DJ iMarkKeyz, who famously remixed Cardi B’s coronavirus rant back in March, has taken on Ben Shapiro’s straight-faced lyric recitation of “WAP,” the NSFW (or even WFH) track by Cardi and Megan Thee Stallion, which dropped on Friday (Aug. 7).
The Brooklyn-born and bred iMarkKeyz, whose real name is Brandon Davidson, is a local DJ and producer well-known for remixing videos and memes. “The Ben Shapiro Show” airs weekdays on some 200 radio stations in nine of the top 10 markets and on DailyWire.com. In expressing what can only be described as disgust at the song’s raunchy lyrics, the conservative host went on to read aloud the lyrics, censoring curse words and the song’s very title.
Tweeted by Jason Cambell and later Jordan Uhl, it was shared more nearly 10,000 times within 6 hours.
Variety reached out to iMarKkeyz to ask how the remix came about. “The internet kept tagging me in the actual video and told me to remix it, add Ben Shapiro’s vocals on Cardi B’s ‘WAP’ beat,” he says. “It was quick, that’s what I normally do for a living. It’s a short amount of time that I got everything done.”
Indeed, the entire process of remixing the “WAP” record took him 30 minutes total.
Speaking on the creative process, he says “It was funny when I saw the actual video. I didn’t know he was digging into the politics of the actual song, I thought it was loving it. After I watched the whole entire video, I saw that he’s not. He’s against the actual song, so I added my own little twist to it to make it seem like he likes it.”
So far the reaction to the remix has been positive. He adds: “They laughed and enjoyed it. Some were antagonizing his statement saying he shouldn’t be concerned about how the song should be perceived or whatever the case may be.”
When the DJ’s “Coronavirus” remix went viral, he revealed plans to donate any royalties from its consumption to aid in the battle against coronavirus. No word yet on whether “SHAP” will follow a similar course.
Check out MarkKeyz’s “WAP” remix below.