The mash-up – one of music’s most inspired and, simultaneously, most cursed subgenres – is back. Scroll through your ‘For You’ page on TikTok, and you’ll likely hear vocals from the latest Top 40 hit paired with an incongruous backing track. Due to the bootleg nature of the tracks, these mash-ups tend to only exist as clips on social media, rather than as officially released songs you can hear on streaming platforms, but the form has been gaining some renewed legitimacy as of late, with Dua Lipa’s party-rocking Club Future Nostalgia DJ Mix album being absolutely crammed with fully licensed mash-ups of Jamiroquai, Gwen Stefani, and more.
Another popular track doing the rounds right now is Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s smash “WAP”, which seems to sound good mashed up with, well, just about anything. You might have heard it paired with unlikely songs like “Bohemian Rhapsody” (or “Bohemian WAPsody”, to give it its proper title), reimagined as a smooth 80s R&B banger, or… uh, given the weird Phantom of the Opera treatment (look, we said it sounds good with “just about” everything – there are bound to be some misfires). On TikTok, users have been firing up GarageBand and pairing the “WAP” acapella with other iconic tracks. Here are a few of the best.
“WAP” VS. “BELIEVE”
