(As it turns out, those billion-stream plaques can double as serving platters!)
Vogue: In 2018, you hopped on Girls Like You with Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine.
What was it like, making that shift in your sound?
Photo: Getty Images
Cardi B:I do love Adam a lot.
Im a big fan!
I study pop the same way I study hip-hop, reggaeton, or trap.
When I was intoTwilight?
Id put on MTV and [study] rock music.
[Today] people will be like, Oh, hip-hop has changed so much!
They go, Wheres Katy Perry, wheres Lady Gaga?
Well, there are new evolutions of Katy Perrys and Lady Gagas.
Pop goes through changes.
How did it feel to embrace your heritage in this song?
I always enjoyed reggaeton, but I was wondering: Is it going to translate?
They might speak Spanish, but not everyone understands our slang, you know?
And because its not completely in English, I didnt know how it was going to translate in America.
When I was six years old, I used to listen to Shakira.
Now my daughter is five years old andshelistens to Shakira.
J.Lo is another staple.
For me to be a staple in the Latin community, and to be Dominican…
It makes me feel so good to represent the Dominican Republic.
It is one of the most underestimated countries in Latin America.
How did it feel to record verses in Spanish that time?
It was nerve-wracking for me!
My brother Ozuna, he helped me out a lot.
I always ask people for their opinion, and hes very particular in his art…
But he said I sounded great, so I know I sounded great!
We recorded in Atlanta, a couple of days before I gave birth.
Then we did the video right after [I had] my baby.
I wasnt feeling my best that day, but the song became bigger than I could have imagined.
Maybe because were more mainstream now, the song reached more conservative people over the internet.
I guess it made some soccer moms cry.
But I cannot believe the song became so political.
I am very used to hearing explicit lyrics from women.
Growing up I listened to Trina, Khia, Lil Kim, Foxy Brown.
Every female rapper, to me, talks real confident about their pussy.
Trina said she got more juice than a grape when you peel the skin.
Have you ever heard that Jacki-O song?
Pussy (Real Good)?
Were you happy with that experience?
When I was rehearsing the week before, I got really sick.
I couldnt even rap good on the mic because I was so tired.
Next thing you know, the Grammys was over, I got an ultrasound…but history was made.
Its insane that this song made a billion streams in such a short time.
I remember when it was just an ideaI had that song in me for nine months.
Me and Megan worked really hard on the production, on the mixing, on the video.
This conversation has been edited and condensed.
