There’s so much to unpack from Mariah Carey‘s candid conversation with Cardi B for Interview magazine’s latest issue — in which the rapper, 28, poses completely nude on the cover. Though, fans are only stuck on the possibility of a Mariah-Cardi collaboration after Mimi suggested, “… one of these days, can we do a song together?”
“I would love that. I would love to do a record that touches souls,” Cardi said, recalling, “You had me heartbroken when I was 11-years-old and I didn’t even have a boyfriend.” The topic of a duet came up while the artists were discussing prejudice in the music and fashion industries.
Staying on the topic of new music, Mariah asked Cardi to discuss her forthcoming sophomore album, which she admitted, “I feel like I’m missing some songs. Everybody’s rushing me to put it out, but I don’t know if it’s the right time.”
Mariah went on to ask if Cardi’s new album will feature any relationship or emotional tracks like her song, “Be Careful” from her debut album, Invasion of Privacy — which won her a Grammy in 2019. The song was initially inspired by Cardi’s tumultuous marriage with Migos rapper, Offset.
“I do have a song like ‘Be Careful'” [on the new album], Cardi teased, “but I think it’s more personal.” She explained, “People were saying, ‘You need to be softer. You need to talk more about yourself.’ And I was telling them that it’s really hard for me to do love records and express myself like that because I never do that. I don’t talk about love and shit.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Cardi discussed her Trinidadian and Dominican heritage and her body evolution. “I’m Trini and I’m Dominican, and there’s a lot of Dominicans that look a certain type of way. They have soft, pretty, curly hair. Growing up, guys would ask me weird questions like, ‘If you’re Dominican, why is your hair so nappy?’ I used to dye my hair, and people used to be like, ‘Oh, your hair’s so crunchy.’ And it would make me feel so weird,” she explained. “I was also really skinny when I was younger, and in the Bronx, it’s about being thick and having an ass, so young boys would be like, ‘Look at your flat a**. You ain’t got no titties.’ And it would make me feel so ugly and undeveloped.”
Mariah resonated with the rapper’s experiences and noted, “I’ve had very similar situations, with the hair. The hair is always a thing,” she said, later asking Cardi: “Coming from the childhood that you came from, and the experiences that you just talked me through, does it feel like, ‘Wow, I hope those same people who told me I had a flat ass and nappy hair are looking at this now?’ Do you feel vindicated?”
The “Up” rapper replied, “I feel so vindicated. Even when I was 18 and became a dancer, I had enough money to afford to buy boobs, so every insecurity that I felt about my breasts was gone,” she admitted, recalling, “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 a** done. And then I felt super confident.”
We know The artist Mariah Carey , the diva , the record breaking , the glamorous artist. I was alil nervous at first but she don’t come off as that she comes of as a real ass bitch that you can talk for hours cause she so understanding more then just a celebrity a Me & YOU.
— iamcardib (@iamcardib) February 23, 2021
Following the release of Cardi’s cover interview with Mariah, the “WAP” rapper took to Twitter to defend the singer, who’s often labeled as a “diva.”
Cardi tweeted, “We know The artist Mariah Carey, the diva, the record breaking, the glamorous artist. I was a lil nervous at first but she don’t come off as that she comes of as a real ass b**ch that you can talk for hours cause she so understanding more then just a celebrity a Me & YOU.”