ABSTRACT
Ironically for the hit single ‘‘Wait (The Whisper Song),’’ hip hop is broadly conceived as
never being about waiting for anything, always about sex, and seldom about whispering. So
how did ‘‘Wait’’ achieve such an effect in the popular imagination? What made it the radio
and club hit of the summer? The anecdote of my first hearing of the tune demonstrates
several important tenets of hip hop. This music is portable, easily separated from its original
local context. It thrives in public and private transcripts, with ‘‘secret’’ versions of songs easily
available to fans in the know. ‘‘Wait’’ demonstrates a laughable misogyny, at once humorously
boastful and patently rude. It is not precious – it flashes into and out of pop consciousness
aggressively, making its statement and generating buzz before moving, just as quickly, out of
making way for the next cycle of hits and misses.