If you haven’t seen her dramatic videos on social media, heard any news of her ground-breaking records or even caught up on the Bodak Yellow craze, then you’re probably existing in a different space. 

Her breakthrough single Bodak Yellow is arguably the biggest hip-hop record of 2017. Two weeks ago, Bodak Yellow debuted on the number one spot of the Billboard Hot 100 Chart thereby making Cardi B the second female rapper to ever score a chart topping solo song after Lauryn Hill.

In the same week of her Billboard Hot 100 debut, Bodak Yellow earned a platinum recognition for selling over one million units in the US. 

Just in: Bodak Yellow has met the criteria for getting a double platinum certificate which is typically selling two million units in the US. 

The rapper might be having an amazing run (probably the most amazing amongst her contemporaries) but there is a back story to her rise an achievements. Born to a Trinidadian mother and Dominican father, Cardi B had a fair share of lack and instability while growing up.

Before kicking off her music career, the 24-year-old rapper made her living as a striper and social media celebrity for about four years, delivering bold, raunchy one-liners in hilarious clips.

Cardi began working as a stripper at 19. She started at local strip clubs and later worked her way to more lucrative spots in Manhattan, New York.

While she was still working as a stripper, Cardi B began her journey into Internet fame. Her charisma attracted an initial social media following of three thousand strip club regulars, bartenders and “little drug dealers and scammers” who thought she was “hot,” according to Fader. On her account, the rapper didn’t shy away from candidly discussing s3x, men and making money — leading to multiple viral videos on Vine, Instagram and Twitter.

After taking social media by storm, Cardi B entered the reality star scene by appearing on season 6 of VH1’s hit, Love & Hip Hop: New York. Her one liner from the show (A girl have beef with me, she gonna have beef with me forever) went viral, inspiring the song  Foreva off her debut mixtape, Gangsta Bitch Music Vol 1.

Cardi B later quit the show to get serious with the music. She started by releasing a few remixes and singles and in 2016, she released her first full-length mixtape . This year, she reportedly signed a ‘mega deal’ with powerhouse label Atlantic Records. 

The label released Cardi B’s debut single Bodak Yellow in June.

Cardi B’s come-up has been quick, dramatic, and, above all things, transparent. You can liken her rise to a fairy tale. And like a fairy, she’s enjoying the flight.