Cardi B has shut down rumors that she was created by record label executives to replace Nicki Minaj as rap’s leading woman.
The speculation has followed her since her 2017 breakout and was fueled by her long-running feud with Minaj, which famously escalated at New York Fashion Week in September 2018 when Cardi threw a shoe at the Super Bass star.
Speaking on the Call Her Daddy podcast Thursday, Cardi B addressed the claims directly.
“People have made this whole story that I came (into) the industry to like take over somebody’s career,” she told host Alex Cooper. “But it’s like, I never thought that. I just wanted to become famous at what I like to do… Sometimes people just don’t get along with each other. This is what I was destined for. I was meant to become this, no matter who signed me, no matter what. I was going to be famous and I was going to be a rapper.”
The rapper, whose real name is Belcalis Almánzar, emphasized that she has always “invested” her own money into her career and made it clear she is “done” with the feud—though she avoided mentioning Nicki directly.
Elsewhere in the interview, the I Like It hitmaker reflected on why she often finds herself at the center of controversy.
“I’m so relatable. And I think they think like it’s like, ‘Why am I not in her position? Why her and not me?’ I might be relatable, I might make it look easy, but it’s really not. I put a lot of thought into it. I have a team,” she explained.
Cardi B, now pregnant with her fourth child, recently released her sophomore album, Am I The Drama?
