Rapper Cardi B defended her decision to include Kylie Jenner in the music video for her new single “WAP.”
In now-deleted tweets Cardi B claimed the decision wasn’t about race, according to a report published Sunday by UsWeekly. The tweets came after a petition to have Jenner removed from the video on Change.org gained 65,000+ signatures.
“The video was perfect until we saw K and I wanted to throw my phone,” the person who started the petition wrote.
More than 50,000 people have signed a petition for Kylie Jenner to be removed from Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s #WAP music video https://t.co/ynD7uXeOcO
— Variety (@Variety) August 8, 2020
“Normani is one of the best female artist that dances Like she dances her f*ckin ass off!” Cardi B reportedly tweeted. “Why would she open a door? Please tell me how that would make sense? The best part of the song is the beat & hook it what makes you want to shake your ass.”
“Not everything is about race,” Cardi continued on Twitter, USWeekly reported. “Theres issues out here in the world that it is about race that I preach all the time about. This is not about f*ckin race.” (RELATED: Cardi B Is Disappointed In The Lack Of Sex During Quarantine)
The tweets were in response to a fan who wasn’t impressed with Jenner’s appearance in the video.
“Normani did ALL this and Kylie walked down the hall and opened a door,” the user tweeted, according to UsWeekly. “If that’s not a perfect visual indication of Black women having to do the most and white women do the bare minimum to get somewhere, I don’t know what is.”
Cardi B Defends Kylie Jenner’s “WAP” Video Cameo In Deleted Tweetshttps://t.co/3wU05wUT71… pic.twitter.com/gYvY5u1gAq
— Emporium of Tings (@DrWongz) August 10, 2020
The rapper then gave her reasons for choosing Jenner. She said Jenner had treated Cardi and her daughter “lovely” at Jenner’s daughter’s birthday party. She also claimed her husband Offset and Jenner’s baby’s father, Travis Scott, are also close.
Adding Jenner to this music video gave Cardi and Megan Thee Stallion so much more exposure than it would have gotten if she hadn’t been included. Megan has 13.4 million followers on Instagram. Cardi B has 72.3 million followers.
Jenner has 189 million followers on Instagram. She has shared behind-the-scenes photos on her Instagram and has uploaded Instagram stories included links directly to the music video. The video had 61 million views at the time this article was published.
Jenner didn’t make all of those page views happen, but I think she probably added a whole extra level of exposure for this song.