Cardi B enlisted Kanye West for new song and wishes we all knew ‘the real’ Ye
Cardi B is back with a new song, “Hot S—,” featuring Kanye West and Lil Durk. The track, which was released Friday, is her first single since 2021.
In the ostentatious, trap-beat bop, Cardi boasts about her superior rap skills and personal taste: “I’m obnoxious/ Bought a home and closin’ on another, I know I’m blessed/ Everybody wanna be gang, ain’t no spots left/ Bad b— contеst, it wouldn’t be a contest.”
The “Bodak Yellow” artist recently spoke with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe about how the song has been in the works “for a minute,” what it was like working with West and her future plans.
“This song, I think, is a little bit older than ‘WAP,’” Cardi said. “I think I recorded this song, like, around 2019, around there. Everybody always loved this record, but I always feel like this record’s so masculine. I don’t know if people want to hear that from me.”
Because of that “masculine” energy, Cardi held off on finishing the track until she could find the right rappers to commandeer the heavy beat. Lil Durk and West — now known as Ye — fit the bill, with Cardi taking particular interest in the energy that Ye brought to his performance.
“Kanye gave me this verse a couple of months ago when he was just all over the media, because of all of the things that were going on,” Cardi said. “And I like how his verse — it’s personal, but it’s not that personal.”
“All of the things that were going on” for West included his public separation from Kim Kardashian, his beefs with Pete Davidson and Trevor Noah, and his whirlwind romance with “Uncut Gems” actor Julia Fox.
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Cardi added that she wishes the public could know the “real” Ye.
“I’m so happy that he gave me this verse. And I had a lot of conversations with Kanye West,” Cardi told Lowe. “I learned so much about him, and he’s such an amazing, sweet person. I’ve been feeling like I wish a lot of people [could] have conversations with him so they could just see the real him.”
Lowe affirmed Cardi’s point by calling West a “really sweet, thoughtful, very intelligent and ambitious guy” and said, “The Kanye that we see as a persona is the Kanye people assume is the real person.”
Cardi also discussed working with Lil Durk, saying that his verse was “really street” and that she could envision Bronx kids listening to and really liking his flow.
‘I knew I needed to do something to help,’ said rapper Cardi B, who is covering funeral costs for victims of a fire in the Bronx, where she grew up.
Cardi, a Bronx native, has always taken pride in where she’s from and supported her community. In January, she covered the funeral expenses for victims of a Bronx apartment fire that killed 17 people.
The “I Like It” hit-maker also told Lowe about her future plans: “Right after this record, I have another one that is different from this record, and right after that I want to put the album together.”
And while this should be an exciting time for the often-confident rapper, she expressed some fears about releasing new music and going on the road again.
“I’ve been preparing myself for a festival, and I haven’t performed in a crowd since 2019. Just even my body, the way that I’m programmed, I’m a little bit different now. Right now I’m trying to break my shell with everything,” Cardi said. “I’m really nervous; I haven’t put out a single since “Up,” that’s almost a year and a half ago, so I’m just breaking in.”
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