Less than a week after the release of Invasion of Privacy, Cardi B's debut album is receiving critical and commercial success. It's clear she'll be sticking around for awhile, so she's taking steps to actively invest in her own future.
During a new interview with Sirius XM, Cardi says she'll actually be taking a financial loss this year at Coachella after spending $300,000 of her own money on her stage set. She explains the festival was booked last year, when she wasn't as popular as she is now, so the pay isn't as high as it could be—but she's cool with the situation.
"We booked Coachella like six or seven months ago," she notes. "So, I'm getting paid for Coachella like 70 [thousand] a day. I've been booked for this. Then it's like, I have to invest so much money on my stage set—my own money that I have to go to Wells Fargo and write a check. It's crazy. Almost $300,000."
Cardi says she didn't initially realize how big of a deal Coachella was, but now she's willing to spend some of her own money on making the experience as memorable as possible. "It's an investment," she says. "You've got to take that. You've got to take that to the chin." Then she joked, "But it's like, 'Dammit. Right after I finished paying my damn taxes."
During her interview with Sirius, she also spoke about being blown away by all the positive words coming from unexpected places. Cardi says she can't believe artists like Green Day, Sam Smith, Logic, and Erykah Badu have been reaching out with encouragement. She also revealed that Bono was a fan.
"When I did the Grammys, I got a note from Bono," she explains. "I've got it in my house in a special place where my awards are at and everything, because it's freakin' Bono."
On a heavy press run this week following the release of her album, Cardi also stopped by Sway in the Morning and talked about how the pressure of success has added anxiety to the recording process.
"At first when I was doing music, it was fun, and I was so eager to get in the studio all the time," she tells Sway Calloway. "Now, I get anxiety when I go to the studio because everybody is expecting some crazy, amazing magic from me. I want to give you all what I like at the time. I don't want pressure. Stop expecting that everything is going to be a No. 1. Stop comparing me to another person."
Cardi says the pressure has made music start to feel like a job. “It really has become a job. I don't like that. I don't like to feel like I'm obligated and having a hard time at work. Like, I used to be a dancer and I was having a good time. It didn't even sometimes feel like work."
You can watch her full Sway interview below, in which she also discusses what she learned about money, Offset’s musical advice, and how she came up with the title for her album.
