There has been a high concentration of tomfoolery in the world lately and singing “Bodak Yellow” has emerged as a popular coping mechanism. With “Bitch, you can’t fuck with me if you wanted to” as its chorus, the confidence-boosting song has landed at number one on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart — beating out Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do.” Which is a major deal. Cardi B is the first female rapper to chart at number one without a featuring male act since Lauryn Hill’s “Doo Wop (That Thing)” in 1998, Billboard reports.
It’s totally bonkers to think that icons like Missy Elliott, Lil’ Kim, and Nicki Minaj have not been able to land a solo number one record. (Although female rappers do well with collabs: Lil’ Kim, Christina Aguilera, Pink, and Mya went number one with “Lady Marmalade,” as did Iggy Azalea and Charlie XCX with “Fancy.”) And we’re totally not trying to pit women against each other, but the fact that Cardi B was able to do this with her first charting single ever — while shouting out her former stripping career — deserves an extended moment of silence.
Cardi “dropped two mixtapes in six months” and is not showing any signs of slowing down. She’s currently hard at work on her debut album, and recently spoke about the anxiety and pressure her sudden success is giving her. “Every single time I think, ‘I got all the ten songs,’ I’m like, ‘Nah, I’m buggin’. These ain’t it’,” Cardi told The Breakfast Club last week. “It’s just like, ‘Damn! I’m competing with myself. I’m competing with the goddamn number two record and stuff.” Well… now it’s the “goddamn number one record.”
But we’re sure that whatever Cardi B delivers next will conquer. Because “Bodak Yellow” is perhaps the strongest illustration of self-actualization to come this year — Cardi B did not hold back with the buckets of self-praise, and now, showing up to red carpets looking like Cinderella, she is proving her cockiness is for good reason. Before the song’s success, some dismissed Cardi B as just being good at killer dick jokes and a Nicki Minaj knockoff. But, Cardi silenced her haters with lyrics like, “Got a bag and fixed my teeth/ hope you hoes know it ain’t cheap!” and letting us know her mailbox is filled with plenty of checks from Love and Hip Hop. And now she’s performing on stage with Drake, attending Rihanna’s Diamond Ball, and snapping pictures with Beyoncé.
If “Bodak Yellow” teaches us anything, it’s that you can’t let these haters get you down.