Just three months after being released, Cardi B’s debut single “Bodak Yellow” has topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart and become the No.1 song in the country.
Its journey to the top has long been documented.
After debuting at the 85th spot back in July, it shot to No.14 and became the highest-charting single by a female rapper since 2014.
It then became the top-streamed song in the country, and made public fans of everyone from Beyonce to Janet Jackson.
Last week, it nabbed the No.2 spot, trailing behind only Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do”—the fifth chart-topper from the veteran, oft-record-breaking artist.
But now Cardi B has made her own history. She is the first female rapper to go No.1 without any other featured credited artist since 1998—when Lauryn Hill did with “Doo-Wop (That Thing).”
The rapper took to Instagram to reflect on her accomplishment:
She also spoke at Atlantic Records earlier today, saying:
“I am very happy. I’m very honored, especially because my family’s here. You know, like, at first, I kept asking, I keep coming to the label like, ‘Why is my shit not playing on the radio? I do not understand what’s going on.’ And then it’s just like, ‘You gotta keep working hard to get that record, that big record.’ ‘Oh, I’ma give ya’ll a record! I’ma give you a motherfucking record.’ And then it’s just like, when it hit the Billboards—you know, I don’t really know how the music industry work; all I feel is like, ‘Oh, well if everybody’s listening to a song, it’s poppin’. No. If it’s not on the Billboards, then it really don’t matter.”
We recently asked, Is Cardi B the hottest MC in New York? It seems we now have our answer.
Earlier this year, Cardi dropped Gangsta Bitch Music, Vol. 2 on Donald Trump’s Inauguration Day. Now, she’s gone No.1 after one of his characteristically controversial weekends. Over the last few days, Trump has launched tirades against both Steph Curry and Colin Kaepernick, but has still failed to address Puerto Rico’s crisis post-Hurricane Maria—a truth Cardi herself called him out on.