The Inspiration of a Regular, Degular, Shmegular Girl Named Cardi B

original photo cred: Amy Lombard (NY Times)

If you’re reading this, chances are you have heard the song, “Bodak Yellow.” If you haven’t heard it, you have either literally lived under a rock for the past few months or you don’t listen to any music and live a very sheltered life. I won’t lie to you, I tried my best to not listen to it. I was somewhat familiar with who Cardi B was, and I had heard of the song but every time it came on I either changed the station or hit skip. To be completely honest, I was not even open to give the song a try. As a self-proclaimed lover of music, I have always said that I would listen to anything, but I did not want any part of Bodak Yellow. Eventually I gave it a listen, the first thing you notice is the infectious beat that anyone who has heard it recognizes as soon as the song comes on. The second thing I took note of was the lyrics which brought me to the conclusion that Cardi B could be the inspirational story of the year.

I took this blog on as a challenge to myself after a recent Facebook discussion about the song in general. A couple of people were debating about the quality of the song. I simply replied, “Pull the lyrics, the song is slick inspirational.” Shortly after that post, a lightbulb went off in my head and I decided to expand my thoughts on why I viewed Bodak Yellow as inspirational. For me, it was almost as if Cardi B decided to share her rags to riches story with us. The hook of the song refers to how she went from stripping in a club to making business decisions. There are parts of the song where she seems to brag on herself, but truth be told who wouldn’t? Name someone who didn’t take time out to brag about their come up, their former lives or near-death experiences, go ahead I’ll wait. There are a lot of comparisons she makes throughout the entire song, but I get the feeling that Cardi B wants women to empower themselves.

Say whatever you want about being a stripper, but Cardi B does not seem to be ashamed of where she started. She has been quoted as saying that she went into the business because she was poor and to get away from domestic violence. Once she became an internet sensation from her Instagram videos, she quit and focused on becoming an artist. Her status as an internet celebrity is what eventually landed her a role on Love & Hip Hop: New York and the rest as they say is history. If you can’t see an inspirational story in the rise of Cardi B, then I’m not sure what more I can tell you. Everyone must start somewhere, most of us had to work jobs that we didn’t like waiting for something better to come along. Some of us work two jobs, one where we work for someone and the other where we work for ourselves. What makes Cardi B any different than me or you? What makes her different from any other rapper in the industry?

There is a message in every song, but sometimes you must be willing to listen to find it.

Most would probably describe me as an aspiring writer, but who am I kidding? There is no such thing as being an aspiring writer, either you’re a writer or you’re not. Writing has been a passion my entire life and maybe one day I can use it to change the world. I currently reside in one of the greatest places in the south, Atlanta, Georgia. I consider myself a fan of the arts, music and anything that’s inspirational. I also consider myself an avid comic book fan; yes, Marvel is better than DC and no Batman doesn’t fly. I’m a father and husband 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and my daytime job is leading a team of HR representatives. I have written for organizations such as Sticking2Positivity, PerfectlyBlack and UmojaLife to name a few. Some of you may not remember MySpace but I used to blog there to.

To keep up with Chauncey Kelsey on social media, he can be found on Instagram.