Cardi B is making it clear that her family is her top priority.
Weeks following the Grammy-winning rapper’s heated social media feud with Nicki Minaj, Cardi spoke with Paper and appeared to address the controversy. “This week I showed the world that I will get the most nasty about mine,” Cardi told the publication. “I never had to get that nasty for my kids. But I did, and I really feel like a lioness. This has been one of the moments I got tested the most about being a parent. But it just goes to show me how strong I am, and it just goes to show me like, Damn, I will really take it to hell for mines: mentally, physically, anything. And I wouldn’t care.”
While tensions between the two stars go back to the beginning of Cardi’s career, the current flare-up seems to have stemmed from early reports that Cardi’s latest album, Am I the Drama?, which debuted at the top of the charts this week, was the best-performing album from a female rap act in history. Minaj took issue with the claims in a series of since-deleted tweets, alleging that Cardi’s album sales were inflated by bundles and discounts. Cardi hit back, writing that Minaj should be comparing herself to the Taylor Swifts of the world as opposed to her. “You been in the game like 16 years.. you need to compare yourself to YOUR peers that started around YOUR time,” Cardi posted on X. “Rihanna, Taylor swift, Drake…those are the numbers you need to be competing wit and you can’t cuz you doing lower than all of them.”
Soon, the attacks escalated into more personal territory, with Minaj throwing disparaging comments about Cardi B’s pregnancy, and mentioning her children explicitly. Cardi responded by speculating whether or not Minaj was abusing substances, and insinuating that her alleged substance use has affected her own children’s health.
While the sparring has simmered (for now), Cardi separately dissed BIA on “Pretty & Petty.” On the track, Cardi raps: “Name five BIA songs, gun pointin’ to your head,” “It’s been two years since you put a number on the board,” and “They only book you when they can’t afford Coi [Leray].”
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Cardi previously told The Breakfast Club that their beef started when BIA accused Cardi of copying her style. The Grammy-winning rapper said she decided to fire back at BIA because she mentioned her kids.
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“She did her little diss and it was trash… I could’ve [left] it at that, but everything on social media is gonna be seen,” Cardi said at the time. “When my kids grow up one day and they see that you mentioned them, they’re gonna ask me, ‘So what you said? What you did [in response]?’ I’m not gonna tell my kids, ‘I felt like she took the high road cause she lost, cause people wasn’t on her side.’ Naw, I’m not sayin’ that to my kids. I’m [gonna be] like, ‘You see how I violated?’”
Cardi is currently pregnant with her fourth child with her current boyfriend, New England Patriots receiver Stefon Diggs. “I’m excited, I’m happy… I feel like I’m in a good space,” Cardi told Gayle King during an interview last month. “I feel very strong and powerful that I’m doing all of this work… while creating a baby.”
