Cardi B says she looks up to Rihanna as she aspires to reach the same level of success as billionaire status, which Rihanna and Jay-Z have accomplished in a short frame of time.
Rihanna is becoming known as a business maestro as she sweeps the fashion industry with her Fenty brands that include lingerie, skincare, makeup and beauty, and luxury fashions, and now she’s seemingly about to enter the haircare industry – a multi-billion dollar industry due to the popularity of wigs and lace fronts and fashionable hairstyles without damaging the natural hair.
According to Cardi B, her biggest influences are Rihanna and Jay-Z, and she wants the same level of success. Speaking to Stationhead this week, she says her aspirations have transformed from the time she entered music to now as she sees the possibilities.
“When I came to the game and people used to be like, ‘who do you look up to?’ I always used to say, ‘I don’t look up to nobody,’ because I didn’t really understand the game and I only feel like I got influenced by the people that was around me,” she explained.
She added, “But now that I’m at the level that I am at, one of my biggest influences is Rihanna and Jay-Z. And I’m not saying it to kiss a*s or anything. I just feel like they’re so influential because Rihanna comes from a country, a Caribbean country, that my parents came from and she’s a whole billionaire.”
Rihanna, who was born in Barbados to a Bajan father and a Guyanese mother, was discovered in her teenage years, after which she migrated to the United States to pursue her music dreams. Over the last five years, she has been working on her business empire, which has transformed the financial ranking of the “Umbrella” artist.
Earlier this year, Forbes reported that Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty company had reached $1 billion in valuation that made her become the world’s richest female musician. Cardi B, on the other hand, is a first-generation American born to parents who are from the Dominican Republic, so the fact that Rihanna has achieved that much seems to resonate with Cardi.
“For her to make her business so big and be a billionaire, that’s what I strive to be. That’s what I want. I want to be a billion dollar woman. I want to build a huge brand,” she added.
She also associated her experiences with Jay-Z, who she says “was from the hood like me.” Cardi B grew up in the tough Bronx New York neighborhood and got her big break in reality TV after building a reputation as a stripper turned rapper.
“He’s from the hood and this man’s a whole billionaire. And that’s just all about strategy and that’s just all about shaking hands, that’s just all about putting plans together.”
Earlier this month, Jay-Z’s net worth increased from $1 billion to $1.4 billion after he sold shares in his champagne company Armand de Brignac to the luxury brand owner LVMH as well as selling his shares in Tidal to the Jack Dorsey owned Square.
Meanwhile, Cardi B has been changing her strategies as she has pivoted from music as her only source of income and has several movies coming out soon. The multi-talented Grammy-winning rapper has also appeared in many commercials as she puts her acting chops on display.
