Biography of Cardi B
Cardi B (real name Belcalis Marlenis Almanzar) is a popular rapper, songwriter and internet celebrity who has won numerous music awards (including nine BET Hip Hop Awards and three MTV Video Music Awards as of early 2019) and two Guinness World Records for the most compositions by a female artist, included in the “hot hundred” and for a record number of R&B and hip-hop songs included in the Top 10 hit parade from Billboard US magazine.
Latin American rapper Cardi B
She became the first female rapper with two singles (“Bodak Yellow” and “I Like It”) to top the Billboard Hot 100 and the only one to win a major music award – a Grammy – as a solo artist for best rap album. (“Invasion of Privacy”).
Childhood and youth
The future sought-after rap queen was born on October 11, 1992 in the Bronx, one of the five districts of New York, in a poor family of a Dominican father and an Afro-Trinidadian mother. She spent much of her time at her paternal grandmother’s house in Manhattan, where she acquired her current peculiar way of pronouncing words.
Cardi B as a child
Living not in the most prosperous, in the Latin American area of u200bu200bthe city, at the age of 16 she already communicated with members of the Bloods street group, which was engaged in robberies and resell (the sale of loot). Then she worked in a supermarket, was a stripper in a club, saved up money to invest in her future in the world of popular art and studied at Community College.
In 2013, Belcalis began posting interesting videos on her rap songs on Vine and on her Instagram page, which suddenly interested users.
Cardi B in her youth
By the way, the stage name of the singer is formed from the name of the Bacardi rum brand. So jokingly she was called in childhood by relatives and friends, hinting at Caribbean roots, and also because her sister’s name is Hennessy, similar to the famous brand of French cognac Hennessy.
Path to glory
In 2015, the girl became the heroine of the reality show “Love and Hip-Hop” about the life of people associated with the music of this genre. The number of subscribers in her Instagram began to grow rapidly. In the same period, she released her debut video for the song “Cheap Ass Weave”. After participating in the sixth and seventh seasons of the show, the singer announced her departure and her intention to devote herself entirely to music.
In March 2016, her first mixtape, Gangsta Bitch Music, Vol. 1″, which included 13 tracks. Its cover, which depicts a man with a tattooed back leaning between the singer’s legs, caused a lawsuit. Fashion model Kevin Brophy, who allegedly recognized himself in an unambiguous pose because of his identical tattoos, was outraged by the publication of his photo in a similar perspective without his knowledge and permission. Through the court, he demanded compensation for non-pecuniary damage, estimating it at $5 million.
Cardi B in the show “Love and hip-hop”
In April, fans of the rap artist could see her on Khloe Kardashian’s talk show Kocktails with Khloé. In its course, she frankly told the audience how she told her mother that she had started working as a stripper.
In January 2017, the second collection of the outrageous star “Gangsta Bitch Music, Vol. 2″ of ten tracks, which continued the series, and a single in support of it “Bronx Season”. In addition, along with Jamaican singer HoodCelebrityy, Haitian-American artist Josh X and others, Cardi B went on a US tour organized by the KSR Group label.
Cardi B before becoming famous
She also featured on the remix of rapper DRAM’s hit “Cute”, on the lead single “No Limit” with ASAP Rocky from rapper G-Eazy’s The Beautiful & Damned, and on PHresher’s “Right Now”. .
But the real world recognition came to the rap diva in the summer of 2017, when she presented the single “Bodak Yellow”, which topped the main Billboard Hot 100 music chart. The rapper girl managed to do this for the first time in 19 years – since she was on top in 1998 Lauryn Hill track “Doo Wop (That Thing)”.
To the surprise of a number of critics who considered the singer’s creative achievement just a one-time luck, six months later her name was again at the top position of the hit parade with the song “I Like It”, performed with the participation of J Balvin and Bad Bunny. By this time, 5 million people had subscribed to her YouTube channel.
That same year, she played the role of Mercedes in Being Mary Jane, a series about the life of a black woman starring Gabrielle Union, and also appeared on television in the game show Hip Hop Squares.
In 2018, the work of the glamorous rap icon was already followed by about 25 million fans on Instagram. At the same time, her first studio album “Invasion of Privacy” appeared on the top position of the Billboard 200.
Subsequently, it was certified double platinum in the US (with one million units sold), was called by the press “one of the strongest debuts of the millennium” and earned her a Grammy.
Among the phenomenal achievements of the rapper was also being in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 with three hit songs at once (“Bodak Yellow”, “I Like It” and “Girls Like You” joint with Maroon 5). Previously, only the Beatles and Ashanti had a similar result.
The biggest star of today’s scene was a guest on one of the most popular evening musical comedy shows in the US, Saturday Night Live, where she officially announced her pregnancy, and also tried herself as a co-host of the television entertainment program Tonight. At the same time, Time magazine, covering the rating of people, included her in its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
In September of the same year, a video clip of the French artist DJ Shake appeared, recorded with the participation of rap star Cardi B, singer Selena Gomez and Puerto Rican musician Osuna. In record time, he scored one hundred million views.
The rapid development of the career of the singer, known for her eccentric behavior, did not pass without scandals. In 2018, at Harper’s Bazaar’s New York Fashion Week after-party, Cardi B got into a fight with rapper Nicki Minaj, accusing her of spreading lies about her accomplishments. And rap singer Azalea Banks, not limited to skirmishes in social networks, called Cardi on the air of one of the radio stations “an illiterate mediocre rat.”
Cardi B feuds with Nicki Minaj
The internationally recognized rap celebrity continues to create masterpieces and hone his rap potential. In February 2019, she released a single with Bruno Mars called “Please Me”. On the day of release, he headed the American iTunes.
In March of that year, she set a record attendance at the world’s largest Houston Show and Rodeo (HLSR) performance with 75,500 fans in attendance. In 2024, Cardi B continued to engage in creativity, but less actively. For 9 months of the year, she released only one new song – “Wap”.
Cardi B’s personal life
In September 2017, Cardi B married rapper Offset (real name Kiari Sifus). In July 2018, the couple had a daughter, Kalcher. The happy father made a tattoo with her name on his face. The girl became his fourth child: from a past relationship, he has a daughter, Kalea, and two sons, Cody and Jordan. In December 2018, the rap artist announced her separation from her husband, but in February they reunited.
Cardi B and her husband Offset
In the fall of 2024, the singer shocked fans twice. First, she was a rap artist who gave a small child a bag worth several hundred thousand dollars. Secondly, she filed for divorce with Offset – as it turned out, the couple fell apart due to the rapper’s numerous betrayals. A few weeks later, the situation improved, and the rapper admitted that they were staying together.
Cardi gave her husband a third chance, and in September 2024 they became parents again. It seems that peace and tranquility finally reigned in the couple.
Cardi B with her husband and newborn son
The rap star is Catholic. She often noted in interviews that she allegedly directly communicates with God. The singer calls herself a feminist and among those who inspired her to work, she mentions only women. She called Lady Gaga and Madonna her favorite singers, Kaya and Trina were her objects of worship.
Cardi B’s daughter
Cardi B now
Due to motherly worries, Cardi has been devoting less time to her career lately, and yet in 2024 she delighted fans with a couple of new singles: “Up”, “Wild Side” and the song “Rumors” with body-positive icon Lizzo. The singer’s second album is sure to be, but for now Cardi tries herself as an actress – she starred in the ninth part of “Fast and the Furious”, playing Lacey, Dominic Toretto’s girlfriend.
Cardi B and Vin Diesel on the set of Fast & Furious 9