#WAP Appeal

WAP broke the internet. Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion dropped #WAP and I've probably listened to a few dozen times. It's catchy, nasty, and manages to be shocking in this age of shock proof fans. I don't know if it's good or appropriate. But it's definitely causing a debate.

It's hard for me to be self-righteous about #WAP when I grew up in 1980s Miami. All the kids on the school bus knew the lyrics for 2 Live Crew's "Face Down A** Up (That's the way we like to F___)." And decades later when Uncle Luke was grand marshal of the King Mango Strut Parade and he screamed out 'FACE. DOWN!..." and older adults started laughing b/c we knew the rest of the song. The kids looked confused, 'face down' but we have a generational secret. We were the adults now and the lyrics had aged into a charming dirty limerick. We could giggle about it, like our generation invented dirty song, never mind Little Richard's "Tutti Fruiti" was also named in honor of the same sexual act came out in the 1950s and was such a coded phrase that no one ever thought to ask 'what IS a tutti fruiti...and why is he so excited about it?' 

I can say that on the same 2 Live Crew album with "Face Down" there were also songs like "Fuck Martinez" that cursed out the Florida Governor as well as the Broward sheriff (fuck Navarro). There were libertarian brags about violating societal norms and standing up for the first amendment. The dirtiness was in the streets, sheets, and also the courthouse and statehouse. 

But I can also say the kids were rapping 2 Live Crew b/c of their righteous first amendment stand, lol. We were rapping it because it was the dirtiest thing we could say. It was our Tutti Fruitti and our WAP. 

I guess one day 60-year-old Cardi B will be the grand marshall of some boring-ass parade and someone will make some sly comment about 'macaroni in a pot' and she'll only have to say 'WAP' to get all the adults to laugh. The kids will look around confused...what's so funny? But that older generation will have their own dirty joke that has aged into something nostalgic.