Normani‘s latest single, ‘Wild Side,’ has been deemed a winner by many, a feat underscored by its initial sales performance on digital and streaming outlets.
But while some laud the Tanu Muino-directed music video for its eye-popping visuals and high octane choreography, others have argued the visual is damaging to queer progression – even suggesting it intentionally straddles the line of pandering to heterosexual male fantasies and promoting performative lesbianism to bait members of the LGBT community who identify as such.
The song’s GRAMMY-winning featured artist, Cardi B, contests the notion and took to Twitter to hit back at the claims. Look inside to see what she said:
Friday (July 23), ‘Rolling Stone’ took to print to examine how ‘queerbaiting’ has translated to success for some of music’s most popular artists.
Defining the term as when “a celebrity or a public figure capitalizes on the suspicion that they may be romantically involved with another same-sex person for the sake of publicity, promotion or a capitalistic gain,” the article quotes famed filmmaker Leo Herrera who says the act “plays with our lack of representation and desires to get us in the theaters or get us to watch.”
Among the more recent offenders named were Nick Jonas, Billie Eilish, and Cardi B (courtesy of her role in the Normani music video). Look below to see her response to the inclusion:
This isn’t the first time Cardi’s been lumped into this kind of accusation.
In 2018, she issued an apology after fans slammed ‘Girls, Girls, Girls’ – her song with Rita Ora, Bebe Rexha, and others – for ‘minimizing’ and ‘exploiting’ lesbianism, using offensive terms, and more. Click here to revisit that story.