E!'s red-carpet coverage before any awards ceremony is usually painful to watch, as Ryan Seacrest and Giuliana Rancic – highly paid professionals – force the actors or musicians in front of them into stilted conversation. But every now and again, between the teeth gritters and the eye panickers, along will come a celebrity who refuses to pretend that the whole charade is anything other than, well, a charade. Cardi B couldn't for a second pander to Rancic's inane questions on the Grammys red carpet. The rapper, reality-TV star, songwriter and general icon is a straight-talking, no-BS kinda gal.
Born Belcalis Almanzar to a Trinidadian mother and a Dominican father, in the Bronx in New York, the 25-year-old has risen to staggering heights since she released her debut commercial single, Bodak Yellow, in June 2017. Previously known for starring in VH1's reality series Love & Hip-Hop: New York, which followed the former stripper's rise to fame, and for being a Vine and Instagram celebrity, she has now paved a clear path for herself as a chart star.
Bodak Yellow is an anthem for acknowledging where she is today. "Honestly, don't give a f**k 'bout who ain't fond of me. Dropped two mixtapes in six months. What bitch working as hard as me?" she spits at anyone doubting her credentials.
And with all of that hard work she also made history. Bodak Yellow topped the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks, making it only the second solo hip-hop single by a woman to take the number-one spot. The first was Doo Wop (That Thing), by Lauryn Hill, for two weeks in 1998. Missy Elliott and Nicki Minaj have some catching up to do.
Bodak Yellow's second coup was to knock Taylor Swift's comeback single, Look What You Made Me Do, off the top of the chart. Fun fact: Swift's single had in turn knocked Luis Fonsi's Despacito off the number one spot just as Despacito had equalled the record 16 weeks atop the Hot 100 set by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men, with One Sweet Day, their 1995 single. It's the circle of life.
Cardi B is hilarious explaining her stage name on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Her older sister is called Hennessy Carolina – after the brandy – so people would call her Bacardi, like the rum. That became her nickname and, later, her Instagram name. "But for some reason my Instagram kept getting deleted, and I think it was Bacardi," she tells Fallon. "So I just shortened it to Cardi B."
Her Instagram is a quick hit of joy. As she recovers in one video from getting a handwritten note from Bono – "I got a f**king note from Bono. From Bono! He said I'm the biggest thing in Ireland! He knows me! He f**king knows me, bitch! I can't f**king believe it!" – or celebrates the success of her featuring on Bruno Mars's new single, Finesse, it feels as if we're with her on this fast-paced, well-deserved journey.
She’s currently working on her debut album, but we can be patient. As long as she keeps delivering banging singles, and interview and Instagram gold, we’re happy.
