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On March 10, 2020, while much of the world was in denial over the seriousness of COVID-19, Cardi B uploaded a 46-second video to Instagram. Clad in a see-through crochet dress, the rapper exclaimed: “Government! Let me tell y’all motherfuckers something. I know what the fuck this coronavirus is about… I’m telling you, shit is real. Shit is getting real!”
The rant was subsequently reposted and even remixed, reaching full viral status, but the words rang hauntingly true. Cardi was right, and we should’ve listened. “I was doing a promotion for Apple and they was talking about COVID and how they was gonna close the country, you know,” she exclusively told ELLE.com of the clip. “I thought it was something that was, like, overseas, and now I’m like, ‘Oh shit, it’s getting real! Y’all think this is a game,’ and it happened.”
Now she’s ready for some long-awaited revelry. At the launch of Whipshots, her new vodka-infused whipped cream created with Starco Brands, in Miami during Art Basel, Cardi partied. Hard. As a partner, she’s responsible for the creative direction and promotion of the product, which, at the event, included serving guests whip cream shots directly from the can into their mouths (from a distance, albeit much less than six feet).
As always, her enviable hustle is paying off. On Dec. 5, Cardi announced on Twitter that the first drop of Whipshots sold out in three seconds. (ICYMI, every day for the month of December, the brand will release 500 cans.) Though the product is undoubtedly geared toward holiday shenanigans (Cardi likes her Whipshots on eggnog), even at Basel, the politically inclined spokesperson remains keenly aware of our divided country, as well as the uncertain state of the world.
When asked about President Joe Biden, she replied affirmatively. “He’s doing good. I feel like every single country right now, they’re going through a lot of things. People are like, ‘Oh, there’s a lot of things going on in the United States,’ but there’s a lot of things going on everywhere right now, you know what I’m saying? There’s other countries that still are on lockdown right now, you know what I’m saying? There’s a lot of countries that don’t have—what’s them checks called that they were giving out?—stimulus checks, there’s a lot of countries that didn’t have that, you know what I’m saying? So it’s really hard to determine how good any president can perform right now, because this is something that’s new, that nobody has experienced. This lockdown is different. The lack of employees everywhere—it’s something different that every country right now is dealing with, not just the United States.”
Despite all this, Cardi remains busy building her empire, which recently includes being named Playboy’s first-ever creative director—perhaps the most perfect pairing ever. At her first meeting with the magazine last spring, the always outspoken artist openly shared her ideas. “I’m not gonna be the type of person that it’s like, ‘Oh, I want femininity,’” she said. “Of course I want that, but I really want sex. Sex appeal, I love that. I’m a wild girl, and that’s what I want for the brand. I want to have conversations that people are afraid to have. I want beautiful women. When I think of Playboy, I think of back in the day Playboy. I wanna bring that back.”
She paused briefly to reveal a trace of fear, just as she did on Instagram at the onset of the pandemic. “I’m excited, but now that everybody’s so excited for me [and] the new Playboy, I’m getting a little bit overwhelmed because I feel like that’s a lot of pressure.” Then, in classic Cardi fashion, she bounced right back. “But I know that I can do it. We’re gonna do good!”
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