US rapper, Cardi B has spoken out about the pressure female artists face and certain expectations from their fanbase.
During an interview with Billboard, the WAP singer spoke on the high standards for women in music as well as the challenges that come with being perceived as a role model.
And as such, Cardi B believes that “You gotta be careful with what comes out of your mouth.”
Back in 2019, Cardi B spoke out about the downside of being a role model, explaining: “For these past two years I been watching what I say and I haven’t been myself.”
“Am I a role model? I know I’m a role model because I know there’s a lot of women like me,” she adds. “At the end of the day, I know I’m a b***h that made it through because I work my ass off, not because luck fell on my thighs.”
However, Cardi also speaks more broadly about being a female artist in the current music scene. “I don’t want to be like, ‘Oh, female artists, we have it hard’,” she says. “But we do fucking be having it mad hard!”
She goes on to mention the competitive fanbases that often pitch musicians against each other with “fake beef”, but also points out that expectations for female artists’ behaviour are just generally too high. “They want you to be Mother Teresa, they want you to put out music, and they want you to look a certain way.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Cardi suggests that working hard and fighting for justice, and rapping about sex shouldn’t be mutually exclusive. “I’m a very sexual person. I love sex, and I like to rap about it,” she says. “I’m not hurting nobody because I love my p***y and want to rap about it.”
