Two of music’s biggest names, pop diva Dua Lipa and rap queen Megan Thee Stallion, have graced us all with a collaboration that’s an ode to p*ssy magic. The duo dropped the video for “Sweetest Pie” on Friday and it’s a smorgasbord of innuendo, straight-up sex, and sci-fi fantasy realness.
The video was directed by Dave Meyer, with the concept originally having been conceived by Meg. It begins with two lonely boys trekking through a lush, verdant alternate world, unaware of the trap that’s set for them. Before they know it, they’re staring into a very vaginal floral cave, in which Dua and Meg are in couture, luring in their future victims. A CG spider crawls beneath Dua’s skin, the first clue that we might have stumbled into a baroque, alien matriarchy.
It feels a bit like the gothic, hi-fi yang to the ethereal, bubblegum yin of SZA and Doja Cat’s video for “Kiss Me More,” in which they also are alien queens luring unsuspecting men to their ends. The video also feels referential to Cardi B and Lizzo’s video for “Rumors,” in which they become Herculean goddesses in a gilded landscape. “Sweetest Pie” seems to cement a trend of pop titans uniting to celebrate the divine feminine and encapsulate female rebellion.
As the men in “Sweetest Pie” get more ensconced into this new world, soaking in its carnal delights, Meg raps from a cave lined with giant, gyrating butts. She sets the tone for what’s to come: “Baby I’m the sweetest / P*ssy is the meanest / Hot girl shit / But I’m cold every season.” As the video continues, the pairs’ outfits start to give clues to the fact that they’re not so human with chest pieces that feel like a nod to the original Alien film and spider-like back pieces. Flashes of asses getting grabbed, hands smashing into pies and flowers exploding give big coitus energy.
It all takes a turn when the hip-hop icon and “Levitating” singer get tied up at the stake by a hoard of rowdy fuckboys. They’ve come after the wrong queens, though — tiny middle fingers burst out of Megan’s eye sockets, before the two redirect the flames to torch the entire phallic kingdom of their abusers and writhe in the ashes. It’s what sets “Sweetest Pie” apart from its predecessors: in this world, the men deserve what they get. The women aren’t the villains, they’re just defending themselves against men infiltrating their sacred, divine world.
For all the shes, theys and gays, it’s a cathartic watch and a fun narrative arch for a music video. The song itself is the catchy, dance-floor courting pop fair that’s to be expected from a collaboration of this caliber. It’s not a transcendent single, but it’ll do the trick — like most spring fever releases that just aim to help us shake the dust off, not necessarily be the next anthem. The video, though, overdelivers.
