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At first glance, you may not think Cardi B and Mariah Carey have much in common. But the two chart-topping divas might actually be more similar than they are different.

Cardi B once called herself the “strip-club Mariah Carey”, so Interview magazine recruited the Afro-Venezuelan songstress herself to interview Belcalis.

In a new conversation in Interview magazine, Cardi B and Mariah Carey teamed up to talk about the challenges they’ve had to face as famous women of color coming from tough backgrounds.

Cardi B on the March 2021 issue of Interview Magazine.

Photographed by AB+DM. pic.twitter.com/stECippWJG

— IAMFASHION (@IAMFASHlON) February 23, 2021

And in case you thought otherwise, Mariah Carey was not throwing any softballs. The conversation was intense. The women covered everything from confidence, to body image, to prejudice in the music industry. It didn’t seem like either of the women held back.

Mimi opened the interview by asking Cardi if she ever felt beautiful as a child. Surprisingly, Cardi responded opened up about a topic that society doesn’t take about very often: anti-Blackness in the Latino community.

“I’m Trini and I’m Dominican, there’s a lot of Dominicans that look a certain type of way [in the Bronx]. They have soft, pretty, curly hair. Growing up, guys would ask me weird questions like, ‘If you’re Dominican, why is your hair so nappy?'”

Thank you soo much .This is like a dream to me.I been so fascinated with your story .You are amazing . https://t.co/SdrW4YbMaU

— iamcardib (@iamcardib) February 23, 2021

Cardi went on to admit that she bleached and permed her hair when she was young to the point where she damaged her hair. But she soon learned to take care of her natural hair and appreciate it for what it was.

Cardi’s confession about her hair prompted Mariah to reveal her own vulnerable story. “It was a very traumatizing thing for me having a black father and a white mother, because my mother, who raised me, didn’t really know about textured hair,” Mariah said.

The superstar duo also touched on the sensitive topics of racism and prejudice in the music and fashion industries.

I know I said a lot of curse word and talk a little too spicy in my Interview with INTERVIEW magazine with Mariah Carey but I can’t help it she made me feel comfortable 🤷🏽‍♀️ I didn’t felt like I was doing a robot interview I felt like I was a having a real conversation.

— iamcardib (@iamcardib) February 23, 2021

In fact, MC point-blank asked Cardi B: “Do you feel that the record industry or the fashion industry, from your perspective, is inherently racist?”. Cardi explained that she wouldn’t technically use the word racist, but has “felt prejudice.”

“I have been involved in endorsement deals, and then I found out that certain white people got more money for their deals from the same company,” she said. “So it’s like, ‘When you’re not paying me what you’re paying these other people, why is that?’ It’s kind of insulting.”

Cardi also added that Black artists have a tougher time getting dressed by designers and getting seats at fashion shows, even though hip-hop culture influences fashion in so many ways.

Cardi B and Mariah Carey then bonded over the fact that both of them could only be themselves throughout their careers in the public eye.

It didn’t felt like a interview it felt like a deep ass conversation that you have with a real woman with a real life story .Like you can feel the New York energy.I felt so comfortable we kept talking and talking and talking . https://t.co/5roCEQL1Ef

— iamcardib (@iamcardib) February 23, 2021

Mariah applauded the fact that the public doesn’t require celebrities to have a squeaky-clean image anymore. “I do think people are much more accepting now,” she said. “…I do feel like people are, at least in some circles, allowed to be themselves and express themselves more than they were back in the day.”

“People expected me to be something specific, but I can only be me,” she added. “We’re similar in that way.”

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It’s not too often that the lyrics of a Cardi B song are highly ambiguous or leave you wondering what she’s talking about. I mean take the lyrics for her song “WAP” with Megan Thee Stallion, we all know what they’re talking about there.

But the lyrics to her song “Up” are a bit less transparent and more open to interpretation. So, during a recent guest appearance on The Tonight Show, she explained to Jimmy Fallon the actual meaning behind the lyrics and although they also have to do with the body, it’s quite a different angle for the “Bodak Yellow” rapper.

Cardi B explained to Jimmy Fallon the meaning behind the lyrics for her song “Up.”

Cardi B left Jimmy Fallon lost for words after explaining the unexpected meaning behind a line in her new single “Up,” as she revealed one part of the song originally referred to an uncomfortable constipation situation. The line in question, which she had borrowed from her husband Offset, is: “If it’s up, then it’s stuck.”

Cardi admitted she initially thought it was a “Georgia thing” as Offset, who is from the state, says it “a lot”, but she soon learned fans from other Southern U.S. states are also familiar with the phrase, so she was inspired to use it too. She said, “After the song came out, I thought it was a Georgia thing, but then people were like, ‘We say that in New Orleans,’ ‘We say that in Florida.’ I’m like, ‘OK, man, listen. I guess, whatever.” 

During the exchange with Fallon, Cardi added: “Um, so have you ever taken a poop, right, and it don’t come out?” “It’s just up and it’s stuck. Yeah,” she shared. After an awkward silence, Fallon uttered, “Wow,” while Cardi simply nodded.

Fallon tried to look for other meanings in the ambiguous lyrics.

A stunned Fallon then offered his own take, suggesting the phrase could be about reaching a certain level of success and then maintaining it.

Cardi followed up, “It’s a metaphorical quote,” suggesting that achievement and constipation are just two of many possible interpretations of the song and that poop probably wasn’t actually on Cardi’s mind when she wrote the tune.

The pair also had fun during the show’s Mimic Challenge segment.

She is always one of the best guests on these shows. It makes them so much more fun to watch.

Meanwhile, get a look at the video for her song “Up” below.

And tell us what you think of the lyrics!

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