A ᴛι̇ɱeline Of Cardi B’s Meteoric Rise To Fame — See Every Moment From The Start!

Born Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar in October 1992 to a Dominican father and Trinidadian mother, The Bronx native got her moniker after going by Bacardi (yes, like the rum) for some time. Cardi B‘s younger sister, Hennessy Carolina, also chose an alcohol-inspired nickname.

2011: Cardi B goes viral

Cardi B started stripping when she was 19 years old (after getting fired from an Amish supermarket), keeping her decision to dance under wraps from her relatives for years. While dancing, Cardi became an Internet sensation after her videotaped rants went viral on Vine and Instagram.

Later, the “Bodak Yellow” rapper would reveal more details about her pole-dancing days and her mother’s displeasure with her working as an exotic dancer to Cosmopolitan.

“When my mom found out I was a dancer, she was pretty upset,” Cardi told drag queen Naomi Smalls in a video for Cosmopolitan in 2018. “Me knowing that she used to hate it, it didn’t allow me to get comfortable with what I was doing.”

She added, “People say, ‘Why do you always got to say that you used to be a stripper? We get it.’ Because y’all don’t respect me because of it, and y’all going to respect these strippers from now on … Just because somebody was a stripper don’t mean they don’t have no brain.”

2015-2017: Cardi B stars on ‘Love & Hip Hop: New York’

Starting in 2015, Cardi B made waves as the “regula, degula, schmegula girl from the Bronx” on Love & Hip Hop: New York, where her personality instantly made her a fan favorite. She had a hard time convincing other cast members that she had talent when it came to music but always had faith that she would eventually make it.

Best known for saying things like, “If a b—- beef with me, we ‘gon beef…foreva” and throwing a shoe at a rival, Cardi only appeared on the show for two seasons, but she is a Love & Hip Hop legend.

May 1, 2017: Cardi B is rumored to be dating Offset

In May 2017, rumors began to circulate that Cardi B was seeing Migos rapper Offset after they were spotted enjoying themselves at a Met Gala afterparty. The couple actually had their first date three months earlier at the Super Bowl.

“My first date, I went big,” Offset told guest host Anthony Anderson during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2021. “I wanted to do something that was not normally done, you know what I’m saying? I wanted to have fun … so I took her to the Super Bowl.”

June 16, 2017: Cardi B releases major label debut single “Bodak Yellow”

When “Bodak Yellow” was released in June 2017, no one could have predicted how quickly it would catapult Cardi into the spotlight.