Cardi B Admits There’s ‘Drama’ In Her Relationship With Offset: My New Album Has ‘Lemonade’ Moments

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“I don’t really like talking about love much, but I feel like I have to do it, just because I want people to know a little bit,” says Cardi B when discussing her upcoming album in the September 2020 issue of Elle. It’s been two years since Cardi, 27, released her debut, Invasion of Privacy, and a lot has happened since then – including a high-profile split from husband Offset, 28, after he cheated on her. Though Cardi’s recent single is a sex-positive celebration, she tells Elle that there will be moments on her new record where she channels her inner Beyoncé.

“My music is always going to make a woman feel like a bad b-tch,” says Cardi. “When you make a woman feel like she’s the baddest b-tch in the room, to me, that’s female empowerment. But this album is going to be really different. Of course, it’s going to have my Lemonade moments, my personal relationship moments.”

“There’s always rumors about me and my husband, and I feel like people would rather start rumors because they want me to be heartbroken,” adds the “WAP” rapper. “They want me to be hurt. I do know that my relationship has a lot of drama and everything. But there’s a lot of love, there’s a lot of passion, there’s a lot of trust, there’s a big friendship. It’s always us against the world.” Cardi also said she has saved up her drama and emotions for her album, which will include a track with Offset. “If you all are so curious to know about my relationship and blah, blah, blah, I’m going to put it in the f-ckin’ music, and you can buy it, too. I’m not going to give it to you all for free.”

Offset and Cardi have had a bit of a whirlwind romance. After meeting at an industry party in 2016, they released a song together (“Lick”) at the start of 2017. Two months later, on Valentine’s Day, they confirmed their relationship, and in September, they tied the knot in secret. Offset would propose on stage a month after they were married to give Cardi that “special moment that every girl dreams of,” she would later write. Then, in 2018, Offset would cheat on her, and Cardi would announce that she and Offset had split by the end of the year. A month into 2019, they reconciled, and it’s been somewhat smooth sailing ever since.

Cardi spoke frankly about Offset’s infidelity at the end of 2019, telling Vogue that when she “decided to stay with him and work together with him, a lot of people were so mad at me; a lot of women felt disappointed in me. But it’s real-life sh-t. If you love somebody and you stop being with them, and you’re depressed and social media is telling you not to talk to that person because he cheated, you’re not really happy on the inside until you have the conversation. Then, if you get back with them, it’s like, how could you? You let all of us down.”