- After I put out this album,
I don't have anything else to prove,
because this is like, I feel like
it's never gonna be good enough for
people that are not doing anything.
(smooth bass music)
- What's up I'm Gaby Wilson for MTV News
and I'm here with Cardi B.
- Hello! (both laughing)
- Well Cardi, I don't know what
to congratulate you on first,
your pregnancy, or your drop
of your debut album.
But I think the debut album has been something
that you've been putting a lot of energy into
and are really excited to finally be out in the world.
How does it feel?
- It feels really good, the response that
I'm getting on my album is so amazing
that it's just like, oh my gosh,
not only it feels good to put it out,
it's a big weight off your shoulder.
It's like the response was just, like,
it made every hard work, every long night worth it.
- [Gaby] Yeah, you're getting shout outs from
Erykah Badu, Rihanna, Green Day,
like kind of all over the music industry, it's crazy!
- Yes.
- There are a lot of references on the album itself
to people who didn't believe that you had other hits
outside of Bodak Yellow, do you still feel like
you're trying to prove people wrong?
- You know what?
After I put out this album,
I don't have anything else to prove.
And if I still gotta prove myself,
then it's like, I'm done proving myself,
because this is, I feel like
it's never gonna be good enough
for people that are not doing anything.
- Mmhmm, yeah, and I think that this album,
I mean you should feel so proud of yourself for it
because not only is it cohesive,
but it sounds like a lot of singles, too.
Like everything on the album could really
survive on the radio and do well.
My favorite song actually is "I Like It".
How did that come together,
did it start with a Pete Rodriguez sample, or?
- Yeah, it started off with a beat,
I did my verse, I did my hook,
and then I sent it to J Balvin
and I sent it to Bad Bunny,
and I got it right away, right away.
I shot a video for it already,
it was just amazing.
- Well, what drew you to that
Pete Rodriguez sample for "I Like it"?
- Well, I just really, I heard it,
and I was like, "Oh, I like this beat,
it sounds poppin'" and I already knew
that I had to do somethin',
it was just too dope.
- Yeah, so you already shot the video
for "I Like It" in Miami, what is the treatment like?
I know you don't want to give too much away, but.
- You'll see very Hispanic culture,
and it's different because the Hispanic culture
in Miami is very different from the Hispanic culture
in the Dominican Republic.
I don't really know Cubans like that, I don't.
I don't have no Cuban friends,
I never grew up around Cubans.
So to see that there's so many Cubans,
like, same way there's so many Puerto Ricans
and Dominicans in New York, I was like, "Wow!"
- Why was it important to you
to shoot the video in Miami?
- Well, it was just like the type of vibe that it gave me,
you know, the song is very happy, jumpy,
it just sounds like a beautiful sunny day,
and right now in New York,
there's no beautiful sunny days.
- I know, I'm waiting for the days
where we can start to hear "I Like It"
in cars running down Broadway. (both laughing)
Any clues as to who might've directed the video,
so we can get sort of a visual vibe?
- You know what, let's say sooner or later.
- (laughs loudly) Okay, so you're not
gonna give it to me today.
- No.
(Gaby laughs)
- Well there are a lot of amazing songs on this album,
one thing that I really was struck by
was you singing on "Thru the Phone".
You've sung before, right?
Like in your life, when did you start singing,
where did that come from?
- Well, I used to sing, like my grandmother
always made me sing for her, she's in heaven.
So she'd be like "Oh my gosh, you're gonna
be such a star, you're gonna be such a star."
I went to high school for musical theater and technology,
I used to do talent shows every time,
I even have a video of me performing
Lady Gaga and everything.
- What song?
- I performed it twice in my junior year,
and my freshman year I performed Madonna,
Material Girl, 7th grade I couldn't (mumbling),
junior year, I did "Love Game",
and then senior year, I did "Bad Romance."
- [Gaby] And with choreography and everything?
- [Cardi] Yes.
- Well when you were singing on the album,
was that difficult for you, like what
made you want to put your voice,
your singing voice, on the album?
- I wanted to put my singing voice
and I wanted to do something a little bit different,
and I picked the right tone for me to sing to,
because you know, I'm just not the greatest
singer that's not for me anymore.
When I got older, my voice got real raspy, yanno screaming.
- Uh-huh. Sometimes that adds like,
some character to a voice, though.
- Yeah, it does but it's like, wow, I can't
believe how much my voice changed.
- Yeah. Was it difficult for you to sing
on this album, on that track?
- Actually no. - No?
- It was one of my easiest records to do, believe that.
- Yeah? And was that always one
that you wanted to sing on,
or was that something, like,
did you try a different kind of hook on it before?
- No, just that hook. - No?
- Wow, that's awesome.
Talk to be a little bit about getting
Chance the Rapper on the album,
because that was a feature that really stood out
against all of the other tracks.
- Well, you know, that song, that song is very positive,
it's really about new beginnings,
new beginnings, struggles and everything,
and it's just like it's something that
Chance the Rapper to me, represents a lot,
you know what I'm saying?
Like since Chicago, and now he donates
millions and millions to people,
like you got Michelle Obama shouting this man out,
and it just feels, - Good.
- You feel him in this song,
it's like without him even rapping
or even being in the hook or anything,
he just is, ain't no other person to get
than Chance the Rapper.
And we hit him up and he did a verse,
and it's like, okay but we really
want you on this hook, please!
And he was in Australia,
and he came back and my man hit him up,
you know they're cool friends and everything.
And he was like "Okay, I got you,"
and I was like "Ahhhh!"
He handed in the hook, - Uh-huh.
- Because I already had the verse,
like the last day to hand in everything,
and it's just like "Oh, I love this kid." I do.
- (laughs) Yeah. I think my other favorite feature is YG.
"She Bad" maybe is my second favorite song
on the album, how did that song come together?
- They presented me the song of him,
like he did his hook, that's his hook.
He picked the beat and everything and it's like,
I want this song for me,
so I just gave my verses and it's like he liked it,
and it's like, can I have it for me?
- (laughs loudly) How do you convince YG to give you a song?
He was just with it?
- He just trusted me.
- Yeah. That's awesome, well I'm glad
that we have it on Invasion of Privacy.
(laughs loudly) Well, you have another
big weekend coming up, actually it's like two big weekends,
you're playing at Coachella coming up.
I know that you're gonna be in like,
10-hour rehearsals prepping for that.
- Yeah.
- How is that, like, are you scared
you're going to have an asthma attack
during those 10 hours?
- Ah, no, you know, I'm just gonna be real prepared.
When we did the I Heart Radio,
I was rehearsing five hours a day and everything,
so it's like, another 10 hours, you know,
not gonna kill me especially if it's
60,000 people, I can't even believe,
how do 60,000 people look like,
I can't even imagine.
- I know, I can't imagine it either.
- Sounds like almost a whole country.
- (laughing) It could be, yeah, it'll probably
look like a whole country while you're standing on stage.
That's a big moment for you as a performer,
but I think that as a fan,
I mean Beyonce is performing,
I'm sure that that's something that you're
looking forward to watching too, while you're there.
- Well you know we're performing on three different days,
and I'm definitely gonna go see her,
because this is like, oh my gosh,
it's like a free concert for me, you know? (laughs)
I know they're gonna let me in for free.
- (laughs) Yeah, you're on the bill,
I'm sure they won't charge you.
Cool, well thank you so much Cardi,
I'm so excited for you and for all of your success.
- Thank you.
- Yeah.
(smooth bass music)