Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion are the faces of “WAP,” but there are usually more people involved behind the scenes. One of those is Evan LaRay Brunson, one of Cardi’s engineers. In a new interview with Grammy.com, he breaks down how the hit song came to be, saying that it actually started in 2019 without much fanfare.
The piece notes, “Before ‘WAP’ satiated a summer thirsting for an anthem, it was an afterthought.” It goes on to say how Brunson remembers Cardi recording the song’s first verse “a year ago” before moving on to something else. However, having more time to review banked material during the pandemic is what got the song finished. Brunson notes, “We had that song since last year. Since COVID-19 happened, we were going over songs, and she was like, ‘I like this.’ She caught the vibe again and laid the second verse down.”
The piece also reports that according to Brunson, Megan first got involved with the track in April or May, after Cardi’s stylist suggested adding Megan to the track. The stylist then got in touch with Megan’s stylist and made the connection that would eventually yield “WAP.”
Brunson also explained his role in Cardi’s creative process, saying, “I’ll just pick her brain about her emotions; what mood she’s in. She’s always in drama, so I try to write things down whenever she says some crazy, spontaneous thing. Then, I’ll go through beats and go, ‘This fit that and fits that.’ Then I’ll start it, send the pack over to her and she’ll immediately listen to the ones I started and go through the whole pack.”
Read the full feature here.
Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.