told Billboard n 2019 (per Elite Daily). “There’s certain music that I want to do, but I feel like, is people interested in that? I feel like things have changed. It’s more like a twerk sound going on right now. It’s just like, ‘Should I just do my music around that?’ But I cannot just go with what’s hot. I still gotta go with what I want to do. … I was going with what I want people to hear, and what I like, so that’s what I’m doing now. I’m just having fun in the studio, because if you think, ‘My first album was like this, I gotta have the same recipe,’ it’s just not gonna work.”
“WAP” also continues Megan’s rise as one of the biggest names in hip-hop. However, 2020 has been a mixed bag for Hot Girl Me. She has seen some career highs, with her winning a legal battle to release her Suga EP, which resultedin a chart-topping hit/TikTok sensation, “Savage.” Megan also released “Girls in the Hood” — a track that sampled/gender-flipped Eazy-E’s 1987 song, “Boyz-n-the-Hood” — a song that has since became a Billboard Top 40 hit. Personally, she has seen some terrifying lows. Megan was involved in an incident on July 12, suffering multiple gunshot wounds “in both feet” from a still-unnamed shooter. Weeks after the incident, Megan went in IG Live to talk about it, saying, “ain’t put my hands on nobody. I didn’t deserve to get shot. I didn’t do sh*t. And thank God that the bullets didn’t touch bones or break tendons… where the bullets hit at, they missed everything but the motherf*ckers were in there.”