Has anyone raised more eyebrows or perked more ears with just a few words than Cardi B?
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She is a human quote machine. The 29-year-old New York City-born rapper and businesswoman rose to fame, in part, because of a single statement: “I don’t dance, I make money moves.”
And from then on, she’s proved that over and over.
But what does Cardi have to say about life, the world, and her craft outside of her platinum-selling music? Beyond her Grammy Awards, what’s underneath the surface?
That is the subject of this deep dive. So, without further ado, let’s jump into the 33 best Cardi B quotes.
1. “A lot of females, they want to do the things that I do. Some females are so closed, but they want to be open. Some girls, they want to feel that power that I tell them that I have. I tell women that I have power over these men, that I use these men.”
2. “I’m surprised Beyonce liked me. I met Beyonce!”
3. “When I do music, I don’t feel like it’s competition. Then again, it kinda is, but I don’t like thinking like that. And I don’t understand why they do that to women and, especially, women in hip-hop.”
4. “When women come up to me like, ‘I am a freaking senator,’ or, ‘I’m a doctor,’ it’s like, ‘Damn, y’all like me? I look up to y’all!'”
5. “I could really make a song of hurt, because I’ve been hurt by a lot of men. I’m talking about, like, how sad I be when a dude curves me. And I never talk about that because I refuse to let people know that I get sad because when a man don’t answer my calls.”
6. “I love Lady Gaga. When I was in high school, I really wanted to dress like her.”
7. “It’s not even the female rappers that are catty—it’s the fans. They just want that beef.”
8. “A lot of designers, they did tell me no. They didn’t really wanna work with me.”
9. “I never thought I was going to be popular; I never thought I was going to be famous.”
10. “I have real good parents. They poor. They have regular, poor jobs and whatnot. They real good people and whatnot; I was just raised in a bad society.”
11. “People want me to be so full of shame that I used to dance. I would never be ashamed of it. I made a lot of money. I had a good time, and it showed me a lot.”
12. “Am I ever gonna grow thick skin? No.”
13. “I don’t want to live in a small Bronx apartment. I don’t want to have three kids that got to share one room.”
14. “I’m not domestic. I think I will be. I love kids. I really want to have a kid, but I’m not a domestic person.”
15. “That’s why I be so careful with my money and always try to invest. I see people who have it all and then lose it.”
16. “It’s not that people want to be like me, but some want to say the things I say and can’t because they’re afraid. I say it for them.”
17. “I think beautiful is like looking like you take care of yourself.”
18. “I yam who I yam; I’m not somebody, like, standard.”
19. “A lot of people always question, ‘What else can she do, what else can she do?’ And I’m going to show you.”
20. “People are afraid to be themselves because people are afraid to be recorded. Everything is being recorded, and everyone is so sensitive. You say something; a section of people will be offended. It’s so annoying; you got to be completely censored.”
21. “I really don’t look up to anybody that is doing that great in life, because I don’t know their story.”
22. “I do feel kind of guilty sometimes ’cause, like, I could buy myself a $5,000 dress or a $3,000 dress, and I’m buying these things, but I’m knowing that my cousin need money for the rent. And then I gotta tell myself, ‘Stop feeling guilty. You worked for this.’
23. “My mom kicked me out a couple of weeks before my 18th birthday. I had a job for about six, seven months at a supermarket, and they fired me for being late.”
24. “I was always scared to follow my dreams because if I follow my dreams and I fail, I can’t dream about it anymore. It’s easier to settle for less.’
25. “I’m so free-spirited. Everyone has a me inside them: that loud girl that just wanna go, ‘Ayyyy!’ No matter if you a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher, it comes out.”
26. “Ever since I started using guys, I feel so much better about myself. I feel so much more powerful.”
27. “I’m an emotional gangster. I cry once every month.”
28. “My personality is humongous.”
29. “I feel beautiful without makeup on, but when I do put makeup on, it just gives me this extra pop.”
30. “What I’m trying to say to girls is don’t let these guys be in your head.”
31. “What counts the most for women is having the confidence to make your own money.”
32. “The women that inspire me, to be honest, are the women that struggle.”
33. “I had very strict parents, I could never go outside or go to parties.”
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