Cardi B’s “Bodak Yellow” just reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making her the first person of Dominican descent and only the second female solo rapper to reach the coveted top spot. It’s the first time a female rapper has hit number one since Lauryn Hill for “Doo-Wop (That Thing)” back in 1998.
Cardi B recently went to Atlantic records to pick up her platinum plaque for “Bodak Yellow,” and according to her Instagram account, was surprised by all of her friends, family, and even coworkers from back in her strip clubs days. It’s a big day for the Trinidadian-Dominican from the Bronx.
Cardi B was surprised by friends and family when she arrived at the Atlantic Records offices to pick up her platinum plaque.
A post shared by Cardi B Official IG (@iamcardib) on
“Talking bout they needed a meeting when I hit platinum and I’m #1 on Billboard, and they surprised me with my family!” Cardi B says in the above video she posted on the day she made history.
If you watch it until the end, you can see Cardi B’s grandma, who she once taught how to twerk, repping in the crowd.
Credit: @Iamcardib/ Instagram
She’s so proud! ?
Cardi B descended the stairs and gave a very Cardi B address to the crowd, with a subtle nod to Taylor Swift.
So, now that “Bodak Yellow” topped Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do” for the number one spot, will Cardi B be keeping her promise to release new music? She spoke to Billboard about it…
If Cardi B pushes her album back to November, she’d be competing against Taylor Swift, who is also set to drop her new project in November. Maybe she’s enjoying the competition with Taylor Swift.
More than anything, Cardi B is grateful for hitting number one. In tear-streaked mascara, Cardi B thanked her fans, shouting in an airport from the excitement.
I’m sure that few of us – myself included – could imagine the year 2020 without the hit single “WAP”. It helped soothe the craziness this year has brought us so far and gave us an unofficial summer anthem.
Along the way, the Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion hit also broke numerous records. So, it made sense why so many people assumed that it could also break records at next year’s Grammys. But recent reporting says that the track is actually packaged together with Cardi B’s still forthcoming album, which means that the “WAP” will officially be left out of the running for Top Record.
Of course, for a song that brought us so much joy, people are understandably upset about the track being omitted from any possible categories. And the idea of waiting until 2022 seems absurd!
2020’s unofficial bop – “WAP” – is not eligible for Grammy consideration.
Don't expect Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion's "WAP" to get nominated for any Grammys this year https://t.co/Gfoagf37LG
This is shocking news – especially if you’re a Bardi stan. Despite racking up record after record, the summer’s hit single “WAP” won’t be competing for any Grammys at this next year’s prestigious music awards ceremony.
Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s “WAP” was surprisingly not submitted for the 2021 Grammy Awards consideration, according to numerous outlets including Pitchfork. Instead, Cardi’s record label plan to submit the single next year when her forthcoming album will also likely be released. However, there is no official announcement of a new album so we hope these rumors are true.
According to the rules, submissions for next year’s Grammy Awards had to be made between September 1, 2019 and August 31, 2020. Since it was released on August 7, “WAP” fell within the eligibility window but the record label decided against submitting it.
While some immediately assumed the move was a colossal blunder, there’s a strategy at work. Like most good things in life, Grammy nominations don’t just happen: recordings must be officially submitted (usually by the label), and strong words and hurt feelings can ensue when a recording is mistakenly not submitted.
However, the announcement isn’t totally shocking as many artists have pursued similar strategies.
According to Pitchfork, many artists in recent years have been making use of a similar strategy. They’ll release in a single in August to qualify for one year’s Grammys and then release their full album in November to qualify for the next. Following this strategy essentially allows for double the Grammy exposure.
However, other artists hold off, presumably on the assumption that they’d have a better chance in a year when there’s more momentum behind them. For example, Billie Eilish would have been eligible for the 2018 Best New Artist Grammy behind the release of her debut EP “Don’t Smile at Me,” but elected to hold off until the release of “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?,” her multiplatinum debut album. Consequently, she swept the “Big Four” Grammys — Album, Song and Record of the Year along with Best New Artist — at the awards earlier this year.
“WAP” was easily one of the year’s top performing tracks.
The move by Cardi’s team is doubly surprising because “WAP” is one of the biggest singles of the year, and broke the record for most-streamed song in its first week of release with a whopping 93 million. Cardi and Megan definitely would have had strong momentum behind them if they had submitted for the 2021 awards.
“WAP” was also Cardi B’s first single as a lead artist since last year’s “Press” and set a new record for the biggest streaming debut week of all time. Meg followed it with the Young Thug collaboration “Don’t Stop” at the beginning of October, showing that both artists had big years to build off.
Of course, Twitter quickly ignited with debate about the entire fiasco.
Once the story broke that “WAP” wouldn’t be eligible for a Grammy, fans took to Twitter to express their outrage. Many were hoping to see live performances of the track on the award show circuit. But just because the song isn’t eligible for any Grammy Awards, doesn’t mean that the duo can’t grace us all with a live performance – whether at the Grammys or another award show.
However, at least we have an upcoming Cardi B album to look forward to.
Although the news of no “WAP” at next year’s Grammys leaves us all a bit disappointed, at least there’s the silver lining of an upcoming album. Although, little is yet known about Cardi B’s forthcoming sophomore album (it hasn’t even been formally announced yet!) but back in August, Cardi told Elle that the follow-up to 2018’s Invasion of Privacy would be worthy of Queen Bey herself.
“My music is always going to make a woman feel like a bad bitch. When you make a woman feel like she’s the baddest bitch in the room, to me, that’s female empowerment,” Cardi said. “But this album is going to be really different. Of course, it’s going to have my Lemonade moments, my personal relationship moments.”
Cardi B is an unabashed supporter of women. The rapper has fought for strippers and politicians and everyone in between. A recent social media snafu by Cardi B has women coming to her side after some body-shaming comments made.
Cardi B accidentally posted a topless photo to her Instagram story and quickly deleted it.
Cardi answering a fan about why her areolas.
Yes, that was an actual sentence I had to type out because a man decided to be in women’s business. pic.twitter.com/GRqBOJ9T3s
The reaction to the post quickly spawned a social media trend of women standing up for her. #BoobsOutForCardi was trending on all social media platforms as women stood up for Cardi B. Social media users started to attack the rapper for the size of her areolas because that’s something that happens.
Now, in all fairness, Cardi B doesn’t need anyone defending her.
Cardi B is more than capable of standing up for herself and taking control of the situation. However, it is so nice to see women come together to stand up against the kind of body shaming that is so last decade. The world is already too cruel to allow for senseless body shaming to run rampant on social media.
People are celebrating the hashtag and the photos people are posting.
— Kay; Can I Be The Morticia To Your Gomez? (@Miss_Kay84) October 14, 2020
The amount of support for body positivity is a welcome social media trend in 2020. The year has been a tough one for so many people and for so many reasons. Seeing a world that embraces peoples’ bodies is a good reminder that there is some positivity in the world right now.
Ain’t nothing wrong with men supporting women, okay? Body shaming is not specific to just one gender. On the contrary. Men and women face all kinds of pressure to conform to a certain body type.
There is only one of you and your body does not define you. Be kind to yourself, no matter what other people might do or say. It is important to stay true to yourself and to never let anyone ever define who you are.
