If you haven’t yet steamed up your laptop watching Cardi B’s new music video for “WAP”, gird your loins and head on over to YouTube. The decidedly NSFW clip sees the star team up with Megan Thee Stallion for a celebration of female sexuality. Brash and brazen, the song doesn’t hold back. With cameos from Savage x Fenty ambassador Normani, Jacquemus muse Rosalía, and Uno queen Kylie Jenner, and the next generation of outré rappers – Mulatto, Rubi Rose, and Sukihana – the video is breaking the internet. While the debate over whether Jenner’s presence was necessary rages on, there’s more going on than special guest appearances. In their sultry coordinated outfits, Cardi and Megan channeled hip hop’s original queen, Lil’ Kim.
Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion in Nicolas Jebran
Photo: Courtesy Atlantic Records
Just as modern pop starlets all owe credit to Madonna, the female rap game wouldn’t be the same without Kim. As Cardi and Megan dance in custom bodysuits by Mugler designer Casey Cadwallader, their neon hair matching the colour exactly, it calls to mind Kim’s monochromatic fashions in the iconic “Crush on You” video. Likewise, Cardi’s squat pose in a leopard print corset, also by Cadwallader, is reminiscent of Kim’s sultry promotional posters for Hardcore, a mainstay on the bedroom walls of millennials everywhere.
As an artist, Cardi B has always paid homage to her predecessors; she and stylist Kollin Carter have referenced Kim’s oeuvre in the past. In the video for “Money”, Cardi’s Laurel DeWitt designed gold chain headdress and gilded bikini were directly inspired by what Kim wore onstage at the 1997 MTV Music Video Awards. Similarly, the red fur and bob combo she sports in Pardison Fontaine’s “Backin’ It Up” also draws from the Misa Hylton creations Kim wore in “Crush on You”.
Cardi B in Mugler
Photo: Courtesy Atlantic Records
Whether or not the video’s visual similarities are a direct and deliberate reference to Lil’ Kim remains unclear. There are other homages throughout – Normani’s houndstooth outfit is a direct call back to a 1991 Naomi Campbell photoshoot. Given that Kim has officially anointed Cardi her “Queen of Hip Hop” successor, she’s sure to enjoy this latest tribute.
