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Cardi B Talks Black Lives Matter, WAP, Others As She Covers Billboard Magazine

By Akinwale Akinyoade

03 December 2020   |   10:01 am

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Grammy award-winning rapper Cardi B was named the 2020 Woman of the Year by Billboard and as part of the honour, she is the cover star of the latest issue of the magazine. For her Billboard feature, the mother of one discussed her number one hit song "WAP," her support for Black Lives Matter movement…

Cardi B for Billboard

Grammy award-winning rapper Cardi B was named the 2020 Woman of the Year by Billboard and as part of the honour, she is the cover star of the latest issue of the magazine.

For her Billboard feature, the mother of one discussed her number one hit song “WAP,” her support for Black Lives Matter movement and her feelings on politics.

She expressed her desire to justice and how this does not also stop her from expressing her sex appeal.

Cardi is no stranger to backlash and controversy but in her usual style, she rides the waves effortlessly. When her Megan Thee Stallion assisted “WAP” was released, the song that is an ode to female pleasure made headlines for its beyond-explicit lyrics.

Ironically, it became a multiplatinum success, spending four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and setting a record for the most streams for a song in a single week (93 million, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data).

On the backlash over raunchy single, Cardi said:

“So many Republicans…[like Ben] Shapiro, Candace Owens, Tomi Lahren — were talking so much crap about “WAP,” she said. She later went on to talk about why she’s so unfazed by attacks from political commentators, saying “The things that they say don’t make sense. A lot of things they are defending, it’s not something you need to be defending. It’s wrong.”

Cardi B For Billboard

In August, conservative analysts Ben Shapiro, Candace Owens and DeAnna Lorraine picked on Cardi for weeks, deeming “WAP” crass and inappropriate. They likely didn’t expect much of an opponent, but Cardi B is no stranger to politics. An ardent supporter of Bernie Sanders since 2019, she interviewed the former presidential candidate on Instagram and Twitter that same month, the first of a series of actions she took in 2020 to educate her massive audience on the importance of voting in both national and local elections.

As Cardi put it succinctly in her Instagram video: “I represent America. I wanted a change. And that’s what I did.”

“I want to show people that you can do positive things, but you can also be yourself,” she says. “I like justice. I like to work and be creative. But I also like popping my pussy.”

She later added:

“I don’t know if I’m an activist. I’m a Libra — we are the justice sign. I like fairness, and I have compassion toward everybody.”

Asides being a rapper, she is also an entrepreneur and has inked lucrative deals with Pepsi, Reebok, and even the content platform, OnlyFans within the past year.

During the interview, she spoke about the importance of understanding your worth and a figure and brand. “A lot of these companies, they want to give you a couple of million dollars to represent them, and it’s like, ‘OK, but what am I really getting out of it?,’ she posed. “If 1% of my followers buy your product, you’re going to make triple what you’re paying me. I’m making sure I’m not selling myself short.”

Cardi B for Billboard Magazine

The outspoken Cardi also shared why she is supportive of the Black Lives Matter movement and why she pushes for social justice.

“A lot of these Trump supporters don’t understand why people say, “Black lives matter.” People didn’t go looting because Trump was president — they went looting because there’s a lot of Black men getting killed unjustly. A lot of Republicans think that we hate the police. Personally, there was a point when I did hate the cops because I had really bad experiences growing up with the cops, but I also met cops that are really good people and have really good hearts. I just feel like we need to hire more people like that. That’s why people love firefighters — they just believe firefighters got a good heart. They don’t care if you’re Black or white, they ain’t just gonna let you die in a fire.”

On how much she opened up in her forthcoming second studio album, she reveals that she is very shy when it comes to showing her “lovey-dovey side” and that is why she closes her eyes when she performs songs like “Be Careful” or “Ring.”

While she has not been able to work much this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, Cardi says she is thankful she has been able to spend a lot of time with her family.