Cardi B., hip-hop’s reining underdog turned champion, dropped the video for her track “Lick” today, and the clip’s heist plotline and glam getups signal both an adherence to narrative convention and further proof that Cardi has arrived as a bona fide star. An unofficial companion piece to the official music video is the Tweeted message she sent out earlier today to her detractors, whom she identifies as “mainly niggas” who clown her stripper background and dismiss her hard work and talent. In true Cardi fashion, she takes no prisoners as she unleashes a womanist clapback that tackles sexism, issues of artistic authenticity, and the ways male rappers get to rap about “real shit” that is actually light years away from their real lives, without them being checked for their market-driven myth building. Peep the one-two punch below.
Imma adress has ONE TIME and one time only pic.twitter.com/31P15OOex3
— Cardi B (@iamcardib) May 16, 2017
Top photo courtesy Shareif Ziyadat/Getty Images.
