Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s iconic late summer collaboration “WAP” turned the internet upside down, with misogynists and conservatives criticizing the empowering ballad dedicated to female pleasure.
But California Congresswoman Maxine Waters stands on the right side of history, that is, she supports Meg and Cardi’s 2020 hit. During a conversation for Harper’s Bazaar, Waters praised Meg’s “audacity” after some young folks in her life told her to give the song a listen.
“I listen to the young people around me and they may tell me something maybe you ought to pay attention to. But then they told me to look at, was it WAP? Don’t worry, don’t worry, don’t worry. I said, ‘Now that’s audacity. That is audacity.’ And that is the ability for women to take charge of what they want to say,” Waters said. “I had paid attention to the young gangster rap time, when men were in charge. They said whatever they wanted to say about women, what have you. But women didn’t say, for a long time, what they could say or wanted to say or dared to say. And so I thought ‘that’s audacity.’”
Waters and Meg also discussed education and the power of standing up for yourself.
“She’s so inspirational and reminded me to keep doing me and standing firm in what I believe in,” the Houston rapper tweeted about the congresswoman.
Last year, Waters responded to Megan’s powerful “Why I Speak Up for Black Women” op-ed in TheNew York Times following the murder of Breonna Taylor.
“I write all this to say that I’m so incredibly proud of you and how you have used your voice to uplift Black women,” Waters wrote at the time. “I know that Black women and girls everywhere thank you for the way you so fiercely have their back. I want you to know that I have your back, too.”
Check out their full conversation below:
