“Bongos,” a Mega Flop After “WAP?”
This article is premature. At the time of writing, “Bongos” the second collaboration between Hip-Hop superstars Cardi B and Megan thee Stallion was released 12 hours ago, and opinions are still being thrown every which way.
“Look… I like the beat. Beautiful visuals. Gorgeous gowns” reads one fan’s reaction.
In case you didn’t catch the shade, that comment is one of many that rank the “Bongos” music video above the actual… music. To be fair, the music video, filmed in part at the same Beverly Hills estate as 1992’s The Bodyguard and Beyoncé’s “MOOD 4 EVA” music video is absolutely stunning.
If fashion lovers look closely they’ll find pieces from some of their favorite designers in the video. The gaudy feathered headpieces adorning Cardi were designed by the masterful Harris Reed. One scene is completely decked out in Pucci’s signature color swirl — bodysuit, couch, wallpaper, rug and table. And Megan is wearing glittering jewelry from the queen of metal and chain, Laurel Dewitt. Add choreography by Sean Bankhead into the mix, performed on a beach platform reminiscent of “Baby Boy” and you have a music video worth watching. But what about the actual music?
The single “Bongos” was announced Monday, September 4th, and then dropped that same week, Friday, September 8th. It did not take much promotion to get fans of the two emcees white-hot hyped for the song. All fans had to work with to get a feel for the song was the cover photo (which Cardi herself said was purposely misleading) and a 10-second snippet posted mere hours before the release.
Their first collaboration, 2020’s smash hit “WAP,” absolutely rocked the music industry, and unexpectedly fanned the flames of an ongoing culture war, setting expectations absurdly high for the second go around. “WAP” debuted at number one on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, becoming the first female rap collaboration in history to do so. The song spent four weeks at the top of the charts, pushed by the radio and the viral TikTok dance created by Brian Esperon, and became a talking point for right-wing podcasters to bolster their crusade against the “modern woman.” This newest single is nowhere near as electrifying or polarizing as “WAP” and as a result, appears to have disappointed.
Interjection: The RIAA just certified “WAP” 8x platinum, today. The release of “Bongos” must’ve encouraged many to revisit the better of the two collaborative efforts.
Adding to the high expectations is Cardi’s killer features streak and the anticipation of Megan the Stallion’s first studio release since 2022’s Traumazine. But “Bongos” is a few months too late, exempting it from being a contender for song of the summer and that might’ve been its saving grace.
“Nigga, eat this ass like a plum / This pussy tight like a nun” is the single’s attention-grabbing opener, as well as the only line from Cardi that sticks out in the mind. Megan’s solo verse, sandwiched neatly in the middle of the song, has the most to offer to those looking for lyricism, “This ass sit like the stallion / All these wannabes my lil' ponies / These hoes camped out in the comments / Always talkin' like they know me.”
In an interview with Hot 97, Cardi said that after recording “Bongos” she could hear that the record needed Megan. She remained adamant even when those around her questioned the decision as they believed it to be a “Spanish song.” The beat isn’t too far off from Dembow with the repetition of “bong” holding everything together in the back, but the characteristic trunk-shaking bass is not present, leaving us with a sound that’s somewhere between Dembow and Baile Funk, a groove that is more popular the further south into Latin America you go. The elements that make Dembow and Baile Funk so popular in the Dominican Republic and Brazil respectively are sorely missing in “Bongos,” but the single still seems more suited for success on international shores
Bad Bunny’s name is already being suggested for the “Bongos” remix — asking for a remix is already getting too far ahead of yourself if you ask me — but the Puerto Rican artist is the incorrect choice. Picking a scrappy artist whose sound fits neatly into one of the two aforementioned genres would be the most intriguing and beneficial choice.
All in all, the song isn’t the type of atrocious auditory experience that will make your earbuds short-circuit. You’ll either shake your ass or you won’t.
Cardi and Megan clearly love to work together. The latter attested as much on a recent YouTube live, “Working with you (Cardi) does not feel like work. It feels like I’m excited to do this, I want to do this for you, I want us to come together and be great because I know you take your work so seriously.” It just seems they weren’t destined to catch lightning in a bottle twice. But who knows where TikTok will take the record? Maybe a skit to one of Cardi’s goofy bars, or a sweat-inducing dance routine to Megan’s verse will be what it takes for the song to grow on its detractors. But one thing is for sure, if “Bongos” is the lead single for Cardi’s long-awaited follow-up to the Grammy award-winning Invasion of Privacy, there’s no telling what her sophomore album will sound like.
