Sophia Michaels
Cardi B is slowly but surely restoring camaraderie amongst today’s leading women in music. The Grammy-winning Bronx rapper helms the refreshing trend of female-female collaborations, and it has her stepping into a new role within her star power: the feature fairy.
Case in point: Cardi B’s new collaboration with Latto, “Put It on Da Floor Again,” sits at the No. 7 spot on Apple Music’s top songs chart and has amassed over 11 million views on YouTube since the release of its accompanying viral music video on June 2. The remixed track is all music fans could talk about following its drop, and the same goes for fellow female rappers who showed their support. On release day, Maiya the Don tweeted lyrics from Cardi B’s verse, writing, “IM SEXY DANCING IN THE CRIB FEEL LIKE BRITNEY SPEARS 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” GloRilla, meanwhile, wrote on Twitter, “If cardi don’t do sh*t else she gone slide on a mf beat 😂😂🔥🔥🔥 go cousinnnnn @iamcardib.” And excitement over the new track only continued on June 4 at Summer Jam 2023 when Cardi B brought Latto out on stage to perform it with her.
“She’s creating a sisterhood to help other women win on the largest scale possible and forming friendships along the way.”
“Put It on Da Floor Again” is just one recent example of Cardi B using her platform to elevate the up-and-coming and already-established women in her musical peer group. While she may not have invented this modern-day movement, she’s certainly mobilizing it with organic cosigns and comradeship that have been lacking over the last decade.
Cardi B’s stimulus feature package doesn’t just include a fiery guest verse and immaculate rollout on her part. Most times, it also guarantees her female collaborators an outpour of public support, proof that Cardi B is doing much more than just bolstering her discography. She’s creating a sisterhood to help other women win on the largest scale possible and forming friendships along the way.
In a 2021 Cosmopolitan interview, Normani — who teamed up with Cardi B for their “Wild Side” collaboration that year — spoke about how much Cardi B has supported her career through the years, explaining that the rap star “has great energy” and “is such a genuine spirit.” Of working together on their song, Normani added, “She brought such light to this experience and to me after not releasing for the last two years. I feel like she’s given me comfort and provided a safe space for me.”
Fans also can’t forget the sweet way Cardi B came to Summer Walker’s defense when the singer’s love life made headlines years ago. She appeared on the “Bitter” intro of Walker’s “Still Over It” album in 2021 (and hopped on her “No Love” remix with SZA in 2022) in the form of a blunt message that encouraged the “Over It” songstress to move with grace in the face of adversity. “Even though you have problems, put that drama in your music, yeah / ‘Cause if b*tches wanna get clout off you, you gonna get clout off them,” Cardi B says. “. . . Make them b*tches feel hurt, hit them b*tches where it hurt / And put that sh*t in your music and make money off it in your music.”
Some may argue that Cardi B’s collaborations with today’s buzziest female acts feel like strategic career moves, as she hasn’t dropped an album since her 2018 debut. But from what her peers have said, the “Up” rapper has maintained seemingly authentic bonds with all her music costars after working together. Speaking to POPSUGAR, GloRilla — who teamed up with Cardi B for “Tomorrow 2” — revealed that she didn’t anticipate how big their pairing would be but she’s “grateful that it did” blow up. And she’s still connected to Cardi B to this day. “I don’t even know how to explain that moment. It was just crazy because I’m a Cardi fan,” GloRilla shared. “I was a Cardi fan before I actually started rapping, and she was one of the people that I did look up to when I [officially] started.”
“I’m really happy that she did that because she didn’t have to share her platform with me. I really appreciate her for that.”
According to the “F.N.F. (Let’s Go)” rapper, Cardi B’s verse on “Tomorrow 2” “was a surprise to me.” “I didn’t know what was going on. And when I text her — she always texts me back fast; she don’t act bougie or nothing — she texted me back, and she was the one that ended up telling me she was on my song. I didn’t even know,” GloRilla explained. “That was an iconic moment. That song is going down in history.”
This wouldn’t be the first time Cardi B made a moment out of one of her iconic collaborations. When she and Megan Thee Stallion declared 2020 the year of “WAP,” they also reached an incredible feat for women empowerment in one of music’s most male-dominated genres and beyond. The pair’s unapologetic ode to women’s bodies served as a powerful moment, but it was particularly special for the stars who were handpicked to appear in Cardi B and Megan’s playful music video. Why? Because some didn’t even realize how closely Cardi B had been following their careers at that point.
Back in 2020, Latto — before she skyrocketed to household-name status and became a Grammy nominee — told Interview Magazine she didn’t take the request to appear in the “WAP” video seriously at first. “When I got that call, I swore my manager was pranking me,” the rapper revealed. “My mind could not register the fact that Cardi B even knew who I was, let alone wanted me to be in her video. I will always love her for that because she knew what putting us in that video would do for our careers.”
Rapper Sukihana had a similar shocked reaction to being called on to appear in “WAP,” as she explained that being mentioned in the same breath as Cardi B “opened doors” for her soon after. “A lot of people want to work with me. I’m getting put in different magazines now. It’s been a big help, and I’m really excited because a lot of people are looking at me,” she told Interview Magazine at the time. “I’m really happy that she did that because she didn’t have to share her platform with me. I really appreciate her for that.”
Cardi B’s track record for collaborating with women through the years has included songs with acts like City Girls (“Twerk) and Lizzo (“Rumors”), plus the aforementioned. Most of these releases have either been certified gold or platinum by the RIAA. Not to mention, the rap star has also shouted out other female artists in the past like Saweetie, CupkakKe, and Ice Spice — the latter of which occurred when Cardi B referenced the “Munch” rapper in “Tomorrow 2.” (“That n*gga a munch and he gon’ eat me like a mango.”) And despite only having one studio album, as well as two successful mixtapes that dropped prior, she’s maintained maximum relevancy for the last five years primarily because of her many charting collaborations — which also include male artists like Bad Bunny and J Balvin, Maroon 5, Bruno Mars, Kanye West, her husband, Offset, and Migos, to name a few. But it’s been Cardi B’s knack for lending dope features to women artists while building friendships with them that’s proved to be most impressive — especially in today’s music climate that pits women against each other.
It’s no secret that a continued beef between Cardi B and Nicki Minaj spawned from their infamous “MotorSport” collaboration in 2018. But that hasn’t stopped the former from trying to connect with the next generation of women artists following after her. The same can be said for Minaj, though, as she’s hopped on tracks with up-and-comers in hip-hop like Sexyy Red (“Pound Town 2”) and Coi Leray (“Blick Blick”). She even dropped a “Queen Mix” of her “Super Freaky Girl” single with JT of City Girls, BIA, Maliibu Miitch, Katie Got Bandz, and Akbar V and also has a “Barbie” movie single with Ice Spice dropping following their “Princess Diana” remix.
However, more noticeably, fans are picking up on Cardi B’s affinity for linking up with her female peers — in the studio and elsewhere — to dispel a myth that’s been rampant in hip-hop, especially, for decades now: that only one woman can be at the top of the game at a time.
“We’re supporting each other and collabing. The industry, fan bases, and blogs want us to beef, but we’re making it a friendly sport.”
“The record labels are putting money behind the girls that people [are] listening to. As a result, different artists are coming up faster than others,” Cardi B explained in a recent Instagram Live when speaking on women rappers. “The labels only go with who’s getting the most listens, who are getting the most plays, who are people watching more. You can not blame nobody for that, you can’t blame no machine for that. You can’t blame nothing for that. Labels are only going to put money behind artists that people are listening to.”
This makes it even more clear what could be motivating Cardi B’s feature run with the women in her musical circle. Instead of treating her collaborations like business transactions, she’s connecting with fellow artists to the point where they know they can always call on her for support. “She’s such a humble person. I be always thanking her,” GloRilla tells POPSUGAR in reference to “Tomorrow 2.” “I don’t think she like when I be constantly thanking her because she’ll thank me back. She’ll be like, ‘Uh-uh, you don’t got to do that.’ She’s just a sweet, humble person.”
By sharing her shine with today’s artists, Cardi B is leading a new narrative to give women the spotlight she knows they deserve. “It’s a beautiful time right now for female rap. We’re creating a whole new agenda,” Latto added in her conversation with Interview Magazine. “We’re supporting each other and collabing. The industry, fan bases, and blogs want us to beef, but we’re making it a friendly sport.”
Which female artist will Cardi B tap next? The possibilities are endless. Some predict it may be her Bronx counterpart Scar Lip due to their recent studio session. But whoever her next collaborator may be, fans seem certain it’ll be another surefire hit.
Image Source: Getty / Vittorio Zunino Celotto / Irvin Rivera / Frazer Harrison
