Cardi B says success did not happen overnight and plays down feud rumors with Nicki Minaj
In the world of Hip Hop, we hear a lot of disses between the newcomer and the established artiste. So when Cardi B came to the scene, rumors of an apparent feud with Nicki Minaj started doing the rounds.
But finally, Cardi B has come clean in a new interview with Apple Music's Beats 1 Radio and has dismissed rumors of feuding with Nicki Minaj and enthused about the wide range of collaborators – including Chance the Rapper and SZA – on her newly issued debut LP, Invasion of Privacy.
The 'Bodak Yellow' star denied Internet rumors of a supposed beef with Minaj, though she understands why it's "entertaining" to watch rappers swap disses.
"I ain't gonna front: When Nicki and Remy [Ma] was beefing, everybody was tuning in, like, 'Ooh, what's next?'" she said.
"[But[ if you ain't fucking my man or taking my money from me, stopping my money, I don't really give a fuck about you. People just want to pin it so much because it's entertainment ... I spoke to [Minaj] before ... I don't want nobody sneak-dissing me. If it's something where you can talk it out, let's talk it out ... I feel like fans just keep doing it because they want that."
The Bronx native also talked about the many high-profile guest artists on her long-awaited debut. She praised Chance the Rapper as being the "perfect" fit for the laid-back, optimistic song 'Best Life'.
"It's really positive, really full of energy, really different for me," she said. "[Chance] was very easy to work with." But with SZA, the conflicts in schedules were challenging to deal with but it was her persistence that paid off with album closer 'I Do'.
"I just really had this dope idea, and I reached out to her," she said. "[SZA's] very busy ... but she always said, 'I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it."
Cardi B also gave shoutouts to other artists such as Bad Bunny and J Balvin, who appear on the hooky 'I Like It'.
"These guys are at the top of their game," she said, calling the performers "mad humble" and joking, "It was like, 'If you ever need a kidney, I'll give it to ya.'"
In the 31-minute long interview, Cardi spoke about how the intro to "Get Up 10" encapsulates the theme of the album. The track speaks to her long struggle for success and her misunderstood past as a stripper.
She said she used to dance across the street from Borough of Manhattan Community College, where she went to school.
"I always want to – I'm not going to say defend – strippers, but I just feel like people don't understand it," she said. "I wanted to let people know, 'I was a stripper. I wasn't fucking. I wasn't a prostitute. I wasn't sucking dick.' First of all, that's illegal in New York City. You're going to jail for real. And the clubs don't give a fuck. I was really scared to put that song on the album because I felt like it's too much of my first mixtape or second mixtape type of flow. But it's like, 'Fuck it.'
"I even say in the song, 'I was just trying to chill and make bangers.' People put this pressure on me and these expectations on me and trying to compare me to other women, and it's like, 'I never asked for that shit. I never asked for that shit.' I came into this game trying to make money, make music and go on my way. A lot of people want to tear me down because they want to put me up there, and I never asked to be put up here."
On a lighter note, Cardi said one of her goals is to expand her rapping techniques, learn to drive ("I have to learn because I'm buying all these damn cars, and I don't know how to drive them. But I'm a professional passenger, and I'm cool with that") and have more spontaneous recording sessions with her boyfriend, Migos' Offset.
"He has a studio in his house, and you'll hear something, and it's like, 'Oh, I wanna hop on it,'" Cardi said. "Sometimes it gets me shy because it's like, 'He's looking at me. Oh, my gosh. We have different sounds – I'm a little more New York, so I wonder if he's gonna think I'm wack. It's a little nerve-racking. And it's on-the-spot ... And they'll be like, 'Get in the booth,' and I'm like, 'You gotta give me an hour to write something."
Ever since becoming famous, Cardi B has broken one records after another. She became the first female artist to achieve gold sales on her release day. The rapper will perform on the April 7th installment of Saturday Night Live; two days later, she will become the first-ever co-host plus musical guest on The Tonight Show.