Cardi B Addresses Saying Her Success Led To Female Rappers Getting Signed To Labels

“I didn’t say I pave the way for female rappers but I deff gave the hood and women hope.”

(AllHipHop News) Cardi B is one of the leading women in rap music at the moment. During a Q&A with the Rap Radar podcast to promote Netflix’s Rhythm + Flow series, the “Bodak Yellow” hitmaker talked about her impact on modern Hip Hop.

“Before me, there was no female rapper that was signed to a label. Well, you know, the ones that had been established. Nobody was signing them,” said Cardi. “Now, everybody’s just signing them if you can rap and you got a couple of followers because nobody wants to miss the opportunity like a lot of labels and people missed the opportunity with me.”

Those comments apparently bothered some people, so the Bronx native went to Twitter to address her critics. Over several tweets, Cardi clarified that she did not suggest that she paved the wave for female rappers, but the Atlantic recording artist doubled down on her point about changing the landscape for women in mainstream rap.

Cardi tweeted:

I didn’t say I pave the way for female rappers but I deff gave the hood and women hope. Nikkas wasn’t collabing with females rappers. Labels where signing female rappers and putting them in a shelf and not focusing on them. Not giving them proper attention. It seem like it was impossible for it to be more then one female rapper. These male rappers where not even takin Money from female rappers for a feature cause it seem far fetch for another woman to make it. I see so many male artists collabing wit females now even. Some that are not mainstream because I know they don’t want to miss out on the opportunity in case they make it cause trust and believe slot of Nikkas I asked for features from when they see me they tell me “I shoulda believe” Deum I should have did the feature. And ya can deny it as much as ya want and say I’m crazy or stfuu but how many female rappers before me where getting chances or getting pushed? They wasn’t believing and now they are! And for the slow ones again NO ain’t made females want to rap cause b*tches been rapping b*tches been have talent but the music industry wasn’t believing and sh*tting on female rappers and that’s Big Bentley. 

Cardi then began directly responding to Twitter users that took issue with what she had to say about the topic. She wrote:

I’m Lying? So you tell me what rappers was giving features to female rappers? What label was pushing a female rapper? What tv music show was inviting female rappers. Only 2 female rappers for years and one ain’t last to long ……now you tell me! I wanna see something? No matter how I would have word it people will always find a way to flip it & make it negative cause they hate cardi but yet they still can’t find me a magazine, a big festival, a male female rapper collar thst happen between 2008-2017 expect for 1 female rapper. Ya comprehension skills must be on slow cause I never discredit nobody. There’s been females rappers b4 I was born it died out due to hope and it got revive back in 08 & the music industry made it a stigma like there could only be 1 & now there’s plenty striving. 

A Bardi Gang member created a Twitter thread displaying new female rap acts City Girls, Megan Thee Stallion, and Lizzo praising Cardi for opening doors in the culture. Since Cardi’s breakout as a musician in 2017, additional women such as Kash Doll, Saweetie, Doja Cat, Rico Nasty, Dreezy, Tierra Whack, DreamDoll, Asian Da Brat, Stefflon Don, CupcakKe, and Maliibu Miitch have gotten considerable exposure on a national level.