Cardi B Responded To The Backlash Over Her "Controversial" Song "WAP" And Dragged Carole Baskin For Criticising The Video
"I'm not gonna engage with Carole Baskin on that."
I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion recently dropped a brand new song called "WAP" along with a music video that had everybody talking.
The song itself has been the subject of debate since its release because, you know, god forbid a woman take ownership of her sexuality or rap openly about sex at all.
In a new interview with i-D, Cardi responded to the furore over the song, revealing that she was "really surprised" by the reaction and originally didn't think it would be a big deal.
"I knew it was gonna have a big impact, I guess, because of me and Megan," the rapped explained. "But I didn't know it was going to be so controversial."
"I never expected that, you know, conservatives and Republicans were going to be talking about the song," she continued. "I didn't think the song was as vulgar as they said it was, you know?"
She added: "I'm such a freak that I didn't think it would be a big deal. I didn't think people would think it was so out of this world."
But Cardi made it clear that the criticism over the song's lyrics and its video doesn't really bother her. In fact, the constant talk about the track just gives it more attention.
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According to recent projections, the collaboration is set to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. In fact, one such projection from an unverified source has the song down as potentially being one of the biggest selling singles of the century so far.
"It doesn't make me angry," Cardi said of the debates and backlash. "It makes me happy. They keep talking and the numbers keep going up. At the end of the day, whatever they’re saying, the numbers speak for themselves."
One of the most notable critics was none other than Tiger King star Carole Baskin, who called the whole thing "lurid" and slammed both Cardi and Megan for using big cats in the music video.
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"You have to pose a wildcat in front of a green screen to get that image, and that doesn't happen in the wild," Carole said. "That tells me they probably dealt with one of the big cat pimps, who makes a living from beating, shocking, and starving cats to make them stand on cue in front of a green screen in a studio."
She added: "The worst part is that it glamorises the idea of rich people having tigers as pets. That makes every ignorant follower want to imitate by doing the same."
Well, Cardi wasn't going to be drawn into a feud with Carole. But uh, having said that, she quickly followed it up with a jab, making it clear that she'd watched Tiger King in quarantine like the rest of us.
"I'm not gonna engage with Carole Baskin on that," she said when asked about the criticism. "Like, that's just ridiculous you know? Oh, Lord. Like, girl you killed your goddamn husband."
To give you a quick flashback, Carole was accused in the documentary of being involved in her second husband’s disappearance in the late 90s. However, Carole has strongly denied the accusations in both the show and several interviews since.
Onto something a little less wild, Cardi explained what it was like shooting the "WAP" music video, revealing that $100,000 had been spent on COVID-19 testing alone.
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"It was kind of weird shooting the video in the age of corona," she said. "Everybody on the shoot had to get tested for coronavirus. We had a tiger and a leopard there, but we didn't film with them in there because of safety and because of the pandemic. We spliced those scenes together."