Cardi B is slowly however certainly restoring camaraderie amongst immediately’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.
Case in level: Cardi B’s new collaboration with Latto, “Put It on Da Floor Again,” sits on the No. 7 spot on Apple Music’s prime songs chart and has amassed over 11 million views on YouTube because the launch of its accompanying viral music video on June 2. The remixed monitor is all music followers may speak about following its drop, and the identical goes for fellow feminine rappers who confirmed their assist. 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 don’t do sh*t else she gone slide on a mf beat 😂😂🔥🔥🔥 go cousinnnnn @iamcardib.” And pleasure over the brand new monitor solely continued on June 4 at Summer Jam 2023 when Cardi B brought Latto out on stage to carry out it along with her.
“She’s creating a sisterhood to help other women win on the largest scale possible and forming friendships along the way.”
“Put It on Da Floor Again” is only one latest instance of Cardi B utilizing her platform to raise the up-and-coming and already-established ladies in her musical peer group. While she might not have invented this modern-day motion, she’s definitely mobilizing it with natural cosigns and comradeship which were missing over the past decade.
Cardi B’s stimulus characteristic bundle would not simply embody a fiery visitor verse and immaculate rollout on her half. Most occasions, it additionally ensures her feminine collaborators an outpour of public assist, proof that Cardi B is doing far 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 best way.
In a 2021 Cosmopolitan interview, Normani — who teamed up with Cardi B for his or her “Wild Side” collaboration that 12 months — spoke about how a lot Cardi B has supported her profession via the years, explaining that the rap star “has great energy” and “is such a genuine spirit.” Of working collectively on their music, Normani added, “She brought such light to this experience and to me after not releasing for the last two years. I feel like she’s given me comfort and provided a safe space for me.”
Fans can also’t neglect the candy means Cardi B got here to Summer Walker’s protection when the singer’s love life made headlines years in the past. She appeared on the “Bitter” intro of Walker’s “Still 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. “Even though you have problems, put that drama in your music, yeah / ‘Cause if b*tches wanna get clout off you, you gonna get clout off them,” Cardi B says. “. . . Make them b*tches feel hurt, hit them b*tches where it hurt / And put that sh*t in your music and make money off it in your music.”
Some might argue that Cardi B’s collaborations with immediately’s buzziest feminine acts really feel like strategic profession strikes, as she hasn’t dropped an album since her 2018 debut. But from what her friends have mentioned, the “Up” rapper has maintained seemingly genuine bonds with all her music costars after working collectively. Speaking to POPSUGAR, GloRilla — who teamed up with Cardi B for “Tomorrow 2” — revealed that she did not anticipate how massive their pairing could be however she’s “grateful that it did” blow up. And she’s nonetheless linked to Cardi B to this present day. “I don’t even know how to explain that moment. It was just crazy because I’m a Cardi fan,” GloRilla shared. “I was a Cardi fan before I actually started rapping, and she was one of the people that I did look up to when I [officially] started.”
“I’m really happy that she did that because she didn’t have to share her platform with me. I really appreciate her for that.”
According to the “F.N.F. (Let’s Go)” rapper, Cardi B’s verse on “Tomorrow 2” “was a surprise to me.” “I didn’t know what was going on. And when I text her — she always texts me back fast; she don’t act bougie or nothing — she texted me back, and she was the one that ended up telling me she was on my song. I didn’t even know,” GloRilla defined. “That was an iconic moment. That song is going down in history.”
This would not be the primary time Cardi B made a second out of one among her iconic collaborations. When she and Megan Thee Stallion declared 2020 the 12 months of “WAP,” additionally they reached an unbelievable feat for girls empowerment in one among music’s most male-dominated genres and past. The pair’s unapologetic ode to ladies’s our bodies served as a robust second, but it surely was notably particular for the celebs who had been handpicked to seem in Cardi B and Megan’s playful music video. Why? Because some did not even notice how carefully Cardi B had been following their careers at that time.
Back in 2020, Latto — earlier than she skyrocketed to household-name standing and have become a Grammy nominee — advised Interview Magazine she did not take the request to seem within the “WAP” video significantly at first. “When I got that call, I swore my manager was pranking me,” the rapper revealed. “My mind could not register the fact that Cardi B even knew who I was, let alone wanted me to be in her video. I will always love her for that because she knew what putting us in that video would do for our careers.”
Rapper Sukihana had an analogous shocked response to being known as on to seem in “WAP,” as she defined that being talked about in the identical breath as Cardi B “opened doors” for her quickly after. “A lot of people want to work with me. I’m getting put in different magazines now. It’s been a big help, and I’m really excited because a lot of people are looking at me,” she advised Interview Magazine on the time. “I’m really happy that she did that because she didn’t have to share her platform with me. I really appreciate her for that.”
Cardi B’s monitor file for collaborating with ladies via the years has included songs with acts like City Girls (“Twerk) and Lizzo (“Rumors”), plus the aforementioned. Most of these releases have either been certified gold or platinum by the RIAA. Not to mention, the rap star has also shouted out other female artists in the past 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 embody male artists like Bad Bunny and J Balvin, Maroon 5, Bruno Mars, Kanye West, her husband, Offset, and Migos, to call just a few. But it has 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 immediately’s music local weather that pits ladies in opposition to one another.
It’s no secret {that a} continued beef between Cardi B and Nicki Minaj spawned from their notorious “MotorSport” collaboration in 2018. But that hasn’t stopped the previous from making an attempt to attach with the subsequent technology of ladies artists following after her. The identical will be mentioned for Minaj, although, as she’s hopped on tracks with up-and-comers in hip-hop like Sexyy Red (“Pound Town 2”) and Coi Leray (“Blick Blick”). She even dropped a “Queen Mix” of her “Super Freaky Girl” single with JT of City Girls, BIA, Maliibu Miitch, Katie Got Bandz, and Akbar V and in addition has a “Barbie” film single with Ice Spice dropping following their “Princess Diana” remix.
However, extra noticeably, followers are choosing up on Cardi B’s affinity for linking up along with her feminine friends — within the studio and elsewhere — to dispel a fable 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 each other and collabing. The industry, fan bases, and blogs want us to beef, but we’re making it a friendly sport.”
“The record labels are putting money behind the girls that people [are] listening to. As a result, different artists are coming up faster than others,” Cardi B defined in a latest Instagram Live when talking on ladies rappers. “The labels only go with who’s getting the most listens, who are getting the most plays, who are people watching more. You can not blame nobody for that, you can’t blame no machine for that. You can’t blame nothing for that. Labels are only going to put money behind artists that people are listening to.”
This makes it much more clear what could possibly be motivating Cardi B’s characteristic run with the ladies in her musical circle. Instead of treating her collaborations like enterprise transactions, she’s connecting with fellow artists to the purpose the place they know they’ll all the time name on her for assist. “She’s such a humble person. I be always thanking her,” GloRilla tells POPSUGAR in reference to “Tomorrow 2.” “I don’t think she like when I be constantly thanking her because she’ll thank me back. She’ll be like, ‘Uh-uh, you don’t got to do that.’ She’s just a sweet, humble person.”
By sharing her shine with immediately’s artists, Cardi B is main a brand new narrative to offer ladies the highlight she is aware of they deserve. “It’s a beautiful time right now for female rap. We’re creating a whole new agenda,” Latto added in her dialog with Interview Magazine. “We’re supporting each other and collabing. The industry, fan bases, and blogs want us to beef, but we’re making it a friendly sport.”
Which feminine artist will Cardi B faucet subsequent? The prospects are infinite. Some predict it could be her Bronx counterpart Scar Lip as a consequence of their recent studio session. But whoever her subsequent collaborator could also be, followers appear sure it’s going to be one other surefire hit.
Image Source: Getty / Vittorio Zunino Celotto / Irvin Rivera / Frazer Harrison
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