If there is one celebrity that has had an almost fairytale “rags to riches” come up, it’s Cardi B.
Cardi was born Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar to a working-class Dominican father and Trinidadian mother. She became financially independent at 19-years-old when she began working as an exotic dancer.
The now 27-year-old rapper from The Bronx, New York built her social currency by sharing entertaining stories about her humble beginnings on Instagram. Around this time she began making sponsored Fashion Nova content where influencers can get paid anywhere between hundreds to thousands of dollars per post.
The buzz she garnered from her videos led her to join the cast of “Love & Hip Hop New York” in 2015 where she jump-started her music career. During this time Cardi released a remix of Lady Leshurr’s song “Queen’s Speech 4” called “Cheap Ass Weave,” collaborated with other artists, and dropped her first mixtape “Gangsta B**ch Music Vol. 1.”
In 2017, she signed a multi-million dollar deal with Atlantic Records. Her first single “Bodak Yellow” was a major success, charting at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Surrounding the release of her debut album “Invasion of Privacy” in 2018, Cardi had shows at clubs and festivals all over the world. The following year, in a now-deleted Instagram post, she revealed that it was more financially beneficial for her to do shows rather than have a tour, according to EDM news.
Within a span of two months, Cardi made more than $10 million raking in between $300,000 to $900,000 per performance, according to EDM News.
In 2019, Forbes reports Cardi was amongst the highest-paid rappers in hip hop with a $28 million net worth.
