49 Fun Facts About Cardi B

What is Cardi B's real first name?

Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar. In her teens she went from a low-paid shop job to dancing in a strip club, which she has said gave her the money to escape an abusive relationship.

Cardi B's stage name is derived from which brand?

Bacardi was her nickname long before she rapped, and she later shortened it. She has said the 'B' stands for whatever suits the day: 'beautiful or bully'.

In which New York City neighbourhood was Cardi B raised?

Highbridge, the Bronx. She also spent a lot of time at her grandmother's in Washington Heights, which she has said might be why she has 'such a thick accent'.

Cardi B's father is from which country?

Dominican Republic. Her mother is from Trinidad, and when people online called Cardi an immigrant she set them straight: she was born and raised in New York City.

What is the name of Cardi B's younger sister?

Hennessy Carolina was named after the cognac. She appeared beside her sister on reality TV, then built her own following as a fashion influencer.

Which VH1 reality series did Cardi B join as a cast member in 2015?

Love & Hip Hop: New York. She arrived for its sixth season with a big social-media following, then quit after two seasons to concentrate on music.

With which major label did Cardi B sign her first record deal in 2017?

Atlantic Records signed her in early 2017, when she was still best known from reality TV. The first single she released on the label went to number one on the Hot 100.

What was Cardi B's major-label debut single, released in June 2017?

Bodak Yellow. Cardi has said she wrote it on a plane while listening to the beat, picturing every woman she didn't like.

Cardi B's 2017 breakthrough made her the first female rapper with a solo Hot 100 number one since whom?

Lauryn Hill had last done it with 'Doo Wop (That Thing)' in 1998. Cardi's single knocked Taylor Swift's 'Look What You Made Me Do' off the top, and Swift sent her flowers.

Which rapper earned a writing credit on Cardi B's debut hit because she borrowed his flow?

Kodak Black. Cardi rapped the song in the cadence of his 2015 track 'No Flockin', and he later jumped on an official remix of it.

The low-budget video for Cardi B's breakout single was filmed in which desert city?

Dubai. The clip shows her riding through the desert among exotic animals, yet Cardi has said the whole shoot cost only about $10,000.

What is the title of Cardi B's 2018 debut studio album?

Invasion of Privacy. When reporters uncovered her secret wedding weeks after its release, Cardi tweeted that this was why she chose the name: people 'will do the most to be nosey about your life'.

Cardi B was the first solo female artist to win which Grammy, in 2019?

Best Rap Album. She won it for her debut album barely two years after walking away from reality TV to concentrate on music.

Which two Latin stars feature on Cardi B's 2018 hit 'I Like It'?

Bad Bunny and J Balvin. Label boss Craig Kallman, a former DJ, dug the 1967 boogaloo record it samples out of his vinyl collection to honour Cardi's Latin roots.

The video for Cardi B's 'I Like It' was filmed in which Miami neighbourhood?

Little Havana. Cardi shot her scenes at the nightclub Ball & Chain in March 2018, while fans were still guessing whether she was hiding a baby bump.

Which band's 'Girls Like You' gave Cardi B her third Hot 100 number one in 2018?

Maroon 5 first put the song out as an album track with no rapper on it. The new version with Cardi's verse followed months later and spent seven weeks at number one.

On which show did Cardi B officially announce her first pregnancy in April 2018?

Saturday Night Live. Midway through 'Be Careful' the camera pulled back to show her bump under a white evening gown, ending months of speculation.

Offset, whom Cardi B married in 2017, found fame in which rap group?

Migos. Offset guested on 'Lick', a track on Cardi's 2017 mixtape, and the two were married before the year was out.

Which gossip site revealed in 2018 that Cardi B and Offset had secretly married before his on-stage proposal?

TMZ published the marriage certificate: the couple had wed quietly in Atlanta in September 2017, a month before Offset dropped to one knee in front of a concert crowd.

Which Depression-era president did Cardi B rave about in a 2018 GQ profile?

Franklin D. Roosevelt. Cardi called him 'the real Make America Great Again', arguing that without him 'old people wouldn't even get Social Security'.

Cardi B made her film debut in which 2019 crime film?

Hustlers. She plays a dancer at the strip club where Jennifer Lopez's crew works, a world Cardi knew first-hand from her own years as a stripper.

Cardi B judged which Netflix hip-hop talent competition alongside Chance the Rapper and T.I.?

Rhythm + Flow. Its first winner, Inglewood rapper D Smoke, released his debut album the next year and earned two Grammy nominations for it.

Which Bruno Mars collaborations did Cardi B appear on in 2018 and 2019?

Finesse and Please Me. Cardi was also booked to open Bruno Mars's 2018 tour, but pulled out weeks after giving birth, saying she had 'underestimated this whole mommy thing'.

What did Cardi B and Offset name their first child, a daughter born in July 2018?

Kulture Kiari Cephus. Her middle name comes from her father: Offset was born Kiari Kendrell Cephus.

Cardi B reportedly threw a shoe at which rival rapper during a 2018 New York Fashion Week party?

Nicki Minaj. Security held Cardi back and walked her out of the Harper's Bazaar party, and within days Minaj had a new music video out.

Which reality star's cameo in the 'WAP' video prompted a petition to remove her?

Kylie Jenner. A Change.org petition demanded she be cut from the video, and Cardi hit back that she had invited Jenner as a friend: 'Not everything is about race.'

'WAP' was the first number one on which new Billboard chart launched in 2020?

Global 200. Billboard launched the chart in September 2020 to rank songs by streams and sales in more than 200 territories, so that hits from outside the US would finally be counted.

Which 2021 single became Cardi B's fifth Hot 100 number one and second solo chart-topper?

Up entered the Hot 100 at number two and slipped back, then surged from sixth place to number one the week after Cardi performed it at the Grammys.

Cardi B joined which star on 'Rumors', a 2021 single that opened at number four on the Hot 100?

Lizzo. 'Rumors' ended her two-year break from releasing music, and it became her first single to enter the Hot 100 inside the top ten.

Cardi B's catchphrase 'Okurrr' was the punchline of 2019 TV commercials for which brand?

Pepsi. When a diner waitress asks a customer 'Is Pepsi OK?', Cardi cuts in: 'Of course Pepsi is okurrr.'

Cardi B had a brief role in which 2021 Fast & Furious film?

F9. Vin Diesel broke the news himself with a video from the set on his last day of filming in the UK; Cardi plays Leysa, a woman with history with his character Dom.

Cardi B's 2022 song 'Hot Shit' features Lil Durk and which other rapper?

Kanye West. Cardi said the track was older than 'WAP': she first recorded it in 2019, and his verse was added only shortly before its 2022 release.

Which rapper did Cardi B join on the 2022 remix 'Tomorrow 2'?

GloRilla. Around the time of the remix she claimed the two were related, and in 2024 Cardi confirmed it: 'That's my cousin!'

Cardi B's 2023 single 'Bongos' reunited her with which star, her partner on 'WAP'?

Megan Thee Stallion. Cardi wanted to shoot the video abroad, but hurricane season forced a move to Malibu, where the beach shoot cost about $2 million.

Whose 1999 track 'She's a Bitch' did Cardi B freestyle over for 'Like What' in 2024?

Missy Elliott. Cardi rapped over her 1999 beat, and the video, directed by Offset, opens with a fur-coat-and-bikini look borrowed from an old Lil' Kim video.

Cardi B appeared on 'Puntería', the opening track of which singer's 2024 album?

Shakira. The flirty duet opens her album Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran, and a US broadcaster then picked it as the theme song for its 2024 Copa América coverage.

Which WWE event did Cardi B host in 2025?

SummerSlam. Nearly a year earlier Cardi had fronted the announcement that the show would run over two nights for the first time, at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium.

Which pop legend guests on 'Principal', a track on Cardi B's second album?

Janet Jackson. The track reworks her 1980s hit 'The Pleasure Principle', and Cardi revealed her guests on billboards in Los Angeles and Miami days before the release.

Whom did Cardi B interview for Elle in 2020?

Joe Biden. In the filmed conversation she told him exactly what she wanted from a president: free Medicare, free college and racial justice.

Cardi B's 2025 single 'Imaginary Playerz' samples a 1997 track by which rapper?

Jay-Z. Cardi said she took her time over the song because he had to approve it himself, and was glad she 'came hard and he loved it'.

Which pop star sings on Cardi B's 2025 track 'Pick It Up'?

Selena Gomez. It was a reunion after DJ Snake's 2018 hit 'Taki Taki', and Cardi said Gomez comes through whenever she calls, even though 'she's a whole billionaire'.

Who features on 'Safe', the third single from Am I the Drama?

Kehlani. The song is an ode to a partner who makes Cardi feel secure, but its video turns the title on its head and the on-screen romance ends in tragedy.

What did Cardi B call her 2026 arena tour of the US and Canada?

Little Miss Drama Tour. She opened it three months after giving birth to her fourth child, and answered doubters by pointing out that every show so far had sold out.

Which NFL player did Cardi B confirm she was dating in June 2025?

Stefon Diggs. Cardi went public with photos of the two of them on Instagram, and that September she told Gayle King they were expecting a baby.

Cardi B was the first female rapper to appear on the cover of which magazine in the US?

Vogue. Annie Leibovitz photographed Cardi holding her toddler daughter for the January 2020 issue, one of four covers that month celebrating mothers.

Cardi B fronted the winter 2020 campaign for which luxury fashion house?

Balenciaga. It was her first campaign for a luxury fashion house, and the billboard ended up hanging on a wing of the Louvre in Paris.

Which fast-food chain launched a Cardi B and Offset meal on Valentine's Day 2023?

McDonald's. Billed as the chain's first celebrity meal made for a duo, it was unveiled in a Super Bowl ad and timed for couples to share on Valentine's Day.

Which honour did Billboard give Cardi B in 2020?

Woman of the Year. Billboard pointed to her latest chart-topper and her political activism, and Cardi answered doubters on Instagram by saying she had 'broke records'.

Cardi B won a 2022 defamation verdict against which YouTuber?

Tasha K. A jury found she had waged a 'malicious campaign' of false rumours about Cardi, and a judge then ordered her to delete the videos and never repost them.