Cardi B responds to critics accusing her of payola amid the success of her latest single, “Up.”
If we know anything about rapper Cardi B, it’s that she doesn’t hold her tongue when it comes to clapping back at her haters. No wonder critics of her latest single, “Up,” were on the receiving end of her latest diatribe. “Up” soared to number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 two days ago, becoming Cardi’s fifth Hot 100 song to date. Her first time ripping the chart was in October 2017 when her single ‘Bodak Yellow’ snagged their coveted title.
Fast forward to March 22nd and Billboard’s announcement that Cardi was once again top of the charts, seemingly which brought out the critics. In the comment section of Billboard’s Twitter page, one user said, “Sad day for descent women,” while adding crying emojis.
Another user tweeted, “So Cardi constantly discussing numbers isn’t corny?” In response, Cardi said, “Sooo plaques don’t matter no more?… Jay-Z said 21 Grammys imma savage nikka ! But I can’t talk about my achievements even tho ya was trying to count me all the beginning till the middle of 2020 Out ? NAAA EAT THIS UP with your hands baby!”
The critics still would not let up, with some even suggesting that the entertainer was not gaining streams and single sales authentically and that she was engaged in payola.
Of course, Cardi is not here for anyone trying to downplay her success. “It’s sad that when I win people gotta scramble with lies for my success,” she wrote on Twitter as she clapped back at the individual inciting that she pays for streams. “Like they ain’t saw everybody, people coming out Amazon trucks and ambulances dancing my sh*t.. They love to run with that ‘Payola’ to make them feel better. Mind you, I didn’t [debut] number 1 because of my low radio play and WAP barely made radio cause it was so explicit yet still made number 1.”
The Grammy award-winning performer further added, “WHEN YOU START WINNING THE STORIES START SPINNING.. Imma address all the hate on my album tho wait on it !!!”
In further tweets on her official Twitter, the Bronx rapper highlighted the fact that her streams began to climb after her raunchy and highly criticized Grammy performance. She also thanked her haters for helping her climb the charts. It’s safe to say that despite the hate, Cardi continues to be successful as “Up” was the Top Stream Gainer on the US Spotify chart yesterday. The song received some 44,413 streams in one 24-hour slot.
The song is also trending at number 1 on the iTunes chart and has surpassed 100 million streams on Spotify, becoming the fastest solo female rap song to secure this record achievement.
“If It’s Up Then It’s Stuck”
