Last summer the internet went into a tizzy following the release of Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s NSFW song “WAP,” which debuted at No. 1 and welcomed some harsh criticism by conservative thinkers. But unlike other politicians, California congresswoman Maxine Waters actually enjoyed it.
Rep. Waters and Megan sat down for a conversation for Harper’s Bazaar where they talked about education, the importance of standing up for yourself, and, of course, “WAP.” Waters revealed that some of the younger people in her life had played her the song, and she was impressed by Megan’s candor:
“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. 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.’”
While this was the first time Waters and Megan had chatted in person, it was not their first correspondence. After Megan penned her powerful New York Times op-ed about the importance of speaking up for Black women, Waters responded with her own open letter. “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. “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.”
Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.