Lisa Mugo
Belcalis Marlinez Almanzar, better known as Cardi B, a multi-millionaire and Grammy Award winning artiste was born in Bronx, New York on October 11 1991.
The superstar grew up with her Dominican father and Trinidadian mother who split up when Cardi was a teenager. Cardi got her name from the alcoholic beverage Bacardi, since her sister is also named Hennessy Carolina.
Cardi had a rough time growing up in the Bronx which exposed her to a lot from speaking vulgar, getting into physical fights with her peers to watching people get shot. This eventually led her to getting involved with popular street gang, the ‘Bloods’.
The ‘I Like It’ hitmaker attended the Rennaissance High School where she admitted to often miss class but enjoyed History as well as performing on stage during talent shows.
The rapper then worked jobs on the side to make some extra cash. She worked in a market while living with her ex-boyfriend who she described as physically abusive and controlling. Cardi was in pretty rough shape at the time as her ex-boyfriend would constantly threaten to kick her out and his sister would steal her money.
It was not too long before she got fired at her job for giving a customer a discount. She was however advised by the market owner to become a stripper seeing as she is beautiful and has a great body.
Cardi did exactly that and transformed her life, making over 300 dollars a night from $250 a week, she enrolled in college but eventually dropped out. Cardi hid her new found career from her family and especially her mother, who upon finding out was so angry that she pushed her down a flight of stairs.
The rapper then began her social media career in 2013 where she would upload funny videos of herself. Thanks to her funny personality and being true to herself, she became an instant sensation and was loved globally.
Her internet success enabled her to land on a short-lived role on hit TV show, Love and Hip Hop. Things quickly escalated for her as she made music. However, her big break came when she released her hit song ‘Bodak Yellow’, which sky rocketed her success in 2017.
Bodak Yellow has over 1 billion views and made her the first female hip-hop artiste to hit number 1 on the Billboard hot 100, for the first time since 1998. The song also scored Cardi two Grammy nominations.
The rapper then dropped her first studio album in 2018, ‘Invasion Privacy’ which received sky rocketing success. She then tied the knot with rapper Offset and had her first child, Kulture Kiari Cephus.
The rapper has since scooped one Grammy, six American Music Awards, eight Billboard Music Awards, six BET Awards, fourteen BET Hip Hop Awards, four iHeartRadio Music Awards, two MTV Europe Music Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards, six Soul Train Music Awards and a NRJ Music Award.
