After popping up in a Super Bowl ad and having fun on social media with her silhouette challenge, Cardi B has reverted her focus back to music, sharing the single and video for “Up” this Friday.
Similar to her viral music video for “WAP” last year, the video for “Up” is a major production, complete with choreography, several costume changes, and plenty of CGI. In its first nine hours, the video has already amassed 2.5 million views, so evidently Cardi’s hard work is paying off.
The visuals for “Up” begin with Cardi standing in a graveyard in an ornate black corset bodysuit, facing away from the camera. The shot pans to show her infamous “Offset” tattoo before landing on a tombstone that reads, “RIP 2020.”
From then on, Cardi launches into a fierce performance of her newest single, rapidly switching from scenes of her and several other women executing some impressive choreography to her standing on the hood of the car resembling an ornament on a luxury car. At one point, the rapper is even seen rocking a wig filled with talking Barbie doll heads.
With it being a Cardi B music video and all, there’s some risque imagery sprinkled throughout the visuals as well. In one clip, the “Bodak Yellow” artist is seen holding a Vush sex toy while slowly licking her lips, and in a similar scene, Cardi tongues three of her female co-stars. The ultimate NSFW scene in the “Up” video, however, arrives as the Invasion of Privacy artist lays on a glass table practically fully nude, only sporting a pair of glass heels and clear plastic covering over the front of her body.
Last summer, the “WAP” music video helped solidify the single as a bonafide hit, so time will tell if the video treatment for “Up” follows suit. If it matches her previous single’s success, we may be getting Cardi B’s follow-up to Invasion of Privacy sooner than we think.