Cardi B Responds to 'Queerbaiting' Accusations

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Cardi B's verse only adds to the appeal, rapping "It's my dick and I want it now" — a mantra to aspire to, surely. The two are seen embracing each other, naked, as they stand on a round platform, which one comment insists was a "part of the WAP mansion." All agreed on one comment, liked over 40 thousand times — "Normani ate it up and left no crumbs."

Still, some criticisms arose, accusing the artists of queerbaiting during Cardi B's verse.

Related | Camila Cabello Accused of 'Trying to Ruin' Normani's Release

"Queerbaiting" has entered the cultural lexicon only recently, though the term has existed for decades, referring to a piece of media profiting off of an insinuated queer identity, without explicitly confirming it. The accusations have increased over the past few years, as representation for queer individuals has reached an almost unprecedented high.

There've been the Billie Eilish controversies, the trials and tribulations of Harry Styles, and even previous accusations against Cardi B, for her verse on Rita Ora's "Girls." She responded at the time, "We never try to cause harm or had bad intentions with the song. I personally myself had experiences with other women, shit with a lot of women!"

The "Wild Side" discourse, drawn out in comment sections and Twitter threads, comes as yet another reiteration of the same conversation — and Cardi isn't having it.

Underneath the Rolling Stone article, fans were quick to chime in, with one user writing "Real people don't queerbait. That's a concept for fictional work. Human beings are free to express themselves the way they want without caring about a label."

In any case, we're looking forward to all that's to come from the two, and re-watching "Wild Side" in the meantime.

Photo via Getty/ Dimitrios Kambouris