10 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About Cardi B & Megan Thee Stallion's "WAP" Video You Should Know
Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion left fans shook when they released "WAP" on Aug. 7. Not only was the steamy song packed with sexually-charged lyrics, but the video was a sensual dance party featuring both ladies and a star-studded list of cameos. As one of the most-hyped music videos of the summer, Cardi and Megan definitely delivered, and fans can't seem to get enough. These are the 10 facts about Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion's "WAP" video every stan should know.
Cardi and Megan first announced their joint single on Aug. 3, but didn't give fans much intel on what to expect. "Single droppin this Friday!" Cardi told her Bardigang on Instagram. Little did they know Cardi and Megan had enlisted some of the fiercest female celebrities of today to co-star in the video with them. The official "WAP" video held appearances from Kylie Jenner, Normani, Rosalía, Mulatto, Sukihana and Rubi Rose.
Before the release of the video, Both Cardi B and Megan conducted a live chat on Aug. 6, sharing all the most important details about filming the clip. Between their Q&A and interviews surrounding the video, there's a lot facts fans should know.
1. Cardi B's stylist linked her up with Megan.
Cardi revealed how her collab with Megan came to be during an Aug. 7 interview with The Breakfast Club. “[My stylist] was like, ‘You have to link up. I know you see the comments all the time; the people would love a song with y’all. You guys gotta get to know each other,’” Cardi told the show hosts.
2. Cardi and Megan decided on the list of celeb cameos together.
When it came time to cast the "WAP" video, the two ladies sat down and decided who to feature together. "When it came to our choreography, everybody worked hand-in-hand… It was just so easy," she told The Breakfast Club. "We also came up with a big list of girls that we wanted on the music video,” she shared.
3. The video was directed by Colin Tilley.
Tilley has also directed videos for Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj.
4. The video was criticized by Carole Baskin for the use of tigers.
Tiger King's infamous star was not happy after watching the "WAP" video. Although Cardi and Megan's video utilized CGI technology to incorporate the tigers, Baskin still felt it sends a damaging message.
"My guess is that most people won't even see the Photoshopped cats in the scenes because the rest of it is so lurid," Baskin wrote in a statement to Billboard. "It didn't look like the cats were really in the rooms with the singers. In fact, probably most of the rooms were Photoshopped in via green screen. That being said, you have to pose a wildcat in front of a green screen to get that image and that doesn't happen in the wild," she said. "The worst part is that it glamorizes the idea of rich people having tigers as pets. That makes every ignorant follower want to imitate by doing the same."
5. Cardi B defended Kylie Jenner's appearance in the "WAP" video.
Fans felt some type of way about Jenner's appearance in the "WAP" video, claiming she didn't belong because she wasn't as talented as the other artists featured, and there were other women (especially artists of color) fans felt would have been better suited for the role.
But Cardi fiercely defended the decision to include her. She responded in a series of now-deleted tweets, writing, "Not everything is about race. Why did I put Kylie on my music video? She treated my sister and daughter so lovely at her kid bday party," she tweeted. In another tweet, she added that Travis Scott and her husband Offset are "close."
6. Cardi said it was important for the video to be diverse.
Cardi took to Instagram to say she she wanted to include women from all walks of life in her video. "Thank you @kyliejenner for being in my music video.I wanted different type of bad bitches in my video.Black,white,Latin,mix we all have WAPS," she captioned a BTS shot of Kylie.
7. Cardi B put BTS footage from the video on her Only Fans account.
"Ok guys so now you can subscribe to my only fans!" Cardi wrote on Instagram on Aug. 11. "Yes I’ll be putting by BTS from WAP there ! And my day to day content." She also told fans not to listen to any "rumors" floating around, ensuring them she won't be posting any nudity on her Only Fans page.
8. Megan said utilizing live snakes was the hardest part of shooting the video.
"Lol I had never touched a snake in my life !!! scariest sh-- ever ! WAP VIDEO OUT NOW GO RUN IT UP," Megan captioned a gallert of Instagram photos on Aug. 7.
She also talked about how "scary" the experience was during a fan Q&A.
9. The song sampled Frank Ski.
If the beginning of "WAP" sounds familiar to you, that's probably because you've heard it before. Megan and Cardi sampled Frank Ski's "Wh*res in This House" on the song.
10. "WAP" was Cardi B's first song and video of 2020.
Cardi kicked off her musical releases for the year with a bang. "WAP" was the first song the rapper had released since 2019's "Press."
11. It cost a lot of money to make the video.
During an interview with i-D, Cardi opened up about what how different things were filming the music video amid the coronavirus pandemic and detailed the measures they took to ensure everyone's safety.
“It was kind of weird shooting the video in the age of corona,” she admitted. “Like, we had to spend $100,000 dollars just on testing. 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.”
