Attention: Cardi B did not come to play—she came to slay. She's made that abundantly clear since day one, years ago when she first bubbled up in the culture through classic Vines and quotables, like her epic adage, "A hoe never gets cold."
Over the past two years, Cardi has gone from stripper to Love & Hip Hop cast member to bonafide rap star. She's out here meeting Beyoncé, inspiring SZA, sharing a stage with Drake, and thrilling fans with wild performances of her No. 3 Hot 100 hit, "Bodak Yellow." When Cardi isn't influencing the world through her music, she's busy paving her own path as a fashion icon.
The girl has a vision, and she's not afraid to go after what she wants. But not everything is roses for the Bronx MC. Apparently, somebody isn't rocking with Cardi as hard as she rocks with herself, and this someone appears to be a person in the industry that she looks (or looked) up to. So on Friday, Cardi hopped on Instagram to get a little something off her chest.
"Coming from nothing isn't winning, doing everything they said I couldn't because of my stripper past isn't winning," Cardi wrote in the post's caption. "Taking care of my family isn't winning, reaching the top of the billboard charts when everybody said NO isn't winning??? If this ain't winning sis you tell me what is!! I know you must be so busy and overbooked that finding the time to give me 'advice' was hard!! But I talk to Christ and my mother everyday and I don't need it!!"
Pop off, Belcalis! I, for one, am fully supportive of artists understanding the value of their time, especially women. But who could Cardi "B" shooting at? Here are some possible targets:
Nicki Minaj
You know I had to start at square one. Based on the mention of advice and the "you must be so busy and overbooked" line, it sounds like the subject of Cardi's ire is a woman in the entertainment industry, likely music. Cardi shared a stage with many other female rappers just a couple months ago: during Summer Jam, Remy Ma brought out Queen Latifah, Rah Digga, Monie Love, Young M.A, Lil Kim, MC Lyte, Lady of Rage, and Cardi to perform. Seeing as that was hella recent, I'm assuming Cardi is still on good terms with those ladies. Cardi was also spotted having a grand time with DeJ Loaf shortly after Summer Jam, eliminating her, as well. So that leaves Nicki Minaj.
It was initially thought that Nicki was aiming at Cardi in her verse on London on da Track’s recent single, "No Flag." But Nicki almost immediately shut those rumors down on Twitter:
Y'all are trying to make Nicki's No Flags verse about Cardi specifically, and it's really not. Stop reaching please.
It sure ain't 🤷🏽♀️ Wrote this one a cpl months ago too #NoFlag 🚫🏳💨 https://t.co/0rukxOGyXU
Cardi has also spoken up about what it's like being in the same lane as someone as dominant as Nicki. "It’s something great," Cardi told Spanish urban entertainment site Rapetón. "Why wouldn’t I want to be compared... to somebody that is such a legend? You know, like an icon in the hip-hop world."
Debunked.
Men
Maybe, just maybe, Cardi is being intentionally disrespectful and referring to a man as "sis"? I mean, the Petty Gods would heartily approve.
Just a few months ago, Cardi posted a video to Twitter, calling out men who don't respect her grind:
Imma adress has ONE TIME and one time only pic.twitter.com/31P15OOex3
“A lot of y’all men, I be getting a lot of backlash and fucked-up backlash,” she said in the video. “And it be from y’all niggas. Especially because I used to be a stripper. OK, I used to be a stripper. I needed a job that’s gonna feed me. Your fucking favorite rapper used to fucking work in places like McDonald’s, my nigga." Cardi went on to say, "At least everything I rap about is real life shit... Your favorite rapper is not like that. Your favorite rapper is not a gangsta. Your favorite rapper raps about selling drugs that he never even touched before. ... Y’all niggas always bashing women down, fuck out of here."
But her latest post seems to be a very specific comment directed toward a very specific person. So, maybe she's not mad at men after all.
Sommore
Wait, what? Queen of Comedy Sommore? Friday After Next Sommore? The plot thickens.
Sommore took it upon herself to post a clip of Cardi's "Bodak Yellow" video to Instagram Thursday. In the caption, Sommore writes, "Just cause you busy don't mean your winning.... You better be reading ya paper work! #Chandelierovahere."
The key word here is "winning," as it appears in both Sommore and Cardi's posts. It seems strange that Cardi would reach out to an old-school comedian for advice about how to maneuver the rap game, but Sommore has been around for a minute and she could have picked up some extra knowledge in other fields. But let's be real: Cardi is probably poking fun at the comic.
Let's bring back this line: "I know you must be so busy and overbooked that finding the time to give me 'advice' was hard!!" Cardi could be delivering a low blow here, insinuating that Sommore is neither busy, nor overbooked, nor someone she would actually take advice from. If that is the case, Cardi fucking B for president.
Because this is 2017 and word travels fast, Sommore has already addressed the situation, via a shared convo with gossip site The Shade Room.
Of course, these is just rumors. On the facts side, Cardi announced at the Made in America Festival that her new album would be dropping in October. With or without the support of this mystery figure, Cardi should be just fine steering her career forward.
