David Lee Roth creates peculiar artwork inspired by Cardi B’s WAP performance

David Lee Roth and Cardi B
(Image credit: Chris McKay/Getty Images for Live Nation, Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

Remember that Grammy Awards moment? No, not Harry Styles frolicking in his ravishing, metal AF full-leather suit – we’re talking about Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s W.A.P performance. It was the moment that got the whole world talking, and – in true Satanic Panic style – saw some corners of society sternly shaking their fingers and dousing their children with holy water to protect them from the twerking tyranny infiltrating the music business. 

Because forget the potential economic and global collapse of life as we know it courtesy of the on-going pandemic, this is the shit that really matters — two women expressing their artistry through a bit of sexy dancing and hot'n'heavy music. And who better to weigh in on such matters than the old men of the rock industry? Latest to contribute his opinion on the raunchy performance is Van Halen’s David Lee Roth.

Recently, the vocalist took to social media to reveal a piece of W.A.P-inspired artwork. In fairness to Roth, his stance on the performance isn’t entirely clear – he doesn't seem to be anti it, particularly, but it's resonated with him enough to inspire his latest doodle. The image reads “Nothin but W.A.P for David Lee Roth”, next to a signpost captioned “The Soggy Bottom”, and has what we can only assume is a frog looking at the words “He thinks it means wings and pizza”. Well, cover your ears young frog, because W.A.P actually stands for “wet ass pussy”, a phrase which has contributed to the mass hysteria – because there's nothing worse than a sexually liberated woman, right?

Like all great art, the meaning behind Roth's doodle is open to interpretation – is it a post-modern comment on the absurd nature of popular culture? Does he think that the critique around the performance is a race to the (soggy) bottom? Is he gently mocking the outrage around the song as someone who's stirred up his own fair share of controversy? Is it a comment on the ridiculousness of getting wound up about women liking sex in 2021? Does he just really love wings and pizza? 

Obviously Roth is no stranger to W.A.P – wings and pizza, obvs – so we'd like to think it'd take a little more than this to ruffle his feathers. Still, it wasn't so long ago that Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler offered his opinion that the song was “disgusting” and a “bit much”.

This isn't the first time Roth has revealed his artistic abilities. Over the past year, the singer has been posting drawings that reflect his thoughts on the current state of society. Not only that, but according to the Van Halen News Desk, doodling is quite the frequent pastime for Roth, who throughout his career has been seen scribbling on just about anything — setlists, tour riders, female body parts, you name it. 

Liz Scarlett

Liz works on keeping the Louder sites up to date with the latest news from the world of rock and metal. Prior to joining Louder as a full time staff writer, she completed a Diploma with the National Council for the Training of Journalists and received a First Class Honours Degree in Popular Music Journalism. She enjoys writing about anything from neo-glam rock to stoner, doom and progressive metal, and loves celebrating women in music.