Cardi B Biography

Cardi B was born as Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar on October 11, 1992, in Washington Heights, Manhattan, to a Dominican father and a Trinidadian mother. While she was raised in the Highbridge neighborhood of the South Bronx, she often spent time at her paternal grandmother's home in Washington Heights.

She worked at a deli in Tribeca for some time during her teenage years and became a member of the gang United Blood Nation at the age of sixteen. However, after being fired from the deli and kicked out of her mother's house, she became a stripper so that she could afford to move out of an abusive relationship and get an education.

She attended Renaissance High School for Musical Theater & Technology, a vocational high school on the Herbert H. Lehman High School campus, before going to Borough of Manhattan Community College, but did not complete graduation. Instead of mentioning stripping, she told her mother that she earned money by babysitting the children of wealthy people.

In the early 2010s, Cardi B's dancing skills earned her a decent fan following locally on Instagram, which later expanded after she began posting funny and empowering videos about avoiding shady men and making money. As her social media fame grew on Instagram and Vine, she stopped stripping in 2015, to focus on hosting gigs as a social media influencer.

A manager she had hired after surpassing 500k followers on Instagram noticed her musical talent and encouraged her to try rapping, following which she appeared on Jamaican singer Shaggy's remix of his single Boom Boom. Weeks later in November 2015, she made her television debut as a cast member of VH1's reality series Love & Hip Hop: New York and became the breakout star of the show's sixth season.

Cardi B released her first mixtape, Gangsta Bitch Music, Vol. 1, in March 2016, and in September that year, released the single 'What a Girl Likes' as part of KSR Group's compilation Underestimated: The Album. The same year, she appeared on an episode of Khloé Kardashian's Kocktails with Khloé and was cast as Mercedes on the BET series Being Mary Jane.

In 2017, she released her second mixtape under the name Gangsta Bitch Music, Vol. 2. In February of that year, she was signed by Atlantic Records. That same month, she also performed in the opening act of The Lox's Filthy America... It's Beautiful Tour. In June 2017, she came out with her single, "Bodak Yellow." It was her first single with Atlantic Records. Bodak Yellow garnered rave reviews from critics with many considering it to be one of the best songs of the decade. It also managed to reach number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, making Cardi B the first person of Dominican descent to reach the spot. Her songs "No Limit" and "MotorSport" also peaked in the top 10 on the Hot 100.

In April 2018, she launched her first studio album titled Invasion of Privacy. The album received massive acclaim upon release and went on to top the US Billboard 200. In November 2018, she was featured in Ebony's Power 100 Gala. She was also placed 5th on the Billboard Year-End Top Artists chart 2018.

In 2019, she won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, becoming the first female rapper to receive the award. She released the single "Please Me," in collaboration with Bruno Mars. The song peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. That same year, Cardi B made her film debut with the movie, Hustlers, which also starred Jennifer Lopez.

In August 2020, she came out with her single titled “WAP.” The song opened to critical acclaim and was ranked the best song of the year by many publications and critics. It debuted at number 1 on the Hot 100 and retained its position for four weeks straight.

In 2021, she released her song “UP” which reached number 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. The same year, she also starred as Leysa in the American action film F9. The following year, Cardi B came in collaboration with GloRilla and released the song "Tomorrow 2." The song was a remix of GloRilla’s single, “Tomorrow.”

Besides music, Cardi B also released a DVD titled I Am: Cardi B and also had a television special on Revolt TV. 

Cardi B began dating rapper Kiari Kendrell Cephus, professionally known as Offset, in early 2017, and they got engaged on October 27 after he proposed during the Power 99 Powerhouse concert. Much later in June 2018, TMZ revealed that the two had secretly married in September 2017, privately in their bedroom, which she confirmed on social media. 

She revealed her pregnancy on Saturday Night Live in April 2018 and welcomed her daughter Kulture Kiari Cephus in July 2018.

Cardi B and Kiari Kendrell Cephus separated in late 2018, before reuniting again. In September 2020, Cardi B filed for divorce but they were together again after a month. They welcomed their son, Wave Set Cephus on September 4, 2021.