Fresh off the heels of her stellar debut Grammy performance, Cardi B sat down with actress Zendaya for a profile in the CR Fashion Book covering her success, her future and the rapper's blackness.
Like most Caribbean people, Cardi B has had some question her blackness due to how she looks and that she can speak Spanish. The Grammy-nominated artist rose from being a memeable reality star to one of the most popular rappers in the music industry today. There have been rumors that she has made it as far as she has from her looks and not her talent.
Zendaya asked her to share one thing she hopes someone would ask her, and Cardi B did not restrain herself. She took the chance to dispel rumors. She also wanted to educate people about being a Dominican woman and having to deal with challenges to her blackness.
"One thing that always bothers me is that people know so little about my culture. We are Caribbean people. And a lot of people be attacking me because they feel like I don’t be saying that I’m black," Cardi said.
"Some people want to decide if you’re black or not, depending on your skin complexion, because they don’t understand Caribbean people or our culture. I feel like people need to understand or get a passport and travel. I don’t got to tell you that I’m black. I expect you to know it."
At an early age, she learned about the triangular slave trade that led to the great African diaspora that has contributed to Latin America's and the Caribbean's rich African culture. Her father contributed to her understanding blackness.
"When my father taught me about Caribbean countries, he told me that these Europeans took over our lands. That’s why we all speak different languages. I expect people to understand that just because we’re not African-American, we are still black. It’s still in our culture," she told Zendaya.
"Just like everybody else, we came over here the same f*cking way. I hate when people try to take my roots from me. Because we know that there’s African roots inside of us. I really just want people to understand that the color that I have and features that I have are not from two white people f*cking."