Cardi B is slowly however certainly restoring camaraderie amongst at present’s main ladies in music. The Grammy-winning Bronx rapper helms the refreshing pattern of female-female collaborations, and it has her getting into a brand new function inside her star energy: the characteristic fairy.
Living proof: Cardi B’s new collaboration with Latto, “Put It on Da Ground Once more,” sits on the No. 7 spot on Apple Music’s prime songs chart and has amassed over 11 million views on YouTube for the reason that launch of its accompanying viral music video on June 2. The remixed observe is all music followers may speak about following its drop, and the identical goes for fellow feminine rappers who confirmed their help. On launch day, Maiya the Don tweeted lyrics from Cardi B’s verse, writing, “IM SEXY DANCING IN THE CRIB FEEL LIKE BRITNEY SPEARS 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” GloRilla, in the meantime, wrote on Twitter, “If cardi do not do sh*t else she gone slide on a mf beat 😂😂🔥🔥🔥 go cousinnnnn @iamcardib.” And pleasure over the brand new observe solely continued on June 4 at Summer time Jam 2023 when Cardi B introduced Latto out on stage to carry out it along with her.
“She’s making a sisterhood to assist different ladies win on the most important scale attainable and forming friendships alongside the way in which.”
“Put It on Da Ground Once more” is only one current instance of Cardi B utilizing her platform to raise the up-and-coming and already-established ladies in her musical peer group. Whereas she could not have invented this modern-day motion, she’s actually mobilizing it with natural cosigns and comradeship which were missing during the last decade.
Cardi B’s stimulus characteristic bundle does not simply embrace a fiery visitor verse and immaculate rollout on her half. Most instances, it additionally ensures her feminine collaborators an outpour of public help, proof that Cardi B is doing way more than simply bolstering her discography. She’s making a sisterhood to assist different ladies win on the most important scale attainable and forming friendships alongside the way in which.
In a 2021 Cosmopolitan interview, Normani — who teamed up with Cardi B for his or her “Wild Facet” collaboration that 12 months — spoke about how a lot Cardi B has supported her profession by way of the years, explaining that the rap star “has nice vitality” and “is such a real spirit.” Of working collectively on their track, Normani added, “She introduced such gentle to this expertise and to me after not releasing for the final two years. I really feel like she’s given me consolation and supplied a protected house for me.”
Followers can also’t neglect the candy method Cardi B got here to Summer time Walker’s protection when the singer’s love life made headlines years in the past. She appeared on the “Bitter” intro of Walker’s “Nonetheless Over It” album in 2021 (and hopped on her “No Love” remix with SZA in 2022) within the type of a blunt message that inspired the “Over It” songstress to maneuver with grace within the face of adversity. “Regardless that you’ve got issues, put that drama in your music, yeah / ‘Trigger if b*tches wanna get clout off you, you gonna get clout off them,” Cardi B says. “. . . Make them b*tches really feel damage, hit them b*tches the place it damage / And put that sh*t in your music and generate profits off it in your music.”
Some could argue that Cardi B’s collaborations with at present’s buzziest feminine acts really feel like strategic profession strikes, as she hasn’t dropped an album since her 2018 debut. However from what her friends have stated, the “Up” rapper has maintained seemingly genuine bonds with all her music costars after working collectively. Talking to POPSUGAR, GloRilla — who teamed up with Cardi B for “Tomorrow 2” — revealed that she did not anticipate how large their pairing can be however she’s “grateful that it did” blow up. And he or she’s nonetheless linked to Cardi B to at the present time. “I do not even know how one can clarify that second. It was simply loopy as a result of I am a Cardi fan,” GloRilla shared. “I used to be a Cardi fan earlier than I really began rapping, and she or he was one of many those who I did look as much as once I [officially] began.”
“I am actually joyful that she did that as a result of she did not should share her platform with me. I actually admire her for that.”
In line with the “F.N.F. (Let’s Go)” rapper, Cardi B’s verse on “Tomorrow 2” “was a shock to me.” “I did not know what was happening. And once I textual content her — she at all times texts me again quick; she do not act bougie or nothing — she texted me again, and she or he was the one which ended up telling me she was on my track. I did not even know,” GloRilla defined. “That was an iconic second. That track goes down in historical past.”
This would not be the primary time Cardi B made a second out of certainly one of her iconic collaborations. When she and Megan Thee Stallion declared 2020 the 12 months of “WAP,” in addition they reached an unbelievable feat for girls empowerment in certainly one of music’s most male-dominated genres and past. The pair’s unapologetic ode to ladies’s our bodies served as a strong second, but it surely was significantly particular for the celebrities who have been handpicked to look in Cardi B and Megan’s playful music video. Why? As a result of some did not even notice how intently Cardi B had been following their careers at that time.
Again in 2020, Latto — earlier than she skyrocketed to household-name standing and have become a Grammy nominee — instructed Interview Journal she did not take the request to look within the “WAP” video critically at first. “Once I obtained that decision, I swore my supervisor was pranking me,” the rapper revealed. “My thoughts couldn’t register the truth that Cardi B even knew who I used to be, not to mention needed me to be in her video. I’ll at all times love her for that as a result of she knew what placing us in that video would do for our careers.”
Rapper Sukihana had the same shocked response to being known as on to look in “WAP,” as she defined that being talked about in the identical breath as Cardi B “opened doorways” for her quickly after. “Lots of people need to work with me. I am getting put in numerous magazines now. It has been an enormous assist, and I am actually excited as a result of lots of people are taking a look at me,” she instructed Interview Journal on the time. “I am actually joyful that she did that as a result of she did not should share her platform with me. I actually admire her for that.”
Cardi B’s observe document for collaborating with ladies by way of the years has included songs with acts like Metropolis Ladies (“Twerk) and Lizzo (“Rumors”), plus the aforementioned. Most of those releases have both been licensed gold or platinum by the RIAA. To not point out, the rap star has additionally shouted out different feminine artists prior to now like Saweetie, CupkakKe, and Ice Spice — the latter of which occurred when Cardi B referenced the “Munch” rapper in “Tomorrow 2.” (“That n*gga a munch and he gon’ eat me like a mango.”) And regardless of solely having one studio album, in addition to two profitable mixtapes that dropped prior, she’s maintained most relevancy for the final 5 years primarily due to her many charting collaborations — which additionally embrace male artists like Unhealthy Bunny and J Balvin, Maroon 5, Bruno Mars, Kanye West, her husband, Offset, and Migos, to call just a few. Nevertheless it’s been Cardi B’s knack for lending dope options to ladies artists whereas constructing friendships with them that is proved to be most spectacular — particularly in at present’s music local weather that pits ladies towards one another.
It is no secret {that a} continued beef between Cardi B and Nicki Minaj spawned from their notorious “MotorSport” collaboration in 2018. However that hasn’t stopped the previous from making an attempt to attach with the following technology of ladies artists following after her. The identical will be stated for Minaj, although, as she’s hopped on tracks with up-and-comers in hip-hop like Sexyy Crimson (“Pound City 2”) and Coi Leray (“Blick Blick”). She even dropped a “Queen Combine” of her “Tremendous Freaky Lady” single with JT of Metropolis Ladies, BIA, Maliibu Miitch, Katie Bought Bandz, and Akbar V and in addition has a “Barbie” film single with Ice Spice dropping following their “Princess Diana” remix.
Nonetheless, extra noticeably, followers are selecting up on Cardi B’s affinity for linking up along with her feminine friends — within the studio and elsewhere — to dispel a delusion that is been rampant in hip-hop, particularly, for many years now: that just one girl will be on the prime of the sport at a time.
“We’re supporting one another and collabing. The trade, fan bases, and blogs need us to beef, however we’re making it a pleasant sport.”
“The document labels are placing cash behind the ladies that individuals [are] listening to. Because of this, completely different artists are developing quicker than others,” Cardi B defined in a current Instagram Reside when talking on ladies rappers. “The labels solely go along with who’s getting probably the most listens, who’re getting probably the most performs, who’re folks watching extra. You cannot blame no person for that, you’ll be able to’t blame no machine for that. You may’t blame nothing for that. Labels are solely going to place cash behind artists that individuals are listening to.”
This makes it much more clear what may very well be motivating Cardi B’s characteristic run with the ladies in her musical circle. As an alternative of treating her collaborations like enterprise transactions, she’s connecting with fellow artists to the purpose the place they know they will at all times name on her for help. “She’s such a humble individual. I be at all times thanking her,” GloRilla tells POPSUGAR in reference to “Tomorrow 2.” “I do not suppose she like once I be always thanking her as a result of she’ll thank me again. She’ll be like, ‘Uh-uh, you do not obtained to try this.’ She’s only a candy, humble individual.”
By sharing her shine with at present’s artists, Cardi B is main a brand new narrative to provide ladies the highlight she is aware of they deserve. “It is a fantastic time proper now for feminine rap. We’re creating an entire new agenda,” Latto added in her dialog with Interview Journal. “We’re supporting one another and collabing. The trade, fan bases, and blogs need us to beef, however we’re making it a pleasant sport.”
Which feminine artist will Cardi B faucet subsequent? The probabilities are countless. Some predict it might be her Bronx counterpart Scar Lip on account of their current studio session. However whoever her subsequent collaborator could also be, followers appear sure it will be one other surefire hit.
Picture Supply: Getty / Vittorio Zunino Celotto / Irvin Rivera / Frazer Harrison