Cardi B

Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar, known professionally as Cardi B, is an American rapper born on October 11, 1992. Raised in New York City, she gained widespread recognition after launching her music career in 2016. Known for her energetic flow and style, she has established a prominent presence in popular hip-hop music.

Born in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, Almánzar grew up in the Highbridge neighborhood of the South Bronx and spent significant time with her paternal grandmother. Her father is Dominican and her mother is Trinidadian. She adopted the stage name Cardi B as a variation of Bacardi, which was previously her nickname. She attended Renaissance High School for Musical Theater & Technology and later enrolled at the Borough of Manhattan Community College. Before pursuing music, she worked at a grocery store and later as a dancer at a strip club. In 2013, she began gaining public attention through viral videos on Vine and Instagram.

In 2015, Cardi B joined the cast of the reality television series Love & Hip Hop: New York, appearing in seasons six and seven before leaving in late 2016 to focus on music. During this period, she made her musical debut on a remix of Shaggy's single Boom Boom in late 2015 and released her first mixtape, Gangsta Bitch Music, Vol. 1, in March 2016. She also contributed to the collaborative project Underestimated: The Album, appeared on the series Being Mary Jane, and secured her first commercial endorsement.

Cardi B signed with Atlantic Records in early 2017 and released her second mixtape, Gangsta Bitch Music, Vol. 2. Her commercial debut single, Bodak Yellow, was released in June 2017, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and earning a diamond certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In April 2018, she released her debut studio album, Invasion of Privacy, which debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart. The album featured the number-one singles I Like It and Girls Like You, a collaboration with Maroon 5. Invasion of Privacy earned her the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, making her the first solo female artist to win the category.

Cardi B continued her chart success with subsequent releases, including the number-one singles WAP and Up. Her second studio album, Am I the Drama?, released in 2025, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, making her the only female rapper to have her first two studio albums debut atop the chart. The album featured the top-ten single Outside along with numerous charting tracks.

Throughout her career, Cardi B has set numerous commercial records, becoming the female rapper with the most number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and the most RIAA diamond-certified songs. Her industry awards include a Grammy Award, eight Billboard Music Awards, eight Guinness World Records, 21 BET Awards, nine American Music Awards, and two ASCAP Songwriter of the Year awards. In addition, she was listed among Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world in 2018 and was named Billboard's Woman of the Year in 2020.