If Cardi B is anything, she is most certainly candid, and that is one of the qualities that helped her shoot to stardom. She recently sat down with Vogue Singapore and got real about her exploding career while also entering a new chapter as a mother of two with a superstar husband, Offset.
The magazine dropped the new fashion spread earlier this week, which set the tone that Cardi’s mind is on “being the best mother she can.”
The pair and their children, Kulture Kiari, 4, and Wave Set, almost 1, had recently gotten sick back to back, resulting in hospital stays, and well, very tired parents. “It’s been very stressful, I’ve been up all night and all day with my baby for the past two days—but what can you do, you know?” Cardi began.
“I’m exhausted. I’ve been overwhelmed and scared,” she continued, getting emotional. “I started to think about how my mum had to go through this a lot because my sister and I used to always fall sick at the same time. I’ve never appreciated my mum more—having kids helps you see things a little bit different.”
She went on to explain that upon learning she was pregnant, many people in the industry were unsure of the trajectory of her career, saying, “There weren’t a lot of artists out there who had babies at the beginning of their career. I didn’t have an album out when I found out I was pregnant,” she explains. “Everybody was so nervous for my career and future, but I kept telling them, ‘It’s easy. Trust me, I’m going to have a nanny and she’s going to travel up and down with me. It’s not even going to be a hassle’.”
Cardi then laughed and explained that once she gave birth, there was no way she was going to leave Kulture’s side, let alone with a stranger, sharing, “I was afraid of anybody being around her besides my family. I’ve never had a nanny for Kulture.”
Though the “Invasion of Privacy” artist admits that she has a lot of support in her family, especially from her parents, she doesn’t take it for granted, saying, “Your parents have already lived their life and raised their kids. They are older and don’t have the same energy as someone in their 20s. I’m never far from my kids because that’s my responsibility as a mother.”
She touched on her excitement with Kulture, and how she has started to involve her in extracurricular activities like swim, dance, and private tutoring. She jokes, “Am I doing too much? I just want my daughter to be good. I want her to have a little bit of something forever. I can’t swim, so I want my daughter to be able to swim. I want her to do amazing things when she grows up. She can jet-ski or go on a boat. I want her to be smarter than me—just be the better version of me.”
Cardi and Offset both came from humble beginnings, and have wanted to give their children a better life, but also teach them the value of money and the importance of hard work. The Hustle actress shared, “They need to know to never feel comfortable. Don’t ever feel like, ‘I’m going to get it because I’m Cardi and Offset’s kid’. They are never going to know what struggle feels like, so they might not have that hunger I had to leave the streets. Even though my kids are well-off, I want them to know that when you work for things and achieve it, it’s more respected—especially when people see that you bust your a— for it.”
When asked if her children have made her a better person, she replied, “I’m more compassionate for people. I feel like I understand people more. I have compassion for good mothers who get up and hustle and work, or even not work—having kids is work. Raising a kid is work. I have so much hatred for deadbeat mothers and fathers. It’s like, yo, bringing a baby into this world isn’t just like ‘I’ll figure it out.’ You have to be ready because you as a parent is all they got and all they want.”
Hey Cardi B — motherhood looks amazing on you.
