Having a tumultuous childhood, Cardi B underwent a remarkable transformation, evolving from a poor “Cinderella” overcoming life’s obstacles to become rich, successful, and a member of the luxurious modern entertainment kingdom.

While “Cinderella” is a Western fairy tale, Cardi B’s life perhaps aligns closer with the myth of “One Thousand and One Nights.” Cardi B is just a stage name; her real name is Belcalis Almanzar, derived from Arabic words associated with the Queen of Sheba. Her nickname “Cardi” is short for Bacardi, a type of rum, as her sister was named after another brandy, Hennessy.

In the Bronx, New York City, there is a nail salon owned by Cardi B, where two portraits hang on the wall. One is of the legendary actress Marilyn Monroe, while the other is the 2019 version of Marilyn: Cardi B. Jenny Bui, a Vietnamese-American, is both the salon owner and a close friend of the rap diva, who was once a loyal customer. This friendship has spanned nearly a decade, starting from the days when Cardi went to the salon struggling financially. Jenny Bui, with her keen eye, early on predicted that a customer opting for sharp, multicolored nails would become a superstar rapper. Due to her loyalty, Cardi’s Instagram has naturally become an advertising platform for J. Bui’s nail salon, with an interactive audience of up to 16 million.

At 26, Cardi B often openly expresses pride in her life story when conversing with the women getting their nails done at Jenny Bui’s salon. To Cardi, her current life feels like a fairy tale where she plays the role of a princess. From being a “ragged Cinderella” transcending life’s challenges to becoming rich, successful, and a member of the luxurious modern entertainment realm, Cardi sees her life as a fairy tale. However, she also shares her struggles, as she currently grapples with challenges to ensure that her fairy tale life does not shatter her desire for a peaceful and quiet life. Her new resolve is to prioritize relationships and avoid getting caught up in pleasing fans as she did before. For her, it’s now about her career, her legacy, and her newborn child.

Cardi B’s Red Carpet Stardom

Describing Cardi B’s life as a “Cinderella story” is not an exaggeration. In a very short time, her fame skyrocketed, placing her alongside Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift. Cardi’s name is mentioned in the same breath as idols of her youth like Madonna or Beyoncé. Before her sudden rise to fame, her life in Trinidad and the Dominican Republic was a blur, sometimes even bleak. Her youth was marked by intense struggles. She was involved in gang activities, lived a rough life in the Bronx, and at one point, she had to work as a cashier at a grocery store for $250 a week. A pivotal moment was when she worked as a stripper. However, she lied to her mother, claiming she was babysitting to earn money and justified this “degrading” job to cut ties with her abusive boyfriend, refusing to endure his sexual violence.

Driven by her passion for music and dance, Cardi B ventured into VH1’s reality show “Love & Hip Hop: New York,” where she began to pave her own way by experimenting with her first mixes. Soon, her magic touch turned everything into gold and gems, much like Cinderella’s life in the fairy tales. Her single “Bodak Yellow” was released and quickly topped the charts. This hit was historic because since Lauryn Hill’s 1998 single “That Thing,” Bodak Yellow made Cardi the first female solo rapper with a number-one hit and the fifth female rapper in history with a chart-topping album. With just one more album, “Invasion of Privacy,” Cardi B’s Cinderella-like transformation was impressively complete. To this day, it is considered the best debut album by a female rapper since Lil’ Kim’s “Hard Core” in 1996. In 2019, Cardi was the youngest on the list of “bloody” number ones, winning Grammy awards, topping the Billboard Hot 100, hitting 1 billion views on YouTube, and earning 5 Grammy nominations.

Cardi B is an Instagram sensation, grabbing attention with her unique style and outspoken nature.

Now Cardi B is a global superstar, having moved from New York to Atlanta to live. Her romantic relationships, marriage, having a child, and subsequent breakup with her rapper ex-husband Offset have become daily hot topics in the media. The scene of Cardi’s topless moment breastfeeding her daughter in the “Money” music video has been seen as a message advocating for breastfeeding, prompting women to “nourish their children with mother’s milk.” It was for her child that Cardi had to give up a tour with Bruno Mars, a rare career development opportunity that few music stars would dare to sacrifice.

However, at present, Cardi B has come to understand who she is, where she comes from, and has found a way to strike a reasonable emotional balance, especially with the presence of her child, in dealing with the illusions that rapid success often brings. In the past, Cardi B was indeed sometimes driven by emotions. She was once accused of assaulting two female bartenders at a strip club. More recently, unable to control her temper, she lashed out and threw a shoe at Nicki Minaj at an event organized by Harper’s Bazaar magazine. On the social media front, up to 2019, Cardi B still ranks among the top 10 Key Opinion Leaders (KOL) in the global entertainment industry, as an American superstar in the post-Kardashian era, a master of creative selfies and videos dominating Instagram.