Cardi B Talks Female Rappers Being Under Pressure To Have A Smash Hit

Does the public give male rappers more time to craft new tunes before labeling them irrelevant?

Belcalis “Cardi B” Almánzar has not had too much trouble creating popular songs. The Bronx-bred entertainer holds the record for most Number Ones on the Hot 100 chart for a female rapper (4). Throughout her four-year music career, she has secured 38 million RIAA certified units for singles, the most for a female rapper.

This year saw Cardi release one of her biggest hits to date. “WAP” featuring Megan Thee Stallion has already spent four weeks at #1 on the Hot 100, and it became the inaugural leader of Billboard‘s Global 200 chart. Plus, the collaboration’s music video broke records on YouTube.

According to Cardi, being able to create hit songs that top music rankings around the world is not as easy as it looks. The Invasion of Privacy album creator spoke to SiriusXM about the pressures of dropping new music.

“Throughout this whole time, people were making rumors like, ‘Oh she’s having problems with her label… Her label is shelving her… Her label is tired of her and they’re getting more female talent,'” said Cardi. “It’s like, no, they’re never tired of me. Labels – they don’t give a f-ck. They want you to put music out. That’s what they love. They want you to put music out all the time, all the time.”

She added, “Female rappers – they are always [under] mad pressure. If you don’t have a super crazy smash, it’s like, ‘Oh, you flop, flop, flop.’ The song could be like two-time platinum and it’s still, ‘Flop, flop, flop.’ You’re always under pressure. I feel like it’s not fair. I feel like there are male artists who go two years without putting a f-cking song out and they don’t be like, ‘Oh, you’re irrelevant. It’s over for you.’ Me, I didn’t put out songs for nine months, and it’s like, ‘Oh, she’s irrelevant. She’s over. She’s a flop. We told you that.’”

Cardi went on to admit those types of comments did start to affect her, but she did not allow the negativity to force her to release new music before she felt the record was ready. Besides “WAP,” 2020 also included the Atlantic recording artist appearing on Anitta’s “Me Gusta” with Myke Towers. Cardi is also expected to be a guest feature on Blackpink’s The Album which comes out on October 2.