You've probably heard of her or seen her recently on your TV, radio, or social media. Cardi B is a hip hop recording artist known for singles such as "Bodak Yellow" and "Foreva", she also has more than 16 million Instagram followers on her iamcardib account. She was born and raised in the Bronx alongside sister, Hennessy Carolina.
Her parents were born in the Caribbean, and she's dating Offset from Migos. These are sure things about her that you can easily find out. But what about the dark side of her fame? How did Cardi B get her start? And what obstacles and sacrifices did she have to overcome to achieve her fame?
1. She Used To Work As A Stripper & Was A Victim Of Domestic Abuse
It's no secret that Cardi B used to be a stripper, and she's been very open about her past and her brush with domestic abuse. She once stated in an interview that, "I was poor as hell. I was living with my ex-boyfriend that was beating my ass, I had to drop out of school.
I was like living with his mama and two pit bulls in one bedroom. It was cray." She also explained how the only way to escape her living situation was by stripping and making her own money."How was I going to leave if I only made $200 a week? Ain't no way," she said before admitting that stripping saved her life.
2. She Speaks Openly About Being A Blood
Cardi has taken to twitter to admit that she's been a member of the Bloods since she was 16. As she put on twitter, "I been a big time Blood since I was 16." she also told her fans that rather than leaving her gang, she "might as well get killed." Cardi has also made it incredibly clear that she's not ready to leave the street life behind.
Recently she wrote an instagram comment response to one of her fans saying, "Where you got me wrong is I ALWAYS BEEN IN THE STREETS. I'm militant, I know my oath, my nation, like the back of my hands I came from the streets. I been banging s*** since 16, not after fame or Bodak. Im new to the world. I'm not living in the Bronx or in NY. N***** wanna make it a big deal cause I'm CARDI." According to TMZ, Cardi B will now be rolling with armed security everywhere.
3. She's Open About Having Cosmetic Surgery & Almost Died From A Procedure
Cardi has admitted that her decision to go through with cosmetic surgery came from the insecurity she felt about her body because she worked at a strip club. In fact, Cardi has talked about her choice to get cosmetic surgery on her instagram and social media platforms. She says that she noticed she wasn't making as much money as the other women, who had bigger rears at the club.
She also said that her boyfriend at the time cheated on her with another woman who had a significantly bigger backside.She has even come clean about one instance where she almost died while getting shots done on her booty. She admitted that she went into the dark basement of a Jamaican woman to get the procedure done, and then soon after she became extremely nauseous and had difficulty breathing. On top of that, the pain was extremely "unbearable."
4. She Became A Rapper Accidentally
However, the woman is now in jail for killing someone who also went to her for a bigger backside. Looks like Cardi missed a bullet with that one. There are many social media "influencers" who are happy with simply building their social media presence while getting freebies and earning money. However, Cardi wanted more than that. At 22, she stopped stripping and hired a manager.
Cardi knew that she wanted to be famous, but at the time she wasn't thinking about rapping. The new manager heard the way she was constantly commentating on her own life with her own hip-hop lyrics and suggested she give it a shot. Cardi got herself on a Shaggy remix and then managed to land a role on season 6 of Love & Hip Hop, the reality show that covers the music business. She then dropped her first LP, Gangsta Bitch Music Vol. 1 , that she dropped in 2016.
5. Her Name is Short For Bacardi
During an appearance on Wendy Williams show, Cardi stated that she got her name from the popular rum brand, Bacardi.
Her birth name is actually Belcalis Almanzar, and she revealed that her sister's name is Hennessy, so everyone used to call her Bacardi.
6. She Considers Herself A Huge Feminist
She then shortened it to Cardi B.
She Considers Herself A Huge Feminist