Cardi B

Cardi B identifies as Afro-Caribbean and Afro-Latina. Her father, Carlos, is Dominican, while her mother, Clara, is Trinidadian of multiethnic descent. She was raised in the Highbridge neighborhood of the South Bronx and has a younger sister, Hennessy Carolina. Her stage name developed from her childhood nickname, Bacardi, which matched her sister's cognac-inspired name.

Cardi B was married to rapper Offset, whose birth name is Kiari Kendrell Cephus, from September 2017. They have three children together. She filed for divorce in July 2024 while pregnant with their third child, who was born later that year. She was in a relationship with football player Stefon Diggs from 2025 until their split in 2026, and they have one child together.

Cardi B became an Internet celebrity after candid videos and conversations on Vine and Instagram went viral. In 2015, she joined the cast of VH1's Love & Hip Hop: New York, appearing for two seasons while pursuing her music ambitions. She left the series in late 2016 to concentrate on recording and performing.

Her music career began with an appearance on Shaggy's remix of "Boom Boom," alongside Popcaan, in 2015. She released Gangsta Bitch Music, Vol. 1 in 2016 and Gangsta Bitch Music, Vol. 2 in 2017. The second mixtape included "Lick," a collaboration with Offset. Cardi B signed with Atlantic Records in 2017, shortly before her mainstream breakthrough.

Cardi B's commercial breakthrough came with "Bodak Yellow," released in 2017. The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, making her the first female rapper to top the chart with a solo song since Lauryn Hill's "Doo Wop (That Thing)" in 1998. It also made Cardi B the first person of Dominican descent to reach number one on the chart.

Her debut studio album, Invasion of Privacy, was released in 2018 and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. The album produced the number-one singles "Bodak Yellow," "I Like It," and the Maroon 5 collaboration "Girls Like You." "I Like It," featuring Bad Bunny and J Balvin, made Cardi B the first female rapper to achieve multiple Billboard Hot 100 number-one songs.

At the 2019 Grammy Awards, Invasion of Privacy won Best Rap Album. Cardi B became the first solo female rapper to win that award, and the album was later named Billboard's top female rap album of the 2010s.

In 2020, Cardi B released "WAP," featuring Megan Thee Stallion. The song debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and generated 93 million U.S. streams in its opening week. It extended Cardi B's record for the most number-one singles by a female rapper and made her the first female rapper to achieve Hot 100 number-one singles in two different decades.

She followed "WAP" with "Up" in 2021, which became another number-one single, and released further collaborations including "Hot Shit," "Tomorrow 2," "Bongos," and "Puntería." Her second studio album, Am I the Drama?, was released in 2025 and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. The album made her the only female rapper whose first two studio albums debuted at the top of that chart.

Cardi B made her feature-film debut in Hustlers (2019), directed by Lorene Scafaria, playing Diamond alongside Jennifer Lopez, Constance Wu, and Lili Reinhart. She later appeared as Leysa in F9: The Fast Saga (2021) and voiced Sharki B in Baby Shark's Big Show! and Baby Shark's Big Movie.

She was a judge and executive producer on the Netflix hip-hop competition series Rhythm + Flow, alongside Chance the Rapper and T.I. Cardi B also hosted the 2021 American Music Awards and created and executive produced the web series Cardi Tries, which ran for three seasons.

Cardi B's music is associated with an aggressive flow, outspoken lyrics, comedic punchlines, and a New York-Dominican accent. She has cited Missy Elliott, Tweet, Ivy Queen, Spice, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Lil' Kim, Madonna, and Selena as influences. Her music incorporates East Coast hip-hop, trap, Latin music, R&B, and elements of Chicago drill.

Her public image also includes a prominent fashion career. In 2018, she became the first female rapper in the United States to appear on the cover of Vogue. She has collaborated with Reebok, Fashion Nova, Pepsi, Skims, and other brands, and made her runway debut at Balenciaga's fall 2024 show.

Cardi B has been credited with helping drive a new period of commercial visibility for women in rap. She was named to Time's list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2018 and became Billboard's Woman of the Year in 2020.

Cardi B pleaded guilty in 2022 to third-degree assault and second-degree reckless endangerment arising from a 2018 strip-club incident. She received a sentence of 15 days of community service. In a separate case, she won a defamation verdict against YouTuber Latasha Kebe in 2022.

She has identified as a feminist and has used her public platforms to discuss gun control, police brutality, racial equality, Social Security, and health care. She endorsed Bernie Sanders in the 2020 presidential election and Kamala Harris in 2024.