I’ll admit – I’m not a rappity rap fan. I like the basics… a classic Jay moment will get me every time, pre-Kim Ye, and an occasional thot bop, though I took a particular and inexplicable liking to the City Girls – maybe its the living in Miami or the taking advantage of men, still hard to tell. I like Cardi the rapper, but more than anything, I LOVE what Cardi represents. 

We can all agree that Cardi is pretty unapologetic, which is why most of us like her. She takes Offset back after his 100^th public cheating scandal, posts him to IG like WHAT BITCH?!?! SAY SOMETHING!! And we mostly keep it the fuck moving. But my favorite unapologetic thing Cardi ever did was her pregnancy. 

We’ve all heard stories of women in the 80s, 90s, and even 00s that weren’t allowed or delayed in participating in the music industry because of an “untimely” pregnancy. Syleena Johnson spoke tearfully about how she had to choose between a pregnancy and her career, which ultimately ended with her having an abortion. And she’s an R&B singer! I’m all for a woman’s right to choose, but a pregnancy shouldn’t be a life or career ender in entertainment or any other industry. Even when Cardi announced her pregnancy, plenty of people commented about how it would be the end or impede her career. And in true Cardi fashion she said fuck you and continued right on her path and emerged unscathed with a precious baby. 

In the male dominated genre of rap Cardi did the most feminine thing a person with a uterus could do. She was visibly and unapologetically pregnant. Sis was up on stages until the very end of her pregnancy shaking ass in leotards. Go the fuck off. And then Yung Miami walked down the same path. I’m not sure Sister Caresha would have been able to carry on had Cardi not done it first. 

AND EVEN FURTHER, Cardi let the girls know there was no “snapback.” Cardi was vocal about going under the knife to get her curves back in order. It’s refreshing. 

Culture as a whole dictates that pregnancy is largely an inconvenience, not the beautiful gift of life. And shit, we all got here by a pregnant ass mama – its the only way this humanity thing continues. Why shouldn’t people keep living and making their own rules about what pregnancy and motherhood looks like. Take a cue from Cardi.