Bodak Babe: How Cardi B. Rose To The Top Of The Style (& Rap!) Charts

Cardi B.’s infamous humor and no bullshit attitude caught our attention when she appeared on VH1’s* Love and Hip Hop New York* season six trailer. In the trailer, Cardi said arguably one of the most iconic lines in American pop culture to date: “If a girl beef with me, we gon’ beef foreva.[sic]” Iconic.

Since then, Cardi has landed a record deal with Atlantic Records and an exorbitant amount of fashion endorsements that every girl dreams of; all while still keeping it very real about her past adult entertainment career, abusive ex-boyfriend and hilarious family dynamic.

But it wasn’t always popping for the 24-year-old, in a recent interview with Hot New Hip Hop, the Bronx native revealed that many fashion companies rejected her before they started clamoring to work with her. “A lot of designers, they did tell me no. They didn’t really wanna work with me. I said to myself, you know what, I’m gonna buy their pieces until they wanna work with me… I’m gonna prove to them that I’m a fashion f---ing icon,” she shared.

Bloop!

Well, Cardi’s plan worked; once fashion brands began to notice her, the first-generation Caribbean rapper has been invited to a multitude of fashion shows and interviewed by the likes of ELLE, Vogue and NYLON magazine. In a conversation with designer-friend Laquan Smith, Cardi shared that she wished more people “from the hood” could attend fashion shows so they can learn to be more open minded about their own fashion choices. “It's been amazing to see the different fashion. You know there are a lot of things that some male artists get criticized for wearing, like, 'Oh, that's a little bit gay,' or 'That's a little bit different.' But it's not, it's actually very advanced fashion,” Cardi told Laquan.

And we couldn’t agree more. See how Cardi continues to advance her style from then to now.