Certain sections of the United States of America are still disturbed by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion rapping about “wet-a## p####” at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards in March. The issue was even brought up in the U.S. Congress.
Wisconsin Republican Representative Glenn Grothman spoke about Cardi’s single “WAP” on the floor of the House of Representatives. Grothman claimed he received complaints from his constituents about the performance.
“They wonder why we are paying the FCC if they feel this should be in living rooms across the nation,” said Grothman. “I realize that [Vice President] Kamala Harris has used her fame to promote this performer, but I assure the FCC that millions of Americans view her performance as inconsistent with basic decency.”
The 65-year-old politician representing Wisconsin’s 6th congressional district continued, “Wake up, FCC, and begin to do your job. The moral decline of America is partly due to your utter complacency.”
Cardi B is not shy about responding to nearly anyone who has something to say about her or her content. The Invasion of Privacy album creator hopped on Twitter to give her thoughts on Grothman’s speech.
“This gets me so mad ya don’t even know! I think we all been on the edge this week since we [saw] police brutality back to back including watching one of the biggest [cases] in history go down DUE to police brutality but wait! This is [what a] state representative decide to talk about [thinking face emoji],” tweeted Cardi.
She added, “Mind you Nikkas can’t give a word about Jacob Blake or give him proper justice but this [is] part of the reason why!!!!! They giving seats to F##### IDIOTS!! This is why people gotta vote, elect better people [because] you got these dum a#### representing states.”
Cardi was originally a longtime supporter of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign. Once Sanders exited the 2020 Democratic primary, the Hip Hop superstar endorsed then-Vice President Joe Biden’s candidacy for the presidency. She has also been very critical of former president Donald Trump.
Conservatives have been complaining about “WAP” ever since the all-woman single was released on August 7, 2020. Right-wing talking head Ben Shapiro became a social media punchline after he read some of the record’s lyrics on his podcast.
All of the negative attention from right-leaning media helped “WAP” break first-week streaming records and debut at #1 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart in the United States. Cardi and Megan’s collaboration was also the very first song to sit atop the Billboard Global 200 chart.
Following that initial controversy of the sex-positive tune last August, “WAP” went on to spend 24 weeks on the Hot 100 tally. The backlash over the song reignited when Cardi performed “WAP” and her latest single “Up” at this year’s Grammy ceremony.
Pro-Trump political pundit Candace Owens got into a highly-publicized Twitter feud with Cardi B following the Grammy performance. Owens told the Fox News audience, “This is a weakening of American society. It feels like we are looking at corrosion; like we are about to see the end of an empire.”
Cardi responded, “Matter fact I’m just going to thank Candy. She put my performance on Fox News giving it more views that boosted the views on YouTube and [are] counting towards my streams and sales. STREAM ‘UP’ AND ‘WAP.’ REMEMBER GROWN PARENTS ONLY YOU CAN MONITOR WHAT YOUR KIDS WATCH [NOONE] ELSE.”
The viral Grammy appearance and the online clash with Owens boosted “Up” to the pinnacle of the Hot 100. The track climbed to the No. 1 position on the weekly ranking of the most popular songs in America not long after media outlets began covering the argument between the two women, giving Cardi her record-extending fifth Number One.