Cardi B On Marriage, New Music, Breonna Taylor And More
In a new, expansive new interview with ELLE for the magazine’s 2020 September issue, Cardi B opened up about various aspects of her life amid the release of her latest single, “WAP” featuring Megan Thee Stallion. The 27-year-old discussed her feelings on everything from politics and female rap rivalry to finding the creative spark again for her second album and her complicated relationship with husband Offset.
Here are six takeaways from the extensive interview:
She called for more male rappers to speak on Breonna Taylor’s killing.
A lingering question at the back of many people’s mind has been when will there be justice for Breonna Taylor, the 26-year-old EMT technician who was fatally shot after three Louiseville officers executed a “no-knock” search warrant. Cardi has been among the vocal chorus of celebrities demanding justice for Taylor’s family, telling ELLE, “What they did to her is really f***ed up.”
“What’s the excuse? Why is the cop not in jail? Wasn’t what he did a crime? It’s a crime! And no apology. No apology. No video of the cop coming out crying, ‘I fucked up. I don’t this. I don’t that.’ Nothing,” she continued. “I don’t even know how her mom still holds her head up. Unbelievable.”
Cardi couldn’t help but wonder why more of her male peers have not done the same. “A woman like Breonna Taylor, she was young. She looked like she was listening to your music,” she mused to the publication. “She looked like she was your fan. You should stick up for her.”
She revealed that cancel culture is starting to take its toll on her.
“It’s like I have a target on my back, but it’s not because of my music. Because I haven’t done music for eight months, and people still try to attack me,” she said. “I feel like people are attacking me because they want me to feel the pressure of bullying, and they want me to give up, and they want me to say, ‘Oh, I quit music’ or ‘I’ll delete my Instagram, delete my Twitter,’ and I’m not willing to do that. No one will ever have that much power [over] me.”
The lackluster response to “Press” led to her putting a pause on new music until “WAP.”
“I didn’t really like how my last song performed, so I just got my creativity back,” she confessed. “I don’t want to just put out a single and have people buy it because I’m Cardi. I want to put out really good music.”
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Even though her marriage with Offset hasn’t always been ideal, it will always be them against the world.
“I do know that my relationship has a lot of drama and everything,” she acknowledged. “But there’s a lot of love there’s a lot of passion, there’s a lot of trust, there’s a big friendship. It’s always us against the world.”
Cardi B remains confident in her own star power.
“I bring something different. I am me, and that’s how I’ve been since the club,” she says. “I know when I get on the stage, I don’t give a fuck if the next bitch, or the bitch before me, was better than me. I know I’m going to get my coins. I know I’m bad because I’m different...You’ve got to be confident in your own craft.”
Most notably, she hinted at a track featuring Offset that will delve into their marital issues.
She will do everything she can to help Joe Biden win the presidential election.
The “Money” rapper is no stranger to utilizing her massive platform to engage in political matters, having endorsed former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. Though he ultimately conceded to Joe Biden, Cardi is adamant about getting Donald Trump out of the Oval office, who she said is “not doing anything for anybody.” She also praised New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, saying “I like him because he makes me feel like he’s listening to me.”
Read the rest of Cardi B’s cover story for ELLE’s 2020 September issue here.
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