CARDI B: The TRUTH Behind The End of My Relationship…

My marriage, I felt the love dying. I was crying every day. I fell in the deepest depression that I had ever had.

The number one health and wellness podcast.

Jay Shetty.

Jay Shetty.

The one, the only, Jay Shetty.

Cardi B, welcome to On Purpose.

Hi.

Oh my gosh, I have to tell you something, and I mean this, you can go back six years when I launched the podcast, people would always ask me, they'd say, who do you want on the show?

Yeah.

Like who would be your dream guest? And I'd always say, Cardi B, and I'll tell you why, I'll tell you why, because no one would ever put us in the same room together. We're just so different externally, but I believe there's a spiritual connection that we'll find out today.

You know what's so funny? I saw a video of you and I definitely won't, I was like, I want to send it to my boyfriend, but it's about asking difficult questions. And it's like, when you ask difficult questions and you get over the difficult question and you discuss the difficult questions, it really do make you stronger. It really do make the relationship stronger.

It's like, oh my gosh, he really, it's like, is he a psychic?

Did you send it to him? Did you send it to him? What did he say?

He was like, yeah, exactly. And I was like, yeah, exactly.

Did it change any behavior?

We'll see.

Okay.

Okay.

On the next question.

I love it. I love it. I wanted to ask you, first of all, I heard that you have a hidden talent that you can name the 46 presidents in order. Is that real?

I can't. It comes and go. It comes and go. I just know a lot of weird, different facts about presidents. And people will be like, but why? That is so random. Like when I was younger, I didn't really have like Nintendos and I didn't, sometimes I had cable and sometimes I didn't. So I just really had no choice but to read. And like, I like to read like factual stuff so I would just read like a whole bunch of history

things like me I will literally when I'm bored like you know how they give you the history books in your school I will literally read the whole history book in a week from front to back just just because I'm bored. Wow that's impressive though do you still get bored now do you even have time to be bored or? I don't be bored, but that's what I really just like to watch and everything. So I watch it, I watch YouTubes on factual things. I just get into certain topics and I always go down a rabbit hole and then I'd be obsessed

with it for a week and then it's just like, whatever.

I feel like you can't go anywhere without being recognized. I mean, you have such an iconic look. Even today, I was admiring it when you walked in. I was like, what inspires this? But if you could be anonymous for 24 hours, what would you do? If no one could recognize you, no one could see you,

what would you do?

Well, you know what's so funny? Like, I really do, like, I don't always look like this. So I usually go outside probably with glasses or probably not, but I always go outside with like a oversized hoodie. And then I'm not even going to lie, due to COVID for like a long time, it really did help using the mask. But I do a lot of things by myself with no security, just because I'm a person that if I want to, if I want to go and buy a steak to cook, I will go downstairs to Whole Foods and buy it.

And I don't care. And no one will know. And no one will see you.

They might or they might not. But I feel like I already maneuver how to like, oh, it's Cardi B and I just walk fast and maneuver my way around.

That's impressive. Yeah. You know, this show is all about getting to know the person behind the music, behind the stardom, behind the fame, getting to know the human behind it. Yeah. And I feel like your journey, even though you've talked about it, I'd love to dive into some parts that I find fascinating. Yeah. And I wanted to? Oh, it's a lot.

Well, it's not really like a childhood memory, but me and my sister, we used to go to the same school, right, even though she's three years younger than me. And she always be telling me this thing, right? She always be telling me this. She always tells me, like, oh, I used to see you in the cafeteria in the morning

by yourself with your head down. And I used to feel so bad for you. And it's like, why? And she's like, I don't know, cause you just looked so lonely. And I used to tell her, like, it's like,

I was not lonely. I just always need time to think and be by myself. I'm a person that I have friends, but I don't really like to be around people that much sometimes. I'm always in my thoughts, there's like a hundred people and I feel like it's been like that since I was five years old, they talk in my head and plan things out, plan my future,

plan my life. It's like I'm playing dollhouse in my head and plan things out, plan my future, plan my life. It's like I'm playing dollhouse in my head. You know, like when you play with your dolls and you make a scenario, not a scenario or like you build your home and this and your that.

Yeah, like a little universe.

Like a little universe. I'm always planning a universe in my head and it's just, sometimes people say that I have like an interesting look, like if I'm spaced out, I'm not spaced out, I'm deep in my universe and planning five years ahead.

Wow, so you're dreaming, planning, visioning. Mm-hmm. Do these different workers, different you's in your head have different names or personalities or no, it's just?

No, it's not really no different personalities. It's just straight planning tomorrow, straight planning for five years, straight imagining what I want. Wow. And it's crazy because it's like,

everything that I planned for since I was five and dreamed of, I really got in it. Wow. Even when I was five and dreamed of, I really gotten it. Even when I was like younger, even when I was like younger, I used to look at my mom and I used to be like, I wanna be so pretty and beautiful like her.

And I grew up to be the pretty, beautiful woman that she is, but I also wanted like to be very successful, very, I'm not gonna say rich, but very successful. I really hated being poor. And I used to say, is that I refuse to have kids and raise them in the hood.

I have to find a way to never do that, but I always wanted kids and I figured it out. And not only did I figure it out, but it's like I always have plan B, Cs and Ds, but I didn't have to settle for plan B, C and D. I settled for my dream.

Like this is my dream job and I have it. It's a little bit more difficult than what I saw in my dreams, but I'm living it. It's what I always wanted.

Yeah, that's incredible. As that little girl who was sitting alone that your sister said she would see you and she'd feel sorry for you, but inside your head you were dreaming. Was it dreaming about music? Was it dreaming about getting out of the hood? What were those dreams? What did they look like to that little girl back then?

I always felt like I was gonna be a superstar. And it's so weird because my grandma, she has like a lot of grandkids, but she always used to tell me that. And it's like, why you always used to tell, like, I don't understand why she used to tell me that. And it's like, why you always used to tell, like, I don't understand why she used to tell me that

all the time. Like, I used to be like a little black sheep. I used to like nag a lot. I have like cousins, they're very pretty. They have beautiful, beautiful eyes. They just stand out so much.

And it's not that I don't stand out. It's just like out of everybody, my grandma used to be like, you're going to be a superstar. You need to practice how to sing because you're going to be a superstar. And I just knew I was meant to be something. Like for some reason, me and my sister, we have like really strong personalities. And I feel like the things that they used to tell me, they would tell her the same thing too. All my teachers, all my friends, they're going to be like, you're going to be

somebody. You're going to be somebody someday. But I always just wonder, what is my calling? Because I used to like acting in school, but I'm not a good actress. I used to like singing, but I'm not the greatest singer. From the pack, from the school, I'm not a good actress. I used to like singing, but I'm not the greatest singer. Like from the pack, from the school, I'm not the greatest singer. Like if I will audition for a play,

they will pick somebody else because they sing better than me. Or they will pick somebody else because they act better than me. So, and then it's like, oh, people used to say like, I'm so funny, but it's like, I'm not a comedian standout show. Like it's like, I'm naturally funny,

but I can't see it as my job. Just my mouth. This is just me being me. So it's like, what is my calling? And I always wonder, what is my calling that everybody say that is like, I'm gonna be somebody,

but what am I gonna be? I don't know. And God gave it to me. God show it to me. God showed it to me. And God really did gave it to me.

And here I am. And I just can't believe that millions of people know me. Yeah. Congratulations. When I hear you say that, and you always exude this confidence, you're outspoken, you're bold. Was it always like that since you were a young girl? Or did

that develop over time? Where did that come from? I was like born like this. I was always, I always been like this. I guess I got my real quiet side and I always got like into my self side because like I said, I be in my own universe, quiet, planning and planning.

But I feel like when I open my mouth or when I am who I am, it's just, this is just how I am. But if I kind of think about it, I mean, like my family are very like funny. They're very loud.

My parents are a little different from each other, but they're very loud. They have very strong personalities, both of them. So I feel like it just all comes- Came into you. Came into me. Yeah.

So it's like, you know how people, I don't know, maybe, you know how people, parents give their kids they looks? Yeah. I think my parents gave me a mix of they both personality. I'm a little bit of both of them.

Cardi B even still today finds time for her quiet side? I'm naturally quiet, though. I mean, like, tell me about that. I want to know about that. I don't think people know that.

Yeah, like, I'm naturally in my room, just deep in my thoughts, and just deep, deep, deep. I might just talk to you the whole day as a friend on the phone, but I don't really want to see you, which is so weird. Like I could talk to my friends all day long, but I like to be by myself all the time.

I don't really- Are people surprised when they figure that out with you?

Yeah, and my friends don't feel a certain type of way about that because they know me. They know you, yeah. Yeah, they know I'm not the friend that want to go out to dinner. They know that I'm not that. They know I'm not the friend that, oh, I'm just gonna go to your house and chill

and blah, blah, blah. But we will be on the phone forever.

So what about parties, events, all of that kind of stuff? That's like, is it work? Is it networking?

I do like to party, but sometimes I haven't even really had the time for it lately. I haven't really had the time for it. And to be honest with you, even before I was famous and everything, I wasn't really a club girl. I was already a dancer, so I work in the club. So it's like, I didn't really care to like, oh, I'm going to the club today for what? I work in it. It's just like, I always been a person that just work, work,

work, work, work, work, work, work, work, focus on the bigger picture. Just focus on the biggest thing. I always wanted kids. So the goal is to be comfortable before the kids get here. That was always my goal. My goal was always to be a mother but having your own.

I had my own before I became a mother.

Yeah, I mean you said just a few moments ago that you didn't want to raise kids in the hood. Talk to me about what we don't know about that. Like how hard was it? What was it that was so bad that you were like, I could never raise my kids in the place I grew up in?

It's just a lot of things. Like sometimes when kids are like bad or they get into trouble, people automatically blame the parents. And you can have the best parents. Like my parents, they are not criminals.

They have never even committed a crime. My grandma used to tell my mom a lot, like, it's like, you're pretty for no reason. And I feel like they used to tell her that because it's like, she's so pretty. So it's like, you know, Caribbean folks is like when you're pretty and you're this and that,

it's like they always expect you to be with a man that got a lot of money. And my mom, she was never even that type of person. She was a very modest and honest, hardworking woman. So, and my dad, he's a good man. He's a party animal, but he's a good man.

He's a good person, he's a good dad. However, you will end up going in the wrong path or going in the wrong direction because the influence around you, because certain peer pressure or because you almost have no choice, especially if you're a boy.

You never know if you're gonna have a boy or a girl, especially if you're a boy. And when you are a girl, it is a little bit difficult. It is a little bit tougher. I feel like people just grow a little bit faster in the hood. Like when I was 11 years old, there was girls in my class in the sixth grade, 11 years old.

I have nieces that are 11 years old. All they wanna do is play Roblox nowadays. But when I was 11 years old, there was girls that were already at 11 in sixth grade. So it's like you go certain path or your environments. Like boys too in the hood, they're a little faster. So you will be walking down the block and the typical little bad boy, he'll slap your ass out of nowhere. He'll slap your ass out of nowhere.

You start arguing with him, he'll smack the shit out of your face. That's how boys, a lot of boys in the Bronx are. They're very aggressive. They're aggressive with girls. They're aggressive. They're grouped out.

They grope you. You just never know. One of the reasons also why I'm so witty with my mouth, people are like, why you so witty, why you so think? Like, going to school, it was like, it was almost like, I think that's why I'm always so tough.

Like, boys or girls, mostly boys, they used to kind, kind of like, make fun of certain things, but not only just me, to everybody. Like, you look at your shoes, they're leaning,

look at your hair, your hair is never not done. So, I used to go home and I used to go in the mirror and practice my jokes and the next day, I will be like, all right, I can't wait till he flame me.

I got a joke or two for him. That's why I'm so witty too as well. So, it's like, I don't want to raise my kids in that type of environment. I don't want to. And then on top of that, it's like, it is fun. I had a lot of fun in the hood, but it's like, it's not fun, like for me, right? It's not fun living in an apartment, right?

And contrary to what I say, I don't cook, I don't clean, I grew up with a mom that would make me brush the corners, the corners of the apartment, like brush it by hand. That's how clean my home had to be, my crib had to be. Every day I was doing dishes. Every day I was mopping floors.

Every day I was making sure that I go outside to the parking lot and take out the garbage. And even though no matter how clean your apartment is, there will still be roaches, there will still be mices because your neighbor probably a hoarder, the person downstairs is dirty,

y'all live in the same building, you cannot avoid certain rodents and stuff. And it's like, I don't wanna put my kids through that. And it's like, I have to find another way. And then another thing that always gets me in my head is like this one time, my mom, she was working very hard,

but we still needed help. So she went to welfare to get a benefit card and stuff like that. And the lady, my mom, she's the type of person, if you're rude to her, she's going to be like, oh, I don't got to take this. And she would just storm out. Like, I don't got to take, nobody got to talk, gonna talk to me like that. She got a very strong character. And this lady was talking so rude and so nasty to my mom. And she was taking it because we needed the help.

I don't want nobody to feel like they have to talk to me a certain type of way because I need the help. And it's like, this could never, ever be me. I would never wanna like be in a situation where I have to go get welfare and the social worker is talking to me like I'm a dog, like I need you.

And I just felt so bad for my mom because she just felt so, I could tell in her face that she was just like looking for the papers that she needed. It just, that vision is always in my head and it's like, it be getting me mad. I hope that lady, I want to punch in her face to this day. And I don't want that. I ain't wanted that. And as a woman, even if you get with a man with money, you

should have your own. Because one thing you learn from young, one thing I learned from having aunts, you can have a man with money, you can have a kid with money. If you stop doing what that man ask you to do or if that man decides to leave or if you deal with a man from the streets

and you go to jail, that's your child. That's you. That's your responsibility. That's your hustle. You got to grind for that child. It's always two parents, but sometimes it's not really two parents.

And the dad could be alive right there and then. That's why you always got to have your own. It's not even about, oh, I don't need a man. I don't need the father. I don't need the thing. But sometimes they get to the point that it's like, they're going to make you feel that

way. That's why you need it. I had cousins and I had aunts and I have it. That is like, they may have a little bit of money, have a little bit of land, have a little bit of this. And when those mans are done and through with you and put you off the ringer, it's like, yeah, I'm not dealing with that kid no more.

Or like, you get these $200 every three, four months when I want you to. I'm not dealing with that shit. That's why I was like, but I always wanted to have kids. So it's like, I have to have my own shit before I become a mom. And that's exactly what happened.

And not only do I not only have one kid, I have three kids and that's exactly, not exactly the number that I want, but I always wanted a big family. I love family. I love family. And there's a higher possibility that I want to be in a living assistant home with all the kids.

How many kids do you want?

I want like six.

Okay. So three more.

Mm-hmm.

I want like three more kids.

Three more kids. I love that for you. I mean, hearing you say that, I mean, as I was listening to you, I could tell there's almost like a, you can almost vision what that life was like.

Yeah.

And there's a part of you that's like so happy you got out. At the same time, there's such a part of it that's there inside of you that you've been fighting against, you've been breaking out of, right? Yeah. For all of these years.

When was the moment you felt like, I'm out, like I broke out? When was that moment where you really felt like, I did it, I'm out, I made it, I'm safe

now?

It's crazy because every single time I feel like I felt like I was safe, I really wasn't.

Oh, interesting.

Yeah. When I got on TV, when I first got on TV, I was like, did I make it? I didn't feel like I made it because I used to see girls go on reality TV shows and then they will end up right back in the strip club where I was at. So I never felt like it's that, oh, on TV I made it. It's like, I'm almost there, but I didn't made it. Then when I got signed to a label, it's like I'm almost near making it because I'm signed,

but I'm not where I want to be. Where I really felt like I made it was when Bordak Yellow came out. The million that I made, the first real million that I made, I had to share it with nobody. I had to share it with managers because they signed me to something. It's mine, it's mine, but I never felt comfortable. I still, to this day, don't feel comfortable, especially with how

everybody just trying to take it from you all the time. It's like, it's like I fight every day to keep this level of success because people want to take it from you so bad and people just feel like they could tell you when you deserve to have this success because it just looks so easy, but it's not. It really is not.

It's a challenge to stay here. It's a challenge to stay relevant. It's a challenge to keep your mental health right. It's a challenge to getting up. Everything is a challenge. It's a job. Everybody has a job.

You can't complain about getting up and doing a job. The only thing I could complain about is millions of people that love you and then millions of people getting in your head and telling you that you don't deserve your job that you work hard for.

That's what it is. We all have jobs. That's what it is about being a... Oh, don't complain to them. Everybody want to complain, I work so hard, I work so hard, I work so hard. You have to work hard to pay your bills.

But when you work hard and people tell you that you don't deserve the success that you have and you don't deserve to do what you do after you put in so much work, that's what with you, for real.

What makes you feel like that every day? What are the things that make you feel like that every day? What are the things that make you feel like there's people constantly coming at you? What does that look like in your life?

I tell you something that like been going on for like a hot minute, right? Like a lot of people think that I put out music, that I put out an album, that I don't be putting out this and that because, I don't know, they always say that

I'm always getting pregnant all the time. But I don't think people follow timelines. When it comes to having kids, I'm very seasoned by now. I'm very seasoned right now. When I had my child at the beginning, I canceled going on a tour with Bruno Mars because it

was my first time having a kid. I did not know anything. I didn't have no nanny, no night nurse. I was figuring out all by myself. I was figuring out postpartum. I was figuring out everything, right?

But even when I had a child, it didn't stop me. Three months after I gave birth, I was doing shows, four or five shows a week into COVID. Then COVID happened. And I put out this big record, WAP, and I put up, up. Then I got pregnant. And people thought that I didn't put out an album because I got pregnant. But the reason why I didn't put out an album is because I didn't have a body of work.

I just didn't have a body of work, so I couldn't put out no music because I didn't have a body of work. Then last year, I was planning to have an album. I was planning to put out an album, but I couldn't focus. I fell in the deepest depression that I had ever had. And with that depression, I couldn't function. I couldn't function at nothing.

And when I talk about function, it's not even like, oh, just working. I couldn't eat. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't do nothing. So that just halted everything that I had. So it's not really because of having a baby. Sometimes too, I don't be wanting to put music because

I love being in the studio and I love creating music and I love perfecting my craft. And that's like baking a cake. You bake a cake, you practice baking a cake, you practice baking a cake. And then when you put out the songs, sometimes they'd be good and sometimes, like for example, people would just be like, we hate it and she shouldn't be doing this. And that's like you're baking a cake. You bake a cake, you bake a cake, and people eat the cake and then people be like, this

is the worst cake ever. And they splat it. Have you ever seen The Simpsons?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's pretty shit when they splat the cake. That's how I be feeling. And it's like, that is the worst feeling ever. That's like a guy f***ing you and you think you have the best pussy in the world and they tell you, your pussy's trash, you should never fuck nobody no more. That's just how I feel. Like, you work, you work, you work,

you try your best to perfect your craft, and somebody just tell you like, you shouldn't be doing this, you should never do this ever in your life. It brings you down so much, and it fucks with your mental so much,

that it's like, this is why I kinda avoid it. Just for a peace of mind. Just for a peace of mind.

I have been okay for almost a year.

Like after I gave birth to my daughter, I was a little happy. I was going outside. I started dating. I started feeling really good. Sometimes I had bad days. Sometimes I have good days

because I feel like I'm resetting in life. Last week when I put out a song, and it's not really the criticism in the song, the way that people ate me up, tore me up, chewed me up just because of one song, I feel like I didn't deserve that. Especially for a song that I put so much work in, that I just was like, this is

why I don't really put music out like this, because I remember how this used to feel. This is a very terrible feeling to have. This is a very terrible feeling to have. And you tell yourself, it's like, a lot of these people that are telling you these type of things don't have no jobs, don't have no titles, don't have no this.

But when it's millions and millions and hundreds of thousands of people, not only are they criticizing the song, they criticizing you as a whole. It just be like, this is why I don't really put things up too much. because it's just like the mental health, the peace of mind,

it's so much,

you just gotta ask yourself sometimes, is it even worth it? Is it even worth it? Because I haven't felt down like last week for a very long time, for almost like a year, almost like a year.

I'm very compassionate, and I'm very understanding and I'm a Libra so I see always two sides of the scale. I have sympathy for bitches that f*** my man and they have taken a family loss. I'm like, damn, I feel bad for her.

Some people have the look, the intelligence, the talent. Some people really have that, but they don't go nowhere because they're lazy. Don't be lazy.

Having the right people in your corner to support you is a great form of self-care. Just like the friend who shows up to your housewarming party when you get that dream home, celebrates your big promotion, or goes with you on a walk to clear your mind, State Farm is there to help you feel supported.

They have different coverage options, whether it be for your home, car, motorcycle, boat, or even RV. With a State Farm agent, you know someone is there to help protect what's important. And with so many coverage options,

it's nice knowing you have help finding what fits for you. So you can continue to celebrate all of life's biggest milestones. Go online at statefarm.com or use the award-winning app to get help from one of their local agents. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.

We all want to feel better, to have more energy and more focus throughout the day. That's why I co-founded Juni, a sparkling adaptogenic drink made with powerful ingredients like ashwagandha and lion's mane. It's designed to boost your mood, support your focus and give you natural energy all without the crash.

A new classic re-imagined. We're so excited to officially launch our new lemonade iced tea flavor. When we created Juni, my goal was simple. I wanted to make drinks that help you feel balanced and energized without compromise. Our upgraded take on the classic Arnold Palmer

is crisp, refreshing, and crafted with adaptogens to support energy, focus, and mood, all with zero sugar. Be among the first to try it, available exclusively at drinkdrunie.com where you can use the code ONPURPOSE20 for 20% off your first order.

Cheers to your daily mood boost. Talk to me about that depression. For you, as confident as you are, as bold as you are, to be so vulnerable, and I'm so sorry you went through that, but to be so honest and open about the fact that a year ago you were in this dark depression,

and it seems like the worst it had ever been. Yeah. What got you there? Why were you feeling so low?

It was just a lot of pressure from my career. And I also felt like my marriage, like I felt the love dying. From my end, from my end, from his end, I was very lonely because I chose to be lonely. I chose to be lonely.

I was saying like, you know what? I can't go through this anymore. I have to put a stop to it. But when I said I was gonna put a stop to it, But when I said I was gonna put a stop to it, because you could say you're gonna put a stop to it and you could, you could go a month

without being around somebody, it's not until you, it's not when you say so, it's when your heart say so. I kept telling myself, I will not contact this person for a month. I will not give in.

I will not forgive this easy. I will not go back. I will not go to the patterns. I will not go through it. But I was crying every day. I was hurt every day.

I was out here in LA, in a mansion by myself. I was thinking about it every single day.

And when your heart is not done, your heart is not done.

Then I told myself, I'm pregnant.

I'm going to accept the, I'm going to accept my flaws, the flaws that I bring in this marriage. I'm going to apologize for it and I'm going to work on it. And when I take accountability and you take advantage of me taking accountability and you take that as a, see, I know she be back instead of me taking accountability and you take that as a, see, I know she be back instead of me taking accountability and you taking advantage of that. It really just killed everything.

And while it was dying, I had a human groin in me and I just kept thinking, like, it's like, what's life going to be without this person? What's life going to be without raising my last child without this person? What's life going to be with that person

not being my friend anymore without nothing? When you have those type of thoughts, it will make you sad. It will get you depressed. It will have you sad, it will get you depressed, it will have you lost, but I overcame that and I am the strongest that I have ever been.

I almost feel like, when was I ever my strongest? I felt my strongest when I was 22, 23, 24. That's when I felt like my strongest and I was like living in a power. And that's how I feel right now. Like I feel like I live in a power. And it took months for the heart to say, you're done.

Instead of my mouth and my brain. My heart had to be like, you're done. Because you could say it and you could take actions, but even if you take actions, if you're not done, you're not done. Like I kept asking, like around that time I was working with Shakira and I was like, how the f*** did you overcame this?

How did you overcame this? And it's like, it's going to happen. And it's like, it will never happen. And it's like, it would never happen. And it happened. It took some crying, it took some thoughts, scary thoughts. But I'm here, honey. Yeah.

I'm here and I'm as strong as I've been and I'm just.

I love hearing that.

But it was hard.

I can tell, I can tell, I can see it as I'm speaking to you. It's not easy. I think those moments in all of our lives are the most difficult moments. What did you do for your mental health at that time? What did you do? What actions did you take? What did you have to do to

keep yourself together and come back the strongest you are right now? I think there are so many people who are listening who have probably been through similar things, who feel broken, feel hurt, feel lost and confused. What works for you that helped you come back the strongest you've ever been?

I don't know if it was just time because I kind of did a little bit of everything. Like I did do therapy. I did saw a therapist. She's really good, by the way. It was like on Zoom, and it was like,

I was telling myself, like, it's like, I can't believe I'm telling a whole stranger my feelings, my thoughts, my personal business for three hours straight. I was just like, what the fuck am I doing? That just feels so weird. I was in there, I did therapy for, I did a couple of sessions.

They ain't gave me no nothing. Um, I was all spring, all summer recording. It just wasn't enough. I just felt like I just had to let it die on its own. Let things die on its own. And the bad thing about it is that it's like, not only am I dealing with that, that's my

personal life. I was also dealing with fans putting pressure on me because they want an album, they want products from me. I had people that don't like me talking down on me, and then I had peers trying to start problems with me. And all of that while I was going through a mental fucking breakdown at home.

So it was just a lot. It was like, I'm trying to work it. I'm trying to sleep it. After I gave birth to my daughter, my baby girl, I was just like, take a break from work. And I was just going out every weekend with my friends. It was scary talking to somebody else

and giving them a little piece of me, not just my heart, just a little piece of me. But I overcame that and that's why I feel like I just became a little bit more better, like just resetting.

Yeah, it's a good reminder that time is the ultimate reset and time does have a healing power that we, you know, the cliche of time heals all wounds. But it's the truth. But it's true, yeah, it's a cliche because there's truth in it. Yeah. There's some reality in it,

that time and distance and being patient enough. I was working with a client recently who was going through a breakup and when we would speak in the first month, she would tell me every single day that she couldn't stop thinking about the

guy she was breaking up with. That broke up with her. And then the second month, she'd tell me every other day. And then the third month, she'd tell me once a week. And then the fourth month, she was just telling me once a month. And I was like, you don't see it, but I see that it's affecting you less and less and

less as time goes on. But when it's you, you feel like you're just still stuck there. And so it's such a great reminder that time is the

ultimate reset and time does heal. And just because time heals, in the meantime, don't think that you shouldn't try to get help because it's like therapy didn't really help me like that. It didn't work for you? Not as much. Well, maybe because I didn't get to the part of where you get the help.

I mean, I did do this like six sessions. I don't know how long. Like sometimes when I give advice to girls, I be like, bitch, boss up, boss up, go to work, get pretty. But even when I was doing that, I had like a pain in my heart.

And sometimes when I was going out with my friends and I was having a good time, it will always be like around 4.30 AM when it's time to go home and I'm drunk and I'm thinking to myself, I am alone. I don't have nobody to talk to. And it feels really weird and it feels very lonely, especially when you're used to that. However, don't avoid that.

Don't avoid that, but it will be time that will heal it. It will be time. Time just heals everything.

When you said again last week, you were saying when you put new music out, it was kind of the lowest you'd felt in another year. What's the hardest part for you to take that criticism? Because like you said, you're quick with it. You've got responses. You've lived in a place where you had people coming at you.

Why is it so hard to put out something you love? It seems like you really put your heart into your work. And so when you put that out, is that why the criticism hurts the most? Because you put so much heart and soul into your work?

Yes, because I put like a lot, I always, I don't like what, like I'm not a lazy person and I do understand my flaws. Well, it's not really my flaws because a lot of people will say something about my accent, right? But it's funny because my accent to some people might be my flaw, but it's also my superpower and what makes me unique.

Some people will say that I have a Spanish accent, but I really don't really have a Spanish accent. I have a very unique accent. I talk very unique. When you try your best to perfect your accent, perfect your flows, perfect everything. I always try to perfect everything that I'm doing at the time. I always try to perfect it. Even when I was a stripper, it's like, okay, I'm a stripper, but I'm going to be the best pole dancer in here.

And I'm going to bust my ass, bust my knees, practice every day, and to be the best at it. That's the same with music. I'm going to perfect it. That's the same with my marketing. I'm going to perfect it. That's the same with my marketing. I'm gonna perfect it.

That's the same with my business. I'm gonna perfect it. I like to perfect things. And if it's not the best things, if I'm not the best at it, I could say that I tried to be

and I worked my ass off to be and I didn't make it easy for myself. So when people just throw it in your face and then make other narratives on top of it with that, it's like, that is so mean. And it's also like different narratives of you. Like it's like, wow, you don't even know me.

You don't even know me and you're making all these stories, scenarios, all this this over one song. For example, when I did this song and people didn't like this song, so many people was like, they just ... Cardi never deserved to be a rapper. They just made it so easy for her. It's funny because it's like, this shit was not given to me.

I worked my ass off for me and I planned it. Just like you see when I was a little girl, I used to plan everything. I plan every step, every single step. And I might even be inspirational to other artists coming up because for a long time since I have such a big personality, people just felt like, she's funny, she's funny, she's funny. So it was really hard for labels to take me serious.

And some labels were trying to give me scraps to do a slavering record deal. And even when I was on TV and I thought it was going to be my big break for people to recognize me as an artist, it wasn't. I was doing good numbers on my mixtape. It wasn't enough. So the money that I was getting for partying and hostings, I took that money, I made my

own concerts, and the best thing about it is that everything is documented. I did my own concerts For 500 to 400 people in New York 800 people came out Singing my songs and I went to the label and I was like, this is why you need to sign me It's not just the Instagram. It is real life. And the $15,000 that I used to get for hosting parties, I used it to rent cars, rent buses, rent venues to perform my songs, to show these labels, it's like, I'm the one.

This shit ain't fake. This shit ain't a personality thing. This ain't a love and hip hop thing. This is what my music is doing. This is the people singing it. I'm doing all of that and now being this far, after you planned everything and people will

tell you that you don't deserve it and you got it because of this, this and that, that pisses me the fuck off. Because everything that I did is documented. This shit wasn't given to me. I didn't open my legs for it neither. So that's the type of shit that be getting me angry.

Like it's like, don't tell me that I didn't put the fucking work in. When I put the work in, there's days that I miss. I miss birthdays. I miss birthdays. I miss family events. This shit has gotten in the way of my personal relationships, marriage, and everything. Just for somebody to tell me, somebody that never did shit in their

motherfucking life to tell me that I don't deserve it, get the f*** out of here. Absolutely. I mean, you know what though, I also find that Instagram and TikTok or whatever platform it is, the comments that are negative are just loud. Because you can literally go to someone's comment section and see negativity or whatever, but then like you said, you go to an arena and everyone in the arena is screaming their name and singing their songs. And so it is this really weird thing that happens for the mind where you're watching your page or you're watching yourself on someone else's page and there's criticism, but then

actually there's all these other people that love you. The negativity and the hate is just so loud.

It is loud.

And people say stuff. Yeah. Whereas the people that love you, they just press the heart. So it's always like that weird thing where I'm like, the mind just overvalues negative feedback and undervalues the positive feedback because the negative feedback is just so critical and loud and heavy. When you reflect on it and after you think about it for a week, do you think, I want to prove them wrong or do you go, actually, who cares about them? Where

do you end up after a week of reflecting on it?

Like last week, right, I was in tears and I was telling myself, I was telling myself, like it's like, not only myself, I told this to my friend actually. I told this to my friend. I was like, sometimes people say, don't let the the devil win." -Mm. But what happens if you let the devil win? Mm. Maybe I need to let the devil win

so I can have a peace of mind. And then I'm like thinking to myself, like, why the fuck would I ever say, let the devil win? Imagine praying to God on your knees every single night, asking God, God, please bless me with this.

God, please bless me with this. God, please give me that. God, please give me this. Please give me that. Please bless me with this. Please bless me with that.

Just so you could like, everything that God gave you, tell the devil here you could have it. Because he's sending, sometimes the devil sends evil in human forms and in human mouths and human's tongue, just so you could tell the devil to have it.

Like, imagine how God feels. Imagine God be like, all right, baby, all right, girl. Here, you, here, here, here, have this. You wanted this, here's what you get. And then, like, it's like he's giving you something, and then you go to school and they be like, that's ugly. And that's something that you've

been asking him for a long time and now you don't like it because somebody told you that it's ugly. Yeah, well said. And it's like, how almost let the devil win? And I was telling myself that, I was telling myself that, and like I said, I was telling it, but sometimes you gotta believe it from the heart because your mind could tell you it,

your mouth could say it, but you gotta believe it from the heart. This week though, I feel so much better and I feel so much confident, and I was like, I'm not gonna let the devil win. I'm not gonna be like, you know what, I just need some days off. And it's like, how the are you going to take some days off when your team been planning

all of these things that you had to do for your album rollout because of these people that are spewing things that the devil wants you to think of yourself. I almost let this motherfucker win.

Don't let the devil win.

Because how you think God feel? How you think God feel, Cardi? Gave you all this **** you've been asking for forever, just so you could say that. That really pissed me off about myself because I can't believe I said

that. Well, no, I think it's human. I mean, even as I'm listening to you, I'm thinking everyone will be relieved because when someone as confident and as bold as you are, and as outspoken as you are, which are all amazing qualities, the truth is though that we all have these human moments. And it's not a weakness. It's natural for all of us to feel pain, to experience sadness, to experience... And it humanizes you in a good way. It makes me feel like, oh wow, if Cardi feels that, then hey, I can feel that too, you know?

If she goes through those days and she gets out of them and a week later she's feeling better and a year ago she was in a real mess and she's feeling better, then maybe I can take something from that as well.

I'm not a perfect person. You know what I'm not a perfect person. I'm not a perfect person and sometimes I'm a little bit misunderstood. How do you think you're misunderstood? I don't even want to bring this up again but it's like I could tell you how I'm misunderstood. I actually got dragged for weeks because of this. So I made this, I think I'm just a little misunderstood. Sometimes I could be, I don't have a dark, I'm not a dark humor person.

I'm not a dark humor person, but sometimes like my humor could be a little rough. And I feel like my humor could be a little rough because like, you know, like I said, like boys in the Bronx, they will make really tough jokes on you.

And then on top of that, like a family like mine, we're always cracking jokes on each other. Like being Caribbean, Caribbean people, like if you're too skinny, they'll be like, girl, you shaped like candle. Like you shaped like a candle, just small like a candle, like a white candle. Or like Dominicans, like when you shape like big from the top and small on the bottom, they be like, cuerpo yuca.

What does that mean?

It's a certain type of yam.

Okay, okay.

And it's like, it's rude, but it's like, it's just something that is like, people just joke around that it's just so naturally. So sometimes my jokes might be a little bit not for everybody. And when I make certain jokes, like I made a joke the other day with my fans because they literally started the joke.

And then I continue the joke and because of the joke and I refuse to apologize for it, people was just saying that I'm just such a mean person, that I was trying to bully people, that I'm hurtful to people. But it's like, I wasn't even trying to hurt nobody. My intent wasn't to hurt nobody. It's just like, everybody naturally jokes

with their friends. Everybody naturally jokes with their peers. Everybody just might say, not the most nicest jokes or stuff like that. However, like, I'm not trying to hurt nobody. I don't want to hurt nobody.

And so many people criticize me because of that or like judge my character because of that. But it's like, I'm not this evil mean person that people think that I am. I'm very actually compassionate. I'm too compassionate. That's why I cry for, there's something that might be going on in the other side of the world and I'm crying for it. And it's like, why am I crying for this? Like, this is crazy. I'm very compassionate and I'm very understanding and I'm a Libra, so I see always two sides of the scale. I always have sympathy, just a little.

I even have sympathy for bitches. I have sympathy for bitches that my man and they have taken a family loss. I'm like, damn, I feel bad for her. That's how sympathetic I am.

Why do you feel sympathy for them? Like, where does that come from? Or what do you feel?

I don't know, it's just...

It's just how you're made.

It's just how I'm, that's just how I'm made, and stuff like that, that's just how I am. However, people just have this thought of me and that's because my mouth is so rough. Like I'm a little rough and I curse like a sailor. And I give advice very strong. But everybody in my family give advice like very strong.

And I don't have yes mans neither. So my friends will give me advice in the most rudest way. And it's like, damn bitch, do you like me? But it's the truth. And that's just how I am. That's how I'm gonna talk to you.

And that's just how I am because it's the truth.

And you're like that with everyone. It doesn't change for anyone.

And I'm like that with everyone. How about the kids? Oh, I'm like that with my kids too. Like, you little, goddammit, I'm tired. But you can't tell me I'm a bad mom. I'm a great mom. If I'm good at something, it's being a mom.

But sometimes I'll be like, get the, you little, get the, goddammit, I'm sick of you. But that's just how I talk. Yeah. Does that make me a bad mom? I don't think I'm a bad mom. Shit, I give them too much.

It's funny you say that. I was talking to a parenting expert on the podcast a few weeks ago, and she was saying that parenting is the most inconvenient thing. She goes, you love them, but they're inconvenient. Like it's hard, like if you're honest about it.

Oh yeah. There's a real feeling about how tough being a mom is. How do you balance being a superstar and being a mom? Like how do you make it, you said it yourself, you want to be the best at everything. When you do something, you want to be the best at everything. When you do something, you want to be the best at it. So I assume that applies to being a mom too. Yeah.

And so it's like, how do you do that? What is it to you? What makes you a great mom? What are the parts that you focus on and how do you balance those two crazy worlds?

I think that what makes me, I think that what makes me like a good mom, I that I give my kids everything, but they just think I'm so funny. Like even when I curse at them, they just think I'm so funny. And it's like, I'm being serious with y'all, but they just love me. I don't know why they, I mean, of course, I know why they love me,

but it's like, why y'all love me so much? I guess I'm a good mom They think I'm so fun. Even when we just laying in bed, they just want to lay in bed with me. Ain't no target. We ain't going to the goddamn Target. We ain't going to the fucking Target. Don't ask me for no motherfucking goddamn Roblox.

That's exactly how I... Don't come here asking me for no goddamn Roblox. This is exactly how I talk to my kids. And they still love me. They just love me. I don't know. They love me for who I am. They love me. I don't even know how to explain it.

I do give them everything though. But giving them everything doesn't always make you the greatest mom because it's like, you've seen cases where the parents work so hard, they give their kids everything and it's not enough. Like them two brothers, what's they call again?

Oh yeah, the Menendez brothers.

Yeah, you could give them everything, but if they don't love you, they just don't love you. And I don't know, they just love me. I just always remind them that I love them, but I will curse them out though.

What's a quality or a skill that you have that you really want them to learn and develop and grow as they get older? I know they're young right now, but...

Please don't be a bum. Please don't be a bum. Please don't be lazy. Some people have the look, the intelligence, the talent. Some people really have that, but they don't go nowhere because they're lazy. Don't be lazy.

Don't just be all your parents are this and that. No, be your own person. Be your own human. Be something.

Be something.

Be something that you could be proud of. My mom, she was not, she was a lunch lady practically, but I am very proud of my mom because she used to work her ass off. She could have went to my grandma like, I'm going through a tough time right now,

can you raise my kids for a year or two? She never did that. My grandmothers as well, one of them got 10 kids, the other one got 13 kids. They worked every day. My grandma from my dad's side,

she gave birth on her kids in her wooden house. And then a couple of days later, she working back in the farm and she brought all her kids to America one by one, different time. Same with my grandma. She had, from my mom's side, she had 13 kids.

She used to cook, cook, cook, cook, sell food, sell food, sell food. She brought all her 13 kids over here. Like there's no excuse, but I could say that because they did that. And you're going to be able to say that about me. Like, it's like, my mom worked every day. I seen my mom work every day. Be that.

Be that. One day you're going to have kids one day and you want your kids to say that about you. That you worked hard every day. Everything you got, you deserved it. That you made it. Nobody gave it to you. I don't want to be like, oh, you just successful because you a whole man. Like I have son, I have a son.

You don't want nobody to say that you fly and you fire because you somebody's son. No, I'm fly because I'm my own man. I made myself a man. I work my ass off. You gonna have a bitch one day.

You don't want your bitch to be like, oh, he a mama boy, he a daddy's girl. No, I'm a hardworking man, baby girl. You can fuck on. Same with my daughters. Ain't no nigga gonna roll you over cause you got your own shit. You're more than just a pretty face. Be a boss. Be something. Please. I don't give a fuck what they do, whatever the fuck, just do not have that lazy bone on you. Like, there ain't no way that I'm busting my ass for you motherfuckers just so you could

end up not being shit. I'm giving y'all everything. Even when they're 18 and stuff like that and it's time to leave, if you want an apartment, if you want a car, I'll give it to you. But please, please become something. Please don't be nothing. That would be the worst disappointment they could ever do.

Don't disappoint me like that. Whatever the f*** y'all do, just don't be a nothing.

If you give it to them though, don't you think they'll be lazy then? Because if you give them an apartment and you give them a car, then they'll feel like, well, I don't need to work because mom's got me.

No, because it's like, all right, for example, I went to college, right? But I had to drop out of college because I had to work to just feed myself. If you got a crib and if you could maneuver to college or you probably want to open up a business or something, if you can maneuver and you don't got to worry about a bill, then it becomes easier for you. But don't make me give you an apartment or a fucking car and you just out here not doing shit. I better every single time I FaceTime you, you better be motherfucking doing something.

If you in bed at fucking 12 p.m., yeah. Ain't that car under my name? Oh, it's coming with me. You need the real world. I'm going to have to, and don't go to your daddy. Let me go to your fucking daddy.

I will take the s*** away. I don't play that. You ain't going to be nothing. Yeah, you're clear about that. You got two feet, you got two hands, you got a brain. You better do some s***.

Yeah, for sure. I found, I started working when I was 14. I used to deliver newspapers at the time. And then I started working at a grocery store. I used to work at the back and stack the shelves, pick up all the pallets, bring all the goods in, work back of house.

And then I worked and sold jeans at some jean shop. It's like, I found working since I was 14 is what made me realize the value of work. And I've been working hard ever since. And it's, if I didn't start working hard at 14, I feel like my parents didn't have anything to give me either. But I feel like that work ethic has to start early.

It do have to start early. And that's why, like, it's like, sometimes when my parents, here comes my parents sometimes, my parents, they be getting on my nerves sometimes. Like they be getting on my nerves sometimes because like my kids, they have school till 3 p.m., right? And after school, I don't care, and I don't want y'all at home talking about like I'm a little tough and shit. I don't give a f***. This is what I work hard for.

After school, my kids, four times a week, they have tutoring, reading, math, whatever the f*** they have tutoring, mandatory in my house. Then Kulture have piano or she got gym class. Wave, he got sports class and he still gotta do the tutoring. And I don't, I'm feeling sleepy. I don't, I don't want to hear that shit. I don't want to hear that shit. It's discipline. It gotta be in you and you have to be better than me. I want you to be better than me. There's things that

I cannot do that I want my kids to do. I don't know how to swim. I would love to swim. But the one time I went to a pool in Highbridge, there was a crazy fight that broke out. People was getting cut left to right. So I couldn't go swimming because I had no pool.

If I have a pool, you're gonna learn how to swim. You're gonna take your swimming classes. I'm not really good with my feet. So you're going to take dance classes, because if you ever want to be a superstar, that shit going to be in you that you a dancer.

I want you to be smarter than me. Like, I could read down, but my grammar's not that great. I want you to be not perfect because you cannot make your kids perfect and you don't want to put pressure on your kids perfect, but I want you to be a hundred time better version than me.

And I'm gonna install that in you. And you're gonna be mad and you're gonna be crying, but you're gonna appreciate that one day. Because I wish the things that I put on my kids, that somebody put in me when I was younger. But they couldn't put that in me when I was younger because they couldn't afford it. And they couldn't really have time to be like, Buckleys, Buckleys, Buckleys,

Hennessy, Hennessy, Hennessy, because they had to work. I have to work, but I'm going to give you classes for it. Grab me something,, grab me something girl. I'm playing with y'all. I love it, I love it. Success is so much of who you are, it's who you breathe, it's what you do. What makes Cardi B happy? It's like little elements, like my kids make me very happy. They're just so cute and funny. And they say stupid stuff. What do they say? Just things that is like, girl, what? It's funny. And it's funny seeing your kids grow

and develop a little character in them. When my baby, she be hitting her brother, her sister, it'd be so funny to me because it's like a baby and she's, and they're just there taking it. So to me, little things like that is funny and makes me happy.

Romance, you know what I'm saying? When I'm in love and when we having a go, you know, we having a go week, when you showing that you care, that makes me happy. You know, actually, when I did saw a piece of an interview with Selena Gomez and you, when she said, I might have a 14 hour day and just one phone call

and knowing somebody's there for you is a good feeling. That's a good feeling as well. What else is a good feeling. That's a good feeling as well. What else is a good feeling for me? When I'm with my cousins, when I'm with my family and we were just cracking jokes and it just feels, it feels like, it feels like childhood.

It makes me happy. Music make me very happy. I love music. When me and my team, we plan something, we put in so much work and it goes good, that makes me happy, that makes me happy,

the team happy and it motivates me and it motivate my team and it's just like, we did it. So stuff like that, stuff like that makes me happy. Seeing all the work that you do and the time that you put, the process, the progress that you put, and it's like it hits, it's successful, that makes me really happy. It's like, thank God, thank you, Jesus.

It makes me want to keep going.

That's a good list.

That's a good list.

I like it.

It's all connection. It's all real. It's human. It's all connection, it's all real, it's human, it's love, it's family, it's friends, it's intimacy, it's all the, it is all the most beautiful things that we're all looking for. How do you see love now?

Like, how do you define love?

Effort. Is not gonna always be perfect. Effort is like a lot to me. It means a lot to me. Like calling me, studying me, personality as well. I love me a joke.

I love me a he, he, he. You know what I'm saying? Like if I come to you and I'm in tears, when was it, last week? I saw my little boyfriend. I saw my boyfriend and I was in tears.

I was like, it's so much pressure on me. Like, it's so much pressure on me. And just one little joke, like I'm in tears. I kind of forgot the joke, but it was so funny.

That's good.

And like, snot coming out of my nose and it's like, it made me laugh. It just made me feel good. And it's just like, you know what, things are going to be okay. Yeah. Stuff like that.

Someone who can make you laugh, cry, and someone who can be there for you when you're crying real hard tears.

Yeah.

I like that. And I like what you said, study you.

Yeah.

That was really interesting. I've never heard that before, but I like it. What does that mean to you? Tell me about that. I like that one a lot. Certain things are just the obvious. You know what I'm saying? Certain things are like, are you really studying me or is just the obvious? For example, if you get me a purse, if you get me a Birkin or a Kelly, it makes me happy, of course. Which woman don't a bag make them happy? But you know that that's what I like. So it's not like you study it, it's like you see it on my page. But like when you do things that you don't normally do,

but you're doing it because you heard me talk about this. Like when you rent a castle, and I know you don't wanna be in this old ass castle that you literally gotta go up and down the stairs just so you could pee and it's hot and there's no air conditioner. When you rent a castle out just so you could,

just because you keep saying like, oh, I can't wait to have a day off in Paris so I could go to Versailles. I'm obsessed with castles. I'm obsessed with kings. I'm obsessed with queens. I'm obsessed with queens."

And it's like, you listen to that and you do your best to make it happen. It's like little things like that.

Yeah, so you're always leaving clues.

It's not even like leaving clues. It's just me talking about my-

It's just you talking.

It's like, it means stuff to me and stuff like that. When you get to know my personality too, and get to study me, it's like, okay. I think I'm a hard person to figure out. Some people just see me and think certain things until you really get to figure me out and crack me.

So I might give you what I want to give you. You haven't cracked me yet.

Will anyone ever crack you? Is it possible?

Yeah. Little by little I open up and I show more of myself, my real self.

Yeah. It's been seven years since you released your music and you've talked to me about releasing it, the hard work that went into it, the journey that got you there, why you waited. What finally made you feel confident that you had the right piece of work?

What did you put into it? How did you know that now was the right time and the work was ready?

Because it feels good. It feels good. Like, it's like, I feel like people are missing this. It feels good. I feel good. I feel confident about it.

I feel very confident about it, to be honest with you. So that's why I'm like, it's time.

Yeah. Where did the name, Am I the Drama, what inspired that? What's the subtext? What's the hidden meanings behind it?

I don't want to keep saying when I was a little girl. But it's funny, it's like-

Say it. I love knowing that you manifested this. It's beautiful.

No, because it's like ever since I was a little girl, I always get in trouble. And it don't really be me. Like, it's like, if we having a sleepover, me and my cousins, I will be the one that the aunt is pulling their ears.

Cause it's like, yeah, I know this was your idea, but it wasn't even my idea. Sometimes when I used to go to school and I used to fight, my mom used to be like, didn't I tell you to avoid the fight? And it's like, mom, I swear to God, it's not me.

It's these girls, they keep trying me. That's why I keep getting into fights. And when I was in school too, like it's like when I do get in trouble just because I'm being mischievous, it's like my friend's mom used to be like, it's because of her, it's because of Belcalis.

I know it's her, and it's like, it don't really be me. It really don't be me. And that's just how it is with my life. Like, it's like, yo, I'm always in a scandal. I'm always in some bullshit. I'm always in some beef and it's like, no matter how much I avoid it, it comes to me.

Am I the drama?

Is it me, Jesus? Is it me?

No matter how much I avoid it, no matter how much I think I'm in a bubble and it's like, nope, that bubble's always gonna pop. Something's always gonna find you, girl. But that's why I like, am I the drama? Why am I always in some shit?

Whether it's good or bad, why am I always in some shit?

What's the answer?

Am I? That's the, the answer is still the question, am I?

Am I? Am I? Only one person can answer that, and that's Jesus.

Because God, why the fuck am I always in some shit? When is the fucking boat gonna start smooth sailing? Why are we always in the ocean, in the middle of the ocean, in the roughest? We in the Pacific Ocean all the time.

I love that. It's a great question. It's a great question. It lines up for a great album. It's such a great name. It's such a great energy.

Even just hearing you talk about it, it's such a great vibe. What's the, I mean, how does it feel when that drama gets televised and then it's all over TikTok? How does that feel?

Nope.

Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad.

You always show up looking fabulous, but I'm like, how does that feel when like, you know?

Well, I try to come in here having eyes like you, but one of the contacts wasn't cooperating. So I'm like, I'm not taking this other contact off.

So that's why we have the...

Yeah, that's why we got three blue eyes on set.

I love it. I love it. I love it. How does it feel when your drama is televised? Like when that is televised, how does that feel?

It just feels... sometimes it feels okay because there's going to be people that's going to cheer for you. And sometimes it's going to be very overwhelming, like, and very stressful, very annoying. And then it's like, unlike other celebrities, you know, a lot of people be wanting me to be like certain celebrities and stuff like that.

Oh really? Like who?

Like, they just want me to be, like, the type of person that just don't respond, that don't tell my feelings. And they be thinking that some of these celebrities, like, they perfect, which they are amazing, but don't think they're not going through what I'm going through.

Don't think they don't feel like what the pressure that I go through. Don't think they're not saying, yeah, I hate you mother, because who the you think you are to tell me that I'm this, this,

who the you think you this and that? I'm just the person that tells it. So, it's a blessing and a curse, because sometimes I feel like I speak for them, and that's why when a lot of celebrities see me, they be like, yo, you be saying what I wanna say.

That's cool.

But then sometimes it's like a curse, because sometimes people be like, it's like, oh, you the only one that do that, you the only one that do that, and it's like, well, I'll be the one that do that and it's like well I'll be the one that do that. I can't do it all the time though because then people gonna think I'm just crazy but I'll be the one to do that. Y'all need to

leave people alone. Y'all think because us celebrity we make a little money and we make a little this like it's like bitch I have feelings too hoe. I ain't no chopped liver. So maybe that's why I'm sometimes like the punching bags and sometimes people be like you need to stop doing that you need to stop being this you need you need to be more like them and it's like they feel the same way I feel too they want to tell these people yeah you and your mom and your dad and your whole bloodline. What the f*** you talking on me? F*** you.

Trust me, they wanna say that to- They wanna say that-

Yeah, I think everyone does, yeah.

But I'll be the one to say it. But that's because sometimes it do feel good to say it.

F*** you.

Bitch, f*** you.

I'll be the one. Not all the time, but I'll be the one.

Yeah. Yeah, I could see that from all the clips that I've seen. You're always yourself. You're never not yourself, wherever you are. The glam, the looks, the fashion, the wigs, everything that comes out of your mouth. You're never filtering yourself, no matter the environment

you're in. Oh, trust matter the environment you're in.

I'll trust you, I filter myself a lot.

Oh, you do?

Sometimes I feel like, who the fuck am I? Who the fuck have I become? Because I used to have no filter, now it's just like, I'm like, all right. But still, fuck you though.

Where do you filter yourself, if you ever do? Where do you feel to yourself if you ever do? Where do you feel to yourself?

This mouth, I could be a piranha.

What are we today, a shark? No, today's.

No, today I'm a goldfish.

Okay, today you're a goldfish.

I said nothing bad today, today I'm a goldfish.

No, no, no, you haven't.

I've been really nice today.

You have been wonderful.

But it's like sometimes I be seeing people and I be like, I could get really nasty. This all facts, I could get really nasty.

But you hold back sometimes.

But I hold back so much, so much, so much, so much, so much. I really, you know what? I really did change a lot. I don't know what changed me. Maybe the age, maybe the kids, maybe life.

You softened up a bit.

I always been soft, but I could really give it to you. And I won't stop, but I stop just for... Is it the age, is it the kids? Which one is it? Or all of them? All of the above? It's a combination. Age really wisens you. Wisens you and makes you afraid.

Yeah. Got more to lose. I think that plays a big part. When you're young and you're dreaming and you want all these things, no one ever tells you the cost that it comes at and how much it tests you and brings all sorts of other challenges into your life. You've talked about how money doesn't fix everything and success doesn't solve everything and it almost feels like when you don't have those things, you think it will.

Yeah.

Then when you get it, you realize, oh wait, there's all this other stuff that we haven't figured out yet. What is something that you're still trying to figure out, learn, solve in your own life? What's the part of your life you're working on, dreaming, envisioning, imagining to be better and different?

I mean, life in general.

All of it.

All of it, to be honest with you. Life just doesn't get, I wonder when life is gonna start getting easier. Because life is just hard. No matter if you have money or not. You got problems when you poor,

you got problems when you rich. You're just always just trying to figure it. Every single day I feel like people are just trying to figure it out, trying to figure themselves out, trying to figure life out. And it just will never stop. It will never stop I think. When will it stop? When you're 60? But even when you're 60 you're going to start having other problems, like back problems. It is like another thing,

another problem that you gotta figure out. You know what I'm saying? Like it's just, it would never stop. The older you get, the more people you lose, more kids you have, the more things you have to worry about, the more money you have,

the more you have to learn about managing. You have a partner or you, you have a partner, or when you don't have a partner, you gotta figure out how you wanna deal with being alone. When you have a partner, you gotta figure out how to be their peace in everything. And I really don't want people thinking either

that it's just because you have money, like it's like you live the easy life. Everybody that have money, that are successful, that are good at what they do, if you notice a pattern, they work their asses off. Think that Beyonce got a fucking boat and a mansion and this and that because she's

just ... Beyonce?

No, she work her ass off. She's one of the most hardest people ever. Why people cannot go to her level? Why people cannot this and that? Because they just, she just have an insane work ethic, insane time.

And my partner, he wakes up every day at 5.30, 6 a.m. and leave work at 7 p.m. And then you got people that hate on him and it's like, well, why he so good? Because he works hard. Why am I here after seven years?

Because I'm every day, every day, working every day. What we doing next? Hello, what y'all doing? Wake up, I got a certain plan. I just thought of something. I just had a dream of something.

We gotta make it happen. And working hard, you could say working hard and it sounds like working hard, but it's like it's hours and hours and hours. It's time, it's body, it's brain. I'm exhausted. I'm really exhausted right now.

Back hurt, butt hurt. I'm sleepy as shit. I got a headache on the right side of my head when I'm working. After this, I gotta do a promo shoot and then I'm going to the studio and then tomorrow I gotta do something else. Every single day, every single day, every single day. If you want it, you gotta do it. No complaining, no crying and

shit.

In this conversation, you've talked about Jesus, you've talked about the devil. Do you talk to God a lot? Do you pray?

Every day. Every day? Mm-hmm. I feel like I have a very deep spiritual connection with God. And it's not even like about praying, it's like talking, like even when I talk to God, I talk to him just like I'm talking to you.

I be cursing.

I love that.

Crying, because people be like, oh, cursing is bad, but it's like God knows who I am. God knows how I be. Like, it's almost like I'm talking to a friend. And I really do believe in my weird mind, in my weird universe that I made,

like I have angels. I really do believe that God gave me angels, and I believe in them. I feel like God is here, and I feel like you got your angels here, then you got your other religions here. I believe in God so much.

It's not even funny. And you know, some people might not believe in God, but it's like, don't try, like, it's like, I'm not gonna convince nobody to believe in what I believe in. But if it, how you expect me not to believe on the person that I've been praying to my whole life and gave me what I wanted.

So that little girl was talking to God in that dream?

Always, all the time. It's like the imaginary friend, the voice in your head that you think is your friend, that you think is your friend, that you think is your voice, that was just you talking to God the whole time. That was just you talking to God the whole time.

I love him, I believe in him. I always tell this to somebody, like it's like the most I could give you, the most powerful thing that I could give you is me praying on you. If I pray on you, for you, it's because I love you.

It's the most powerful thing. And I do feel like when you pray together, miracles happen. I love him. I love you so much.

Why do you love me so much? Why do you love me so much?

Tell everybody, I'm like one of your favorite kids.

Tell them. Jesus, Lord, tell these people, I do love you so much. Tell everybody, I'm like one of your favorite kids.

Tell them. Jesus, Lord, tell these people, I'm one of your favorites, a lot of them.

A lot of them.

That's beautiful. Cardi, you've been so generous with your time, your energy, your heart. I really felt, you know, this surpassed every one of my expectations that I had of meeting you and getting to interview you.

Hey, yeah, we can do it another time.

I knew there was so much spirit, I knew there was so much soul, I knew there was just this energy inside that I'm really grateful you let share today and people get to know you a bit more deeply. We end every episode with a final five. These questions have to be answered in one word to one sentence maximum. So Cardi B, these are your final five.

You know I talk a lot. I know, you can, you can. You think I'll get the answer in one word.

I'm giving you permission, you can. Okay, okay. All right. So question number one, we ask these to every guest who's been on the show.

What is the best advice you've ever heard or received? Well, I'm gonna go with one advice that I heard today. No, I didn't hear it today, I heard it yesterday. Ask the difficult questions.

Ha ha ha!

The difficult questions make the relationship stronger. It could break it, it could make it, but you still have an understanding. If you become that understanding, then you might become stronger.

You said it better. You said it better. Whoever said it, you said it better. Question number two, what is the worst advice you've ever heard or received? I think you've heard a lot.

Sometimes when somebody told me to wear a certain outfit Sometimes when somebody told me to wear a certain outfit or when somebody told me to drop a certain song, you never know. You could go from here to that.

Question number three, finish the sentence, one thing I'll never apologize for is.

My mouth, my mouth. Well, sometimes I'm apologize for my mouth. Sometimes I might, maybe I'm a little too hard. I don't know. I apologize for my mouth sometimes, but not all the time.

Question number four, what's something that you used to value that you don't value anymore?

I happen to have like the streets. I value it a lot and I don't. I value it because it made me and it gave me a certain mentality. But I wouldn't want to advise that to people that I love, people that I care or to young kids,

to young boys, to young girls, because it don't always lead you to where you think it's gonna lead you. It's very grimy. Don't love you back, ever.

And fifth and final question we ask this to every guest who's been on the show. If you could create one law that everyone in the world had to follow, what would it be?

If I was Kim Young-il. What law? I'm not sure. I got to come back to that.

Yeah. Think about it.

Matter of fact, if you hurt children, you got to get, what's that thing when they clip you? Cassius, whatever it's called. You just got to be clipped. And if you're a woman, they need to burn it.

Oh, wow.

If you hurt kids.

Wow. Yeah. That should be a a woman, they need to burn it. Oh, wow. If you hurt kids.

Wow. Yeah, that should be a mandatory thing all over the world.

Wow.

Because kids are so precious. They're so precious, they so innocent. Well, some of them are kind of evil. They born with the devil inside them. You see Dr. Mary, some of them is like, oh, sheesh, you was born to die, you was born to be a devil. Jesus, Jesus upon you, child.

Cardi B, everyone. The album is called, Am I the Drama? I'm so excited for everyone to hear it. Love your energy, love your spirit. So grateful to have spent this time together.

Thank you.

And all the best, God bless. And I hope that you continue to succeed and win at life and keep being the energy and hope that you continue to succeed and win at life and keep being the energy and force that you are. So, thank you so much. Thank you.

Thank you. If you love this episode, you'll really enjoy my episode with Selena Gomez on befriending your inner critic and how to speak to yourself with more compassion.

My fears are only going to continue to show me what I'm capable of. The more that I face my fears, the more that I feel I'm gaining strength, The more that I face my fears, the more that I feel I'm gaining strength, I'm gaining wisdom, and I just want to keep doing that.