Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion, two of the biggest stars in rap, have surprise-dropped a brand new collab! This caught most of us fans off guard, with Cardi B just announcing it days ago.
Just last month, Megan’s multi-year legal battle came to a close as singer Tory Lanez was finally sentenced for shooting her in July, 2020. In December of 2022, Lanez was thankfully found guilty of three counts: assault with a firearm, illegal possession of a firearm and negligent discharge of a gun for shooting the victim. At the beginning of August, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his crimes.
At the time, people’s opinions were all over the place. Too many sought to defend Lanez and still support him and his career. I cannot understand these people. Megan took a lot of hits for reasons I still do not understand, aside from people just hating black women—plain and simple misogynoir. She didn’t let those attitudes silence her, choosing instead to release a written statement after the sentencing. The statement read: “For once, the defendant must be forced to face the full consequences of his heinous actions and face justice.” I’m glad that she added “for once” because so many people, especially in the music industry, are coddled by fans and peers. It was a good thing that Lanez was convicted for his crimes and that Megan got that form of justice.
As a rap fan, and someone who loves both Cardi B and Megan’s music, I was so excited to hear that they would be releasing this new single, called “Bongos.” Their last song together, “WAP,” was hugely successful. I listened to this new song and then watched the new music video and think every part of it is SUCH a triumph!
First, the song itself is very unique. One Twitter/X user noted that the song seems to have Brazilian funk influences and that Megan herself said it sounds fresh compared to other things in hip-hop out now. This is so accurate! The basslines, the rhythms, it is all different from a lot of the songs that are currently dominating radio and the viral sphere. But probably the biggest and best achievement of this new project is the music video.
These two clearly put a lot of effort into the video and I think this is such an “F U” to their critics honestly. The choreography was quite difficult. Few artists even try to do full choreography anymore, and both of these women came out blazing. The artistry in the video is top-notch. It has bright and beautiful colors throughout and the scenery is gorgeous.
It also doubles down on the proud sexuality that sent people like Ben Shapiro spiraling in the wake of “WAP.” We love that and can’t wait for his inevitable meltdown.
Social media has been on fire since this collaboration dropped. I’ve been seeing a lot of praise for the women taking risks and being experimental with “Bongos.” When you listen to the song, it is clear why. As a longtime fan of this genre, I’ve noticed many critiques facing this new generation of hip-hop artists, with a lot of people complaining that everything sounds the same. I don’t even dislike the sounds that are most commonly used in today’s music. But this song was so refreshing in its originality, it made my little heart excited to hear it! It has been performing well too. It’s reportedly taken the #1 spot on iTunes and the official music video is popular too, with nearly 9 million views as of this writing, just four days after it dropped. Yay!
I am happy to see Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion thriving. I am sure Megan especially has been wanting to get back in the game and reclaim her throne as one of the best artists and lyricists in the game today. After all she has been through since 2020, I am always rooting for her success. And from a music perspective, it will be interesting to see if this sets off a new wave of different-sounding songs. Part of me wonders why it wasn’t released in the summer since it is such a banger dance track. No matter what, I hope these two do many more projects together because this is a winner.
(featured image: YouTube)
