Cardi B Called Out the Music and Fashion Industries for Their Obvious Racial Injustices

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During a conversation with Mariah Carey for the March issue of Interview magazine, Cardi B expressed that she has felt prejudice in both the music and fashion industries. "I don't know if I would use the word 'racism' because everything is so technical right now," Cardi B told Carey, but she's definitely been treated differently than her white peers.

"I have been involved in endorsement deals, and then I found out that certain white people got more money for their deals from the same company," Cardi B said. "I do my research. I know how much money I made [from] that company. My fans buy my shit. So it's like, 'When you're not paying me what you're paying these other people, why is that?' It's kind of insulting."

Cardi said that, in the fashion industry, hip-hop is a huge influence, "yet, Black artists have the hardest time getting pulls from designers and the hardest time getting seats at their fashion shows, and barely get endorsed by big fashion brands that we literally make trend."

Cardi B addressed this issue in an Instagram video posted to her feed in October 2020. She had seen tweets circulating that claimed Black women buying Hermès Birkin bags depreciates the value of the designer handbag—which, though Cardi B may not label as "racist," we will.

"Why is it that you all are asking female rappers if they could get a bag from the Hermès store?" Cardi B asked in the video. "You all don't do this to these white celebrities." She added, "They're saying that we depreciate the value. Actually, we add value because in hip-hop, when we mention brands in hip-hop, their shit go up."

"I have it a different way because people don't know how to categorize me sometimes, and that sucks," Carey told Cardi B in their conversation. "But I think people should listen to the words you say, because you're saying it from firsthand experience. You've gotten less than other artists who are not artists of color, and yet your influence has been way broader."

If Carey and Cardi decide to go through with their idea of launching a bra line together, they could begin to "fix" the injustices they've experienced, as Carey suggests. And, also that would just be an amazing brand to behold.