American rapper Megan Thee Stallion made waves when she joined forces last year with fellow rapper Cardi B and collaborated on the popular and controversial song "WAP."
The song received critical acclaim for its sex-positive message but was also met with backlash from conservatives for its raunchy lyrics.
The duo's first performance of the song at the 2021 Grammys led to over 1,000 FCC complaints from angry viewers who compared the explicit content to pornography.
If social conservatives were upset by that performance, we hope they missed Megan's latest rendition of "WAP," the American Sign Language Edition, at Lollapalooza last weekend.
As the Grammy winner twerked her way through the fan-favorite at Chicago's annual music festival in Grant Park, her ASL interpreter stole the show with her own moves.
You can watch the clip of the performance, below.
EXCUSE ME BUT THE SIGN LANGUAGE INTERPRETER DURING MEGAN\u2019S PERFORMANCE OF WAP MUST BE SEENpic.twitter.com/6p590p5YS2— Alexa Lisitza (@Alexa Lisitza) 1628004505
The energetic performance generated sudden interest from people wanting to dabble in ASL.
What part of sign language school is this part?pic.twitter.com/mjEtbDHXzY— matt (@matt) 1628033073
I need to know the ASL class they teach this inpic.twitter.com/RxvL3r1IoM— \ud83d\udcccElijah Zelaya (@\ud83d\udcccElijah Zelaya) 1628016741
I love that having sign language interpreters is both great for accessibility AND adds a whole new dimension to the performance.— Mel, 2021 Edition (@Mel, 2021 Edition) 1628008143
The interpreter earned mad respect for her skills.
This is the most amazing thing— Jessica Ferri (@Jessica Ferri) 1628005084
That's where you know the interpreter is actually interpreting, and not just signing the lyrics. There's much more that goes in a performance than just lyrics, and interperters like this one really convey the tone as well— Squishy_Ho (@Squishy_Ho) 1628013154
I love videos like this because they demonstrate a level of talent and professionalism which is equal to the original artists themselves, and it has taken rap and related genres to bring them to the fore in public awareness. The speed, expressiveness, and being 100% in sync.— Brian Ragle (@Brian Ragle) 1628075999
Sign Language Interpreters are always MVPs in my book.pic.twitter.com/4pc4bfLf7E— Lee A. Kirabo (Kee-rah-boe) (@Lee A. Kirabo (Kee-rah-boe)) 1628028701
One Twitter user jumped in to dismiss any skepticism about the accuracy of the interpretation. David Allan Hoe tweeted, "I consulted a professional ASL interpreter this sh*t ain't made up neither!!!!"
A screenshot showed the exchange that verified the interpretation was legit and said, "That b*tch killed it" and it was "like perfect."
@honkytonkcay/Twitter
The ASL interpreter was identified as Instagram user @Kelly4Access, who responded to all the attention since the clip went viral.
In the caption for her IG post, she gave a shout out to deaf ASL teachers, influencers, and content creators:
"Thanks for the love on my page from hearing people but I'm just an interpreter passionate about providing access to a community I love and have learned everything from."
Her post read, in part:
"If you're still wondering why deaf and hard of hearing people go to concerts follow these pages and learn something new."
"Seeing an interpreter at a concert shouldn't be shocking. Seeing a deaf interpreter on tour with every artist should be the norm!"
For many concertgoers, the four-day event was the first live performance they'd enjoyed since March 2020, when the pandemic forced restrictions on all social gatherings.