12 Money Moves I Learned From Cardi B
"Ya'll, I'm going to keep it real with you," Cardi B said onstage as the headlining act of BeautyCon on Sunday. She'd taken off her shoes at this point and ditched the Q&A portion that BeautyCon founder Moj Mahdara had planned so she could go, well, full Cardi.
Cardi, who was two and half hours late after her flight from Vegas was delayed, was met with a not-so-patient audience screaming and chanting her name. At one point, a little girl in the audience started crying at the mere sight of Cardi and she humbly responded, "Don't cry about me, girl. My farts stink, my poop stinks, just like you."
Cardi B might be one of the few millionaires who thinks her shit stinks (and isn't afraid to say it). She's not humble enough to keep her earnings to herself—"I got mad money!" Cardi exclaims at one point—but she's different in that she wants all of us to get on her level. And the audience, packed mostly with women of color and gender nonconforming individuals, was there so Cardi B could help us all get rich. Ahead, 12 money moves I learned from Cardi B. Okurrr™.
Don't do the work if you're not getting paid equally.
When Cardi B was coming up as an artist, she noticed male rappers were making more money to host the same events alongside her. So, she bluntly asked one day, "Why is this man making more money money than me when I'm the one who brings bitches?" Cardi B stopped taking bookings until she was paid equally, and we can safely assume she continued "bringing the bitches."
"There ain't no shame in your damn game."
As a young stripper, Cardi first started working in midtown clubs, far from where she lived, to hide it from her family and friends. But she realized she wan't reaching her full potential because the clientele was less interested in her, so she moved to a club in the Bronx and began advertising for her services on Instagram with captions like, "If you like what you see, come and see me." Her earnings doubled.
"Don't let anyone judge you."
"People be like, 'No Cardi, you don't have to strip, you have other choices.' No I fucking didn't, bitch."
When asked if she regretted anything from her past Cardi responded, "The fuck no."
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"The more money you make the more money he take," explained Cardi. "I gave all this money and I still have potholes on my street."
"Pick a career where you can make a whole fuckin' lot of money."
"If you don't like it, it's not worth going into debt and your credit card being fucked up," said Cardi. "What's the point of working to be a slave to bills."
"Don't let gossip distract you from the fact that you can make money right now."
"There are so many ways to make money but y'all so worried about who Cardi B is and who Kim Kardashian is," explained Cardi. "I wish I knew how poppin' Instagram was because I would be selling all those things this and that."
"Watch the bloggers' recipe because you can be doing the same shit," says Cardi. "I watch how Kylie Jenner became a fucking billionaire. I be looking like, everyone talking about she ain't self made, I don't give a fuck, I'm going to do that too."
"Everyone was mad I copywrote Okurrr but these white folks do it all the time," said Cardi. "Every meeting I go to from a hedge fund to a commercial shoot, they ask me to say Okurrr, so you think I'm not going to be making money?"
"You can save money when you can afford to save money," explains Cardi. "How you going to save money when you have bills to pay? Don't go off the hype of people."
"These men don't hesitate to ask and that's why they get what they want," said Cardi. "Women be so scared to ask what we need and we're too ashamed but these men don't so?"
"Y'all be getting dickmitized." said Cardi. "I could be saving instead of trying to impress [a man's] stinking ass."
Chloe Hall Chloe Hall is an editor, producer, and Instagrammer who covers beauty, fashion, culture and Rihanna at ELLE.com.
