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Social media has been a great way for people that might have otherwise been unknown to make a name for themselves. One person that did just that is Belcalis Almanzar, who we’ve all come to know now as Cardi B. The rapper had a large social media following that allowed her to break into the mainstream, and she hasn’t looked back since. Despite her career being so young, Cardi B has achieved a lot in her late 20s, and figures to be popular for many years to come.

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Cardi B was born in New York City’s Manhattan borough on October 11, 1992, and grew up in the Bronx. She was a talented musician that studied the arts, but it wasn’t an easy upbringing for her. There had been talks that Cardi B was affiliated with a gang when she was growing up, as well, which she wasn’t direct about for many years.

“Here’s the thing. I never really wanted to talk about that, because I always wanted a music deal,” she said after finding fame. “I always want to keep my endorsements. When I was 16 years old, I used to hang out with a lot of...Bloods. I used to pop off with my homies.” She added that “One things I could say, you could ask any gang member, being in a gang don’t make you not one dollar. And I know for a fact every gang member, he (is) asking himself, ‘Why did I turn (to) this?’”

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She had to work odd jobs to escape from her tumultuous home life, including working as a dancer in a gentlemen’s club. “People want me to be so full of shame that I used to dance,” Cardi B said. “I would never be ashamed of it,” she continued. “I made a lot of money. I had a good time, and it showed me a lot.” 

When she started posting to social media, though, Cardi B got attention for her singing and personality in general, leading her to be cast in a reality television series called “Love & Hip Hop: New York”. During this time, Cardi B started recording music and the rest was history, even though she was apprehensive. “I was a little hesitant to do ‘Love and Hip Hop’ because sometimes reality TV can be good for your music career and sometimes bad,” she said.

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Cardi B released her first single in 2015 called “Cheap A** Weave”, and she had a handful of other singles on an independently released mixtape. Then, she’d end up having her breakout in 2017 when she released the song “Bodak Yellow”. It became a monster on the Billboard charts, reaching the number one spot. She followed this up with more successful songs, including “MotorSport” and “Bartier Cardi”.

Speaking about her first hit song, “It’s just the littest song ever,” Cardi B said. “Every party, every new year, every Cinco de Mayo, every Thanksgiving, it’s just that type of song that you want to play to turn the party up. It’s just that song.”

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Another group that has become famous around the same time as Cardi B is Migos, which features rapper Offset. Cardi B and Offset began a relationship in 2017, and they would get married later in the year. Since then, the couple has had a child named Kulture, and got back together after a brief split in late 2018 and early 2019.

When Offset turned 26 years old, Cardi B decided to go all out for his gift. He posted on social media that Cardi B gave him a new Rolls Royce Wraith that’s estimated to be worth $320,000. She’s bought several other extremely expensive cars since then, including a Lamborghini, a Maybach, a Porsche and a Bentley just to name a few. So far, her impressive car collection has been valued at millions of dollars.

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In April of 2018, Cardi B would release her first studio album, “Invasion of Privacy” that contained some of the hits that she had already made. In the same year, she scored her second number one single with “I Like It”, and added the top 15 songs “Be Careful” and “Money”. Since then, Cardi B has released songs from her second album, “Tiger Woods”, which includes the song “Please Me”, a collaboration with Bruno Mars, whom she worked with before on their hit track “Finesse (Remix)”. Other collaborations for Cardi B that have found success include “Girls Like You” where she performed with Maroon 5. 

It’s been a real rags to riches story for Cardi B, who says she wants to empower people through her music. “Everyone has a (Cardi B) inside them,” she said. “That loud girl that just wants to go ‘Ayyy!’ No matter if you (are) a doctor, a lawyer...it comes out.”