Cardi B
Flo NgalaCardi B recently addressed why she stopped being so vocal about politics on social media.
On Thursday, a Twitter user directly questioned Cardi about why the rapper, who has been a common target of many conservative Republication politicians and commentators and was never shy about taking shots back, stopped using her platform to talk politics. "@iamcardib Used to TALK ABOUT POLITICS & POLITICAL MATTERS! WHAT HAPPENED WITH THAT ?!??"
"I was tired of getting bullied by the republicans and also getting bashed by the same people I was standing up for," she responded.
The 29-year-old MC received a lot of flak when she released her sexually explicit Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 "WAP" collaboration with Megan Thee Stallion. And Cardi aptly described the song as "the one that had Republicans crying on Fox News about it." Ben Shapiro read the uncomfortably censored lyrics on his own show shortly after the single dropped in August 2020 and sarcastically analyzed what part the song plays in the feminist movement.
And when Cardi interviewed now-President Joe Biden as well as former Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders ahead of the 2020 presidential election, Shapiro brought his fellow conservative commentator Candace Owens onto his show, who claimed the tactics were "pandering" to Black American voters by appealing to their music tastes and later sparked her own political debate with Cardi. The Invasion of Privacy Grammy winner also fired back at former Republican congressional candidate DeAnna Lorraine after she made an unflattering comparison between Cardi and Melania Trump.
In her cover story last year when she was crowned Billboard's Woman of the Year, Cardi reacted to seeing her and Meg's fans sing "WAP" outside the White House the day that Biden's win was announced last fall. "So many Republicans -- not just any Republicans that got an Instagram following, but a lot of Republicans that got blue checks [on Twitter] and millions of followers, [like Ben] Shapiro, Candace Owens, Tomi Lahren -- were talking so much crap about 'WAP,'" she said at the time. "So it was just a victory for me seeing people celebrating Biden’s win with my and Megan’s song. Power of the p---y, ya heard?!"
Cardi also opened up about how she wasn't just "bullied by the republications" but also harassed by Trump supporters during an Instagram Live video, to the point where one teenage boy tried doxing her home. "They be degrading me. They be making fun of me. I ignore them. I don't give a f---," she said. "Sh-- gets so intense that a Trump supporter posted my address and encouraged people to dox my home, to put my house on fire. I literally hired a private investigator, and serve them with a warrant and arrest this boy."
London four piece Keo are on course to land their first UK Number 1 album with Put A Smile On For Me. After building a loyal audience over the past two years, the London band now lead this week’s Official Albums Chart update. Their debut record explores love, guilt, and self destruction.
Nothing But Thieves are close behind at Number 2 with their fifth album, Stray Dogs. The Southend band are hoping for a second straight Number 1 after Dead Club City reached the top in 2023. Taylor Swift is at Number 3 with The Life Of A Showgirl, helped by the expanded The Encore edition. Olivia Rodrigo’s You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In sits at Number 4, while Soft Cell’s Danceteria opens at Number 5. It is the synth pop duo’s final album together following Dave Ball’s death last year.
Europe could reach Number 9 with Come This Madness, giving the Swedish rock band its first UK Top 10 album in four decades. A 30th anniversary reissue of Alice In Chains’ MTV Unplugged is at Number 13 in the midweek update, with Orbital’s Glastonbury 1994 set at Number 14. Julia Jacklin is heading for her first Top 40 album as The Gem reaches Number 18, while Suede’s Coming Up returns at Number 23 after its 30th anniversary physical release.
Also on track for Top 40 places are Nessa Barrett’s Tough Love at Number 29, the companion soundtrack to LINKIN PARK: UNSHATTER at Number 30, and Dublin band Gurriers’ Nobody’s Coming To Save You at Number 31. Blondshell, Kneecap, Tina Turner, and Leon Bridges also appear in the lower half of the midweek chart.
The official positions will be announced when the final Albums Chart is published on Friday.
