Cardi B was gaining fame and notoriety online long before she launched her music career. She built a big following by age 18 dancing in clubs in New York. After racking up hundreds of thousands of followers on Vine and Instagram, she hired a social media manager who convinced her to start rapping.
According to Fader, her manager noted that "her speaking style in certain scenarios—like when she yelled at a dude on the phone, for example—were proof of a unique voice." Cardi B remixed her life experiences into tracks and released her first freestyle right before she joined the Season 6 cast of VH1's Love & Hip Hop New York. The breakout star of the show, her hilarious gifs and memes spread like wildfire, and it wasn't long before the series became her launching pad for international acclaim.
While plenty of rappers struggle to make it big in the industry, some say Cardi B had it easy. According to Fader, "Many people—fans and industry—treat her like a dilettante" who didn't pay her dues. That assessment isn't lost on the young star. "And then I gotta tell myself, Stop feeling guilty. You worked for this," she told the magazine. "When I was a stripper, I used to strip like six nights a week. I used to bust my a**. And I didn't stop [working]. Until today I work just as hard as I did before."