Tragic Details About Cardi B's Life

The following article mentions domestic violence.

Cardi B has been entertaining us with her quick wit, boisterous personality, and knockout hits for years now. However, things have not always been so fun or glamorous for the mega-famous rapper behind the scenes. And above all else, they certainly haven't been easy. 

As one of the biggest stars in a male-dominated industry, Cardi is no stranger to adversity. "I'm really my biggest critic and I always say this, 'Nobody has it harder in the industry and in every genre than a female rapper,'" she said at the 2024 Hollywood Unlocked Impact Awards, per Hot 97. "You have to have the best verse. Not only that, you have to kill the charts. On top of that, your personal life has to be perfect, or then the opp b***hes are going to use that against you." 

There's no doubt that Cardi has been through the wringer, reaching stratospheric heights of fame when she made money moves from stripper to reality TV star to rap sensation seemingly overnight. That sort of transition is never easy, but Cardi's trouble didn't start there — and it's not over, either.  Let's take a look at the tragic details of her life. 

Cardi B and her kids may live a lavish life now, but the Grammy winner came from humble beginnings. "I guess growing up, you know, my life was like a regular life. I have real good parents, they're poor, they have regular poor jobs," she told GlobalGrindTV in 2016." They're real good people and everything, I was just raised in a bad society." She went on to add that after experiencing poverty and everything that comes with it firsthand, financial security was always the goal. "I always wanted to be something that was going to make me have money," she said. 

Cardi doubled down on this sentiment on X in 2022 when she defended buying her children expensive gifts. "I know I can be a little extra when it comes to my kids but I ain't really had s*** growing up soooo yea imma ball," she wrote. 

A few years before Cardi B transformed into the stunning superstar we all know and love, she was kicked out of her house. As the rapper told Vogue, she was asked to leave the family home shortly after she graduated high school, after fighting with her younger sister, Hennessy Carolina. 

Looking back on this time in a 2016 interview with GlobalGrindTV, she recalled, "I went to college and whatever, but I got kicked out when I was 18. My mama couldn't stand me. You know, then Trini people be like, 'Get out. It's two days before your birthday, leave, leave, leave now.'" The musician went on to say that she didn't have enough money to live on her own, so she moved in with her then-boyfriend.

As a kid, Cardi loved being onstage and making music. However, her priorities changed after her living situation shifted. "Once I started having troubles at home and got kicked out, I saw everything I did in high school as a silly dream. It wasn't reality anymore," she told Mariah Carey in a 2021 chat for Interview magazine. 

There's no doubt that mother-daughter dynamics can be tricky and complex, but Cardi B's own relationship with her mom was far from easy when she was younger. In a 2016 interview with Hot 97, Cardi reflected on what she called her mom's "tough love" approach to parenting, which often involved physical abuse. "I never really had a bad relationship ... I never really was attached to be like 'I hate my mother and everything,'" she said. "My mom was just super strict and she used to beat me every day." Cardi insisted this motivated her to finish school and go to college. "My mom and father raised me real good, they're real strict parents," she said. "I'm a product of my environment."

When Cardi told her mother she'd started dancing in strip clubs, it did not go over well. The rapper said her mom struck her and pushed her down a staircase. After the host interjected to point out how horrible that must have been, Cardi replied, "She was just real mad." She went on to share that her mother wouldn't accept the money that she earned from dancing. Nowadays, Cardi's relationship with her mother is in a much more stable place. 

How Cardi B really became famous is up for debate. Some fans found her when she was on "Love & Hip Hop: New York" while others didn't know who she was until she dropped her song "Bodak Yellow." On the flip side, those local to Manhattan may have already known her as a successful stripper at one of the local joints, New York Dolls. This job ultimately not only saved Cardi from a toxic environment, but helped her become a social media star. 

Talking to Vogue in 2020, Cardi said that after she was kicked out of her family's home, she moved in with her boyfriend. It was a difficult period for her for many reasons. "At that time I just felt like my world was coming to an end," she said. "I was that teenager who was like, I don't need nobody. But my boyfriend kept cheating on me. He and I used to get into arguments, hitting each other a lot. ... But I started stripping, and I made enough money to move out."

"I'm glad for this chapter in my life," Cardi said on CBS' "Sunday Morning." A lot of people always want to make fun of me, like, 'Oh, you used to be a stripper.' I don't ever regret it." After she started stripping, Cardi began posting about her job on social media. Her Vines and Instagram posts caught on like wildfire, and the rest is history.

Nicki Minaj and Cardi B's feud has been going on for what feels like eons. We could spend all day breaking down the history of their dynamic, but things between the two music superstars arguably came to a head when Cardi reportedly threw a shoe at Minaj at the Harper's Bazaar Icons party in 2018. Photographs from the event show Cardi leaving the party barefoot with a lump over her eye. After the incident, Cardi took to Instagram to speak her piece. Though she didn't directly call Minaj out, the text read, "I've let a lot of s*** slide! I let you sneak diss me, I let you lie on me ... but when you mention my child, choose to make comments about me as a mother ... all bets are f***ing off." 

The "Roman's Revenge" rapper isn't the only celebrity who's gotten on Cardi's bad side. Over the years, Cardi's reportedly clashed with a handful of musicians, including fellow rapper BIA. In 2024, BIA seemed to suggest that Cardi not only cheated on Offset, but was ripping off her style. This sparked a lot of back and forth between Cardi and BIA, including an Instagram Live where Cardi threatened to take legal action. BIA released a song called "SUE MEEE?" in response, and as the title suggests, she didn't back down from the battle. In it, she seemed to imply that Offset was unfaithful to Cardi. 

While some stars don't want to talk about what work they've had done — and hey, it's their prerogative — there are others who have been incredibly candid about going under the knife. Cardi B falls in the second category. In her aforementioned conversation with Mariah Carey for Interview magazine, the "Bodak Yellow" rapper opened up about the beginning of her cosmetic surgery journey. As Cardi told Carey, she had her breasts and butt done after feeling insecure about her body for years. "I was also really skinny when I was younger, and in the Bronx, it's about being thick and having an a**, so young boys would be like, "Look at your flat a**. You ain't got no t***ies." And it would make me feel so ugly and undeveloped," she said. 

Cardi underwent breast augmentation after she started dancing in strip clubs. "[E]very insecurity that I felt about my breasts was gone," she said. "When I was 20, I went to the urban strip club, and in the urban strip clubs, you had to have a big butt. So I felt insecure about that. It took me back to high school. So I got my ass done. And then I felt super confident." 

In 2020, Cardi also got a nose job. When asked about any future plastic surgery plans on a 2023 episode of "The Jason Lee Show," she replied, "I'm done. I look great. "

On November 1, 2022, Migos founding member Takeoff was shot and killed at a bowling alley in Houston. He was 28 years old. Quavo, fellow Migos member and Takeoff's uncle, was present at the shooting. A man named Patrick Xavier Clark was later indicted. 

Offset's history with Takeoff and Quavo started way before they created Migos. Offset wasn't related to Takeoff and Quavo, but they all grew up together. When Takeoff died, Offset and Cardi felt like their whole world was turned upside-down.

On a 2023 episode of "The Jason Lee Show," Cardi shared that she and Offset were shattered by the news of Takeoff's death. "[Offset] was just screaming, throwing things, throwing up, running all over," she said. "I was just crying so much. It was terrible." A little over a week after Takeoff was murdered, Cardi paid tribute to him on Instagram. "I am heartbroken but I am grateful for all the precious memories we got to share while you were here with us," she wrote. "It hurts because I know it will never be the same again — but I know your bros and y'all fans will make sure the world never forgets the impact you made." 

Cardi B and Offset's relationship has been through more ups and downs than we can count, but one of the best things to come out of their union is arguably their adorable kids. In 2018, they welcomed their firstborn, daughter Kulture Kiari Cephus.While celebrities' kids should be off-limits when it comes to stan wars and online commentary, Cardi's daughter has been targeted by trolls.

Cardi's gotten a lot of heat for the lavish gifts she's given her daughter over the years, but those snarky remarks pale in comparison to the comments that've been directed at the little girl on social media. In 2020, Cardi fired back at someone who tweeted a cruel message about Kulture's looks. In 2022, the "WAP" rapper made her daughter's Instagram account private after reading one too many inappropriate comments. 

Understandably, the barrage of messages and negative attention pointed at Kulture weigh heavily on her parents. "We went through a lot of sad things when it comes to Kulture—terrible behavior that not even the older kids have ever been through," Cardi told Essence. "So many people will post mean, disgusting things, just to get a reaction from us." She noted that she and Offset were reluctant to share photos of their second child, son Wave Set Cephus. 

Cardi B sure knows how to stir the pot, but every now and again, she lands in hot water. In 2022, she wound up in front of a judge on assault charges after an incident at a strip club. According to reports, Cardi admitted that she organized and planned two physical attacks on two sisters, as she believed one of them was having an affair with her husband. Cardi and her friends visited the club Angels and pulled one of the women's hair, slamming her into the bar she was working behind. If that wasn't enough, Cardi returned again at a later date and threw things at the victim's sibling. 

Cardi eventually faced the music. According to the BBC, she stated, "I've made some bad decisions in my past that I am not afraid to face and own up to." The less-than-stellar situation ended up with Cardi getting handed a three-year probation sentence as well as 15 days of community service. 

Cardi took a plea deal to wrap the incident up quickly. She'd previously rejected a plea deal two years prior. 

Being an A-list star might sound like a glamorous and exciting life, but it comes at a cost. Cardi B knows this better than anyone. In 2022, Cardi took to Instagram to lament about life under the harsh glare of the limelight.

"Let me tell you something," she told her followers during an IG Live. "If y'all ever wish to be rich and famous don't wish to be famous. Wish to be rich." She went on to say that she believed she had been cursed with fame and wished she could go back in time. "If I could click my f***ing feet three times and go back to f***ing 2013 when I was just a regular b**ch dancing and making money every single night, that's where I want to be," she continued. 

Cardi recorded this IG Live after a clip of Billie Eilish watching her perform at the Met Gala went viral. At one point during the set, Billie called something "weird." It didn't take long before people assumed Eilish was talking about Cardi. However, before the speculation could spiral, the two talked about the non-drama. "I was f**king calling the people around you weird because everybody was coming up to you and shoving their phones into your a**," Billie said in a voice note, as Cardi shared on X. Turns out, the two get on like birds of a feather. "Billie is my f**kin baby," Cardi wrote. 

In early 2017, Cardi B and Offset started dating. Later that year, they got married. A month after that, Offset proposed to Cardi at a concert. The following year, Cardi confirmed they had a secret wedding before they got engaged. They welcomed children into the world, weathered cheating rumors, and broke up and made up a number of times. And in August 2024, word got out that Cardi had filed for divorce from Offset. The "WAP" rapper previously filed for divorce in 2020, but later called it off.

Shortly after the divorce news broke, Cardi gave fans another surprise: a baby announcement. The star took to Instagram to post a photograph of herself in a red dress cradling a baby bump. "With every ending comes a new beginning!" she captioned the snaps. "I am so grateful to have shared this season with you, you have brought me more love, more life and most of all renewed my power!"

In a May 2024 interview for Rolling Stone, Cardi offered a bittersweet assessment of the state of her marriage. "We're best friends. And it's like, 'OK. Well, there was a time that I didn't have a best friend, or I didn't have a support system.' It's not even about 'How do you leave a partner?' How do you stop talking to your best friend?" she said. After Cardi filed, a source told Page Six the two had simply "grown apart." 

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.