Cardi B | |
|---|---|
 Cardi B in 2021 | |
| Born | Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar October 11, 1992 New York City, U.S. |
| Other names | Belcalis Almánzar-Cephus |
| Education | Borough of Manhattan Community College |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 2014–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives |
|
| Awards | Full list |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Instrument | Vocals |
| Labels | Atlantic |
| Website | cardib |
.svg){kind=logo} | |
Belcalis Marlenis Cephus (née Almánzar;[a] born October 11, 1992), known professionally as Cardi B, is an American rapper and songwriter. Known for her aggressive flow and outspoken clever lyrics, Cardi B has become one of the most successful female artists in contemporary music. Born and raised in New York City, she first gained popularity through videos shared on Vine and Instagram. From 2015 to early 2017, she appeared as a regular cast member on the VH1 reality television series Love & Hip Hop: New York, which depicted her pursuit of her music aspirations, and earned further recognition with the release of her two mixtapes: Gangsta Bitch Music, Vol. 1 (2016) and Vol. 2 (2017).
Her first studio album, Invasion of Privacy (2018), debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and became the best-selling female rap album of the 2010s. Critically acclaimed, it made Cardi B the first solo female artist to win the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album and marked the first female rap album in 15 years nominated for Album of the Year. Its singles "Bodak Yellow" and "I Like It" both topped the Billboard Hot 100 and were certified diamond by the RIAA; the former made Cardi B the first female rapper to top the Hot 100 with a solo song in the 21st century and the first to achieve a diamond-certified song, while the latter made her the first with multiple number-one songs. Her third US number-one, the collaboration "Girls Like You" with band Maroon 5, made her the only female rapper to achieve multiple RIAA diamond-certified songs. Cardi B released "WAP" (featuring Megan Thee Stallion) and "Up" in 2020 and 2021, both of which topped the Hot 100 and other charts worldwide; the former became the first female rap collaboration to debut atop the Hot 100 and broke several streaming records. Her second studio album will be released in 2024.
Recognized by Forbes as one of the most influential female rappers of all time, Cardi B holds various records among women in hip hop; she is the female rapper with the most number-one singles (five) on the Billboard Hot 100, and the only female rapper to achieve multiple solo number-ones and earn number-ones in two decades (2010s and 2020s) on the chart. She is also the female rapper with the most diamond-certified songs (three) by the RIAA, the highest-certified female rapper of all time on their Top Artists (Digital Singles) ranking, and has over 100 million certified units (album and songs) sold in the US alone. Additionally, she is the female rapper with the second-most songs with a billion streams on Spotify, and has the most-streamed female rap album on the platform and Apple Music. She was the first lead artist to top the Billboard Global 200. Her accolades include a Grammy Award, eight Billboard Music Awards, six Guinness World Records, six American Music Awards, 14 BET Hip Hop Awards, and two ASCAP Songwriter of the Year awards. In 2018, Time magazine included her on its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, and in 2020, Billboard honored her as Woman of the Year.
Outside of music, Cardi B served as a judge on the music competition series Rhythm + Flow (2019), appeared in the films Hustlers (2019) and F9 (2021), and had a voice role in Baby Shark's Big Movie! (2023). In 2022, she became the creative director of entertainment magazine Playboy.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).