She Don’t Gotta Dance, She Makes Money Moves #CREATE
When you think of Cardi B, it’s probably hard to remember that before she had bloody shoes, she was at one point just a regular, degular, schmegular girl from the Bronx. Many seem to forget that Cardi’s initial rise to popularity was those of internet meme fame. In an initial attempt to simply gain a following in hopes of acquiring a larger fan base at the strip club she worked at, she found herself gaining followers for her infectious personality instead. Things changed forever for Cardi when she posted a video to her Instagram telling the world she was neither a model, nor a comedian but indeed a hoe; a stripper hoe, as a matter of fact.
“What do you does, are you a model, are you like a comedian or something…? Nah I ain’t none of that, I’m a hoe. I’m a stripper hoe, I’m bout this shmoney, washpoppin” And just like that, almost every girl and her mother were saying they were “bout that shmoney”. But things didn’t stop there for Cardi. She recognized the attention she was receiving and made the active choice to continue creating viral videos to further grow herself. She found herself becoming yet again, another meme when she posted a video letting her followers know that although the weather at the time was near freezing temperatures she would continue to be “looking like a thottie” because as Cardi stated, “a hoe never gets cold”. This phrase was vital in creating the Cardi B brand and proving that she was more than just a one-time meme or “one-hit wonder”.
What happened next is what guaranteed Cardi’s success and was an extremely smart choice on her behalf. While Cardi could have simply continued making viral videos (as she still does), she decided she wanted more. Music was her field of choice and to which she made her way. She started small by releasing freestyles and remixes to other songs. However, with her Instagram now gaining more and more followers due to her personality and slew of viral videos, Cardi was becoming an internet personality and had a small but growing fan base. She was contacted and casted for season 6 and eventually 7 of Love and Hip Hop, a reality TV series focussed on the drama behind the scenes in the up and coming rap and hip hop music industry.
Being on a reality show can either make or break a career. Of course, just being on the show would have guaranteed Cardi exposure, but Cardi had her eye on what the show could bring her in the long run. Cardi took her personality and used it to her advantage in order to cultivate a new following and rise above everyone in the midst of a slew of reality stars. In addition, Cardi continued to create even more punchlines on the show, adding to her collection of phrases, including “if a girl got beef with me, she gon beef with me forever”. In a very smart decision, not only did she continuously preview her infectious personality on the show for viewers, she constantly threw her most famous internet and TV punchlines into her music which brought her internet fans and TV fans running to get her music.
Soon enough, Cardi was everywhere. With her Instagram videos constantly gaining millions of views, TV scenes immediately being talked about, countless images and gifs of Cardi being used as reaction pictures/ memes and to solidify it all, a huge hit record on airwaves. You couldn’t escape Cardi’s social media, television and music industry takeover.
The rest is history. Taking a meme and turning it into a career is not an easy job. But somehow, Cardi B managed to take a 10-second clip of her telling the world she was a “hoe” and turn it into a career in which she has acquired the longest-running solo number 1 record by a female rapper, 2 Grammy nominations and a 4x platinum record in addition to having 5 top 10 hits, all in under a year. Cardi’s success is just telling at how much the internet plays a role in our lives, and now creating the new generation of celebrities born through the internet. Cardi’s ability to convert herself from a viral Instagram meme to a rap princess was undoubtedly attributed to branding. It is safe to say that without Cardi creating her punchlines, adding them into everything she did and in return, continuously molding her brand, she wouldn’t have been remembered. By constantly associating herself with the punchlines she created, her online presence created the character for her to be portrayed on television. When she lived up to her character, the rest fell into place. Needless to say, Cardi is an example of exactly what to do when all eyes are on you. Successful branding can take you from the strip club to wearing bloody shoes.
Sources:
http://www.capitalxtra.com/features/lists/facts-about-cardi-b/
