BLACK SABBATH‘s Geezer Butler has blasted rap superstar Cardi B over the suggestive lyrics to her single “WAP”, calling it “disgusting.”
“WAP” debuted at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart in August, breaking numerous streaming records and spawning a viral TikTok dance challenge. The track, which is viewed as an empowering feminist anthem by some and gratuitously offensive by others, has also been the subject of controversy, with several right-wing commentators implying “WAP” was specifically marketed to young girls, when the song’s obvious audience is adults.
Butler offered his opinion of “WAP” in an interview with U.K.’s Kerrang! magazine while discussing “Unspeakable Elvis”, a song from his 1997 solo album “Black Science”, which was reissued in October.
“That’s really about the fact that whatever new music comes out, it’s viewed as the devil’s music,” the bassist said about the “Unspeakable Elvis” lyrics. “I remember when Elvis [Presley] came out everybody said he was Satan. And then in the ’60s and ’70s, he became America’s national treasure. It happens with every new wave of music. Like metal, obviously. The Christians were going mental when SABBATH came about. And then when rap came about, people were up in arms about that and certain words that rappers were using. I have to say, though, that Cardi B pisses me off with that ‘WAP’ song. It’s disgusting! But there you go.”
He continued: “A friend of mine didn’t know what the song was about but his 10-year-old girl was singing it. I was, like, ‘What?!’ To put it on album, fair enough. But to put it out as a single? That’s a it’s a bit much. Then again, I’m 71. A bloody old goat.”
Butler is not the first rock musician to criticize “WAP”. This past September, Michael Sweet of openly Christian rockers STRYPER called the song “crap” and said he didn’t want his granddaughter subjected to that “garbage.”
“I don’t wanna come across like a prude or someone that is closed-minded, but I just find it interesting how, here we are in 2020 fighting for women’s rights, as we should be, and you’ve got videos like that,” Sweet told the “Cobras & Fire” podcast.
“There’s a time when it’s not about judging — it’s just about what’s right and what’s wrong,” he continued. “I have a little granddaughter who has probably heard that song, and I’m thinking to myself, that just pisses me off. It pisses me off, the fact that she most likely has heard the song, because I don’t want that garbage going into my granddaughter’s ears.
“I think that we have a responsibility as artists, and many artists cross that line,” Sweet added. “I said the same thing about [former child star] Miley Cyrus. Here she is on Disney — all these kids are looking up to her and following her — and the next thing you know, live in concert, she’s riding a big, hanging… whatever,” referring to the fact that Miley had a giant inflatable penis as a stage prop during her “Bangerz” tour. “And I’m just thinking, can’t she just have a little responsibility — even just a smidgen of responsibility?”
Still, Sweet said he respected Cardi B‘s right to express herself freely as an artist.
“We live in America — she can do whatever she wants, as can I, by commenting on it,” he said.
