Cardi B had to claw her way to the top of her craft, and along the way faced her fair share of struggle. Cardi B didn't always look the way she looks now and her rise to the top is truly inspirational.
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00:00Cardi B
00:01One of the most famous rappers in the world, Cardi B, blew up the music scene when she
00:05dropped her single, Bodak Yellow, in 2017.
00:08But Cardi B actually had quite a rough start in life.
00:12From rags to riches, this is the stunning transformation of Cardi B.
00:17Although the world knows her as Cardi B, the name she was given at birth in 1992 by her
00:21Dominican father and Trinidadian mother was Belcalis Almanzar.
00:25She came of age in New York City and had a pretty strict upbringing, as her mother
00:34wouldn't let her attend sleepovers for fear she'd fall prey to opportunistic and abusive
00:38men.
00:39Additionally, Cardi B described herself as, quote, a very fragile child, according to
00:44GQ.
00:45The main reason Cardi B was so vulnerable was because of her health.
00:48Her asthma was so severe that she would spend time in the hospital for weeks at a time because
00:53of it.
00:54Fortunately for all of us, Cardi B is still here, and she is stronger than ever.
00:58New York City can be a pretty glamorous place.
01:00But the part where Cardi B is from, the High Bridge neighborhood in the Bronx, is not exactly
01:05a tourist trap.
01:06She proclaimed in an interview with i-D,
01:08"'There's no hood hooder than my hood.
01:11I had to toughen up when we moved to the Bronx in the sixth grade, because if you don't,
01:14then people will pick on you.
01:16That's a really intense experience for a child so young to learn.
01:19You'd think it would be more paramount to focus on things like math homework at that
01:23age, not basic survival."
01:24"'You know, I was always a pretty girl, and I was always man-hype.
01:28So everybody wanted to fight me, so I had to fight all of them back.'"
01:32Unfortunately for Cardi B, she stood out in her new school, and that attracted attention
01:36to her.
01:37She explained,
01:38"'I was getting picked on for the way I dressed.
01:40I got jumped in the sixth grade real bad, and after that, it changed me.
01:44It really, really did change me.'"
01:46Despite the pressures that Cardi B dealt with growing up, and the fact that she claims to
01:50have joined a gang at 16, she was seriously interested in academics and enjoyed learning.
01:55She attended the Renaissance High School for Musical Theater and Technology, then enrolled
01:59in community college in Manhattan after graduation in 2010.
02:03There she took courses in French, Western civilization, and political science.
02:07She told i-D,
02:08"'I thought I could be a history teacher one day, but what turned me off was when they
02:12told me what you get paid.
02:13I didn't like that.'"
02:14Fair point.
02:15Additionally, Cardi B had a lot going on during those years, so after a few semesters, she
02:20ended up dropping out of school.
02:22At the time, she was also working full-time at an Amish market, a grocery store which
02:26did not pay her very well.
02:28In an interview with Fader, she admitted,
02:30"'I was working all week at the market, and I was still only making like $250 f-----.
02:35Clearly then, it was high time to find a more lucrative endeavor.'"
02:39After getting fired from the Amish market for giving a co-worker items under cost,
02:43one of Cardi B's managers at the store suggested that she try stripping.
02:47The rapper told Fader,
02:48He was like,
02:49"'You're so pretty.
02:50You got a nice body.'"
02:51He told me to go across the street to New York Dolls, the strip club.
02:55So at the age of 19, she started stripping, and for the first time in her life, making
02:59real money.
03:01With that money came freedom for Cardi B, as at the time, she was broke and living with
03:05an abusive ex-boyfriend and his two pitbulls in a room in his mom's house.
03:09In an interview with VladTV, she confessed,
03:12A lot of people be like, oh my gosh, they make it so negative, but it really saved me
03:17from a lot of things."
03:18But even though stripping allowed Cardi B to get out of an abusive situation and become
03:22more financially independent, she didn't exactly love it.
03:26And her self-esteem took some hits as she wasn't as confident about her body as she
03:29used to be.
03:30To that end, she decided to make some changes.
03:34Cardi B is well-known for her stunning, shapely bod.
03:37And she's pretty candid about how the shape came to be, and absolutely happy to flaunt
03:41it.
03:42She told Vibe magazine,
03:51Amen, Cardi.
03:53The rappers behind came to be at age 22 in a basement apartment in Queens, where, in
03:58an illegal procedure, a woman injected her backside with filler sans anesthesia.
04:03According to an interview she did with GQ, the pain was so bad that she thought she might
04:07pass out.
04:08That sounds awful, but she says the end result was worth it, though she wishes she could
04:12have gone about it in a safer manner.
04:15She shared in an interview with VladTV,
04:17Yikes.
04:20As for her chest, she got that taken care of in the Dominican Republic.
04:24If you've ever dropped by Cardi B's Instagram page, you know it's an entertaining amalgam
04:29of gorgeous selfies, self-promotion, music video snaps, the occasional meme, and of course,
04:34her trademark epic rants.
04:37Cardi's been on the platform since 2013, throwing shade, dropping bombs, and always seemingly
04:41outdoing herself.
04:42Let me tell y'all motherf---- something, it's getting more and more expensive, not for real,
04:47it's getting more expensive to maintain us women.
04:50It was that candor and savvy on social media that helped Cardi B land a spot on Season
04:546 of Love & Hip Hop in 2016, the VH1 reality show that follows notable people in the hip
05:00hop music industry.
05:01Why would you invite me when you got a little girl over here?
05:04He know himself, he trying to set up a menage in the studio, but we ain't doing that gangsta
05:08party today.
05:09At first, she was cast as a supporting role, as producers didn't think she was the leading
05:13material.
05:14They soon realized they were dead wrong.
05:16She told Fader,
05:17It's like, why would y'all doubt me?
05:19Like, I have 700,000 bajillion followers.
05:22I'm telling them, like, yo, I have a brand, I'm not even an artist, and I fill out clubs.
05:26Obviously, the rest is history, and Cardi B continued her ascent to superstar status.
05:32In 2017, Cardi B dropped her single, Bodak Yellow, and it quickly took the hip hop scene
05:37by storm.
05:38The song reached number one on the Billboard charts later that year, rendering her the
05:42first female rapper to earn the honor in nearly 20 years.
05:46She also knocked Taylor Swift out of the top spot.
05:49Talk about dropping a bomb right out of the gate.
05:51At the time, Cardi B didn't realize the significance of the song's success.
05:55In an interview with i-D, she revealed,
05:58When I got to number one, I didn't even know that no woman has done that since 1998.
06:02I didn't know how important it was for the community or the minorities.
06:06It wasn't long before millions of people were hanging on to her every word, eagerly waiting
06:10to see what she'd do next.
06:12And thus, an icon was born.
06:14For some reason, my Instagram keeps getting deleted, and I think it was about Cardi that
06:19had something to do with it, so I just shortened it to Cardi B.
06:24But before Cardi B birthed Bodak Yellow into existence, she embarked on yet another self-improvement
06:29project in 2016.
06:31She had her crooked smile fixed, or, as she raps in the song, got a bag and fixed my teeth.
06:37But Bodak Yellow had another impact on the world, other than blowing everyone's minds.
06:41It brought a ton of new clients to Cardi B's dentist.
06:44After the video was released, Dr. Katrice Austin's business skyrocketed.
06:49According to a video TMZ posted in 2017 in which the dentist gushed,
06:53Since the song Bodak Yellow that just went number one this week went out, things have
06:57been incredible.
06:58My business has literally tripled, and I have seen so many different types of people.
07:03Cardi B has totally inspired a lot of people to improve their smiles.
07:07Who says rap can't be wholesome?
07:10Depending on your definition of feminism, you might not believe it, but Cardi B identifies
07:14as a feminist.
07:16And of course, she embraces it in a way all her own.
07:19In a 2018 interview with i-D, she explained,
07:22Being a feminist is such a great thing, and some people feel like someone like me can't
07:26be as great as that.
07:27But then some people are smart, but they don't have no common sense.
07:30For Cardi B, feminism isn't a complicated concept.
07:33It's something she breaks down easily.
07:35Her stance?
07:36Being a feminist is real simple.
07:38It's that a woman can do things the same as a man.
07:41Anything a man can do, I can do.
07:43I can finesse.
07:44I can hustle.
07:45We have the same freedom.
07:46And with everything the rapper has accomplished so far in her life, it's very easy to see
07:50how true that is.
07:52According to a post on her Instagram account, Cardi B gave birth to her first child, Kulture
07:57Kiari Cephas, on July 10th, 2018, with on-again, off-again partner Offset.
08:03Cardi B has also shared some of her tender baby moments on social media to the delight
08:07of her fans.
08:09Such is the emotional moment Kulture, whose face was hidden, said mama for the first time.
08:15Oh my god!
08:18Oh my god!
08:19And Cardi B promptly melted.
08:21She wrote in the caption,
08:22"'After a week of only saying papa, she's saying mama.'
08:26Happy seven months, Kulture.
08:28We love you."
08:29Having a child has tempered Cardi B, who says that becoming a mom has changed her priorities.
08:34In an interview with Harper's Bazaar, she revealed,
08:36"'Before I cared about everything.
08:38Relationship, gossip.
08:40Now I don't feel like I have the time to please people.
08:42I don't care about anything anymore.
08:44Just my career and my kid.'"
08:46In 2019, Cardi B broke a glass ceiling when she was awarded Best Rap Album at the 2019
08:52Grammy Awards, the first woman to ever win the honor.
08:56With Offset at her side, Cardi B ascended the steps to the stage and sealed her spot
09:01in music history as a rap goddess.
09:04And even though she was visibly nervous, she accepted the award humbly, thanking among
09:08others, Offset, whom she referred to as,
09:11"'You husband,' for all his support."
09:14In true Cardi B fashion, the rapper took to Instagram after the ceremony to give another
09:18round of thanks.
09:19"'I wanna keep on saying thank you, thank you, thank you so much everybody.
09:23Every award to me is special to me though, from Grammys, AMAs, Billboards, BET, Soultrae,
09:31Nickelodeon.'"
09:32She went on to explain that, quote,
09:34"'Every award' goes to her mother's house, and every award to her is just as special.
09:39It's amazing to see her rewarded for all the hard work, blood, sweat, and tears that she
09:44has poured into her music."