CARDI: I’M STILL ‘UP,’ DESPITE THE HATERS
Even after coming under fire from conservative pundits, Cardi B continues to make music history.
The hip-hop superstar’s latest song, “Up,” has reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, extending her record to five chart-topping singles — the most among any female rapper.
Her other four chart-toppers are 2017’s diamond-certified “Bodak Yellow”; 2018’s “Girls Like You,” with Maroon 5; “I Like It” with Bad Bunny and J Balvin, and 2020’s “WAP” with
Megan Thee Stallion.
The five-time accolade has Cardi B now tied with Drake and Ariana Grande.
On Monday, the Bronx native, whose real name is Belcalis Marlenis Almanzar, took to social media to commemorate the celebratory moment.
In a profanity-laced video posted to Instagram, she criticized people for not being happy for successful “females” and thanked her fans — and haters — for making “Up” go up following her raunchy Grammys performance (that riled up conservative critics such as Candace Owens and Tim Young).
“You know, when a b---h is winning, people gotta find something,” Cardi B said from what appeared to be a beachside locale. “The more hate y’all think, the more harder I get. The more s—t I have to talk about for my album. Stop hating.”
“And let me tell ya something, when I win, it doesn’t take away from other women’s success either,” she said, adding her support for TikTok’s effect on artists’ listenership.
“I forgot to thank the insane conservatives that was eating me up the whole entire week,” Cardi noted in a Instagram Live post. “Y’all brought traffic to my
Grammy performance . ... This s--t brought streams not only to ‘WAP,’ but also to ‘Up.’ ”
She added: “Nobody see the hard work, nobody see the late nights . ... Nobody see how f-----g hard it is,” explaining that she is currently in “military studio album mode” for her eagerly anticipated sophomore effort.
According to Billboard data, “Up” drew 22.7 million U.S. streams and 18,000 downloads in the week ended March 18.
The Yung Dza, DJ SwanQo and Sean Island-produced track also attracted 34.9 million radio airplay audience impressions in the week ended March 21.