Cardi B had to fight off a ton of nasty social media comments late last year. And as it turns out, it affected her mental health way more than anybody knew.
As you may recall, the Bodak Yellow rapper and her estranged husband Offset popped up together for the Christmas holiday alongside their two kids Kulture, 5, and Wave, 2. It makes sense, of course. Parents want to be with their kids. Especially during the holidays! But social media commenters used the reunion to loudly speculate about a full-on romantic reconciliation after Offset’s widely reported infidelity. And Cardi did NOT like that! During one video outburst about the speculation at the time, she angrily yelled at fan theories (below):
“Shut the f**k up. Did I say I was back together with somebody?! Did I said that?!”
Big yikes! She was NOT happy! And now, she’s discussing her mindset at that point in her life.
Related: Why Cardi B & ‘Serial Cheater’ Offset’s Latest Breakup ‘Feels Different’
Cardi sat down with Complex for the latest episode of their 360 With Speedy series and opened up about how nasty the fan comments were amid reports of Offset’s infidelity and her decision to separate from him. The 31-year-old artist said that social media aggression made her fearful of doing anything at all:
“I just feel like I lost myself with everything. A lot of music commenters and everything and a lot of people just be like, ‘She’s afraid to drop an album, she’s afraid to drop music.’ Like last year, I barely dropped music. It’s just like I was just afraid to do everything.”
Whoa!
That’s definitely not good. And it’s true Cardi hasn’t released an album since 2018’s Invasion of Privacy. But in recent years, she was very much in the news with popular singles like Up and WAP. However, the 2023 calendar year was a bit different! She only released Bongos alongside Meghan Thee Stallion. The Grammy winner explained that lack of output came down to fear of what fans and critics might say:
“I was afraid to go live, I was afraid to post a picture, I was afraid to go to the club, and then the next day seeing people, what they going to say about me, and everything. I was afraid to do everything.”
Afraid to go live on social media?! But Cardi is so great when she goes live! Ugh!! We HATE that she felt that way!!
Thankfully, it sounds like things have made a turn for the better in recent months. For one, Cardi explained she’s come to the realization that she ought to make music for her fans — and not faceless critics on social media. She explained:
“I should be catering to [the fans], ’cause you’re the ones that put money in my pocket, and you’re the ones that love me.”
Very true! And she also hinted that after her possible Valentine’s Day reconciliation with the Migos rapper just last month, she may be more focused on maintaining her privacy whenever possible:
“I don’t even want people to know where the f**k I’m at or what the f**k I’m doing … every day is some new s**t.”
No kidding! And so far, the plan seems to be working. Just in the last three weeks, she has released two new singles: Like What (Freestyle) and Enough (Miami). And guess what?? A NEW ALBUM IS ON DECK!!! To wrap her chat, Cardi teased:
“One single and y’all getting an album.”
We looooove that!! Ch-ch-check out her full discussion (below):
Thoughts, y’all?? Sound OFF about Cardi’s tough times in the recent past and her focus on new music down in the comments (below)!
[Image via MEGA/WENN]