Charlamagne Tha God is touting Cardi B’s sportsmanship in hip-hop and likening her to Drake and Jay-Z.
In sports, a single assist can turn the whole match around, and the hip-hop game is no different. Artists like Drake and even Jay-Z are known for hopping on emerging artists’ records and making them even bigger. According to The Breakfast Club co-host Charlamagne Tha God, Cardi B does the same for female hip-hop.
During a recent appearance on Big Loon’s It’s Up There Podcast, Charlamagne credited Cardi B for shifting the culture and normalizing O.G. female rappers featuring on up-and-coming rappers’ tracks.
“Cardi shifted that in the culture,” Charlamagne said. “Cardi made it to where you the O.G., you the person who made all the money, sold all the records, but you have no problem putting your arm around that next person.”
“Cardi did for female rap what JAY-Z and Drake did,” he continued. “Whatever that next thing was out, JAY-Z was jumping on it. Whether it was Juvenile’s ‘Ha,’ whether it was Houston, whether it was Rick Ross… DMX, JAY was jumping on it — 50 Cent.”
The Grammy-winning hip-hop sensation has collaborated with the likes of GloRilla (“Tomorrow 2”), Kay Flock (“Shake It”), and there is more to come as she recently teased a new track with another up-and-coming Chicago rapper, Fendi Da Rappa. While it was less common to see uber-successful established artists assisting emerging artists, that dynamic has become a trend in hip-hop music, and Charlamagne says that’s all thanks to Cardi B.
“Drake did the same thing,” he continued. “Drake did it with lesser-known artists. What Drake did was make the record big. What Jay did with those co-signs was make the artist big.
“When Jay jumped on ‘Dope Boys Go Crazy (Remix)’ with Jeezy, people started looking at Jeezy different. You hear him on ‘Hustlin’ (Remix),’ you start looking at [Rick] Ross a little bit different. You saw him jumped on Juvenile’ Ha,’ you think I gotta take this down south a little more serious.”
The radio host continued: “I think Cardi’s doing both. I think Cardi’s helping to make the artist big and helping to make the music big. Cardi don’t just do the verse. She do the video, she go Live with them, talk about this that muthaf**ka, tweet about em — that’s what you supposed to do.”
Cardi B fans have been introduced to a fair share of new artists through her joint tracks, and we are seeing the trend permeate female hip-hop with other artists following suit. Her next assist is slated to arrive this Friday. The track titled “Point Me 2” stars Chicago’s Fendi Da Rappa, who Cardi B tagged in her post announcing the impending single on Instagram.
In this case of whodunnit first, did Charlamagne The God get it right?
