
Cardi B
Photo: Paras Griffin/Getty Images
Cardi B Is The First Female Rapper To Earn Two No. 1 Hits
When we talk about the glass ceiling for women, sometimes there's those people who think, "Nah, that's not a thing anymore." Wrong. Case and point. Today Cardi B made music history as the first female rapper to ever notch two Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hits. It took until 2018 for a woman to break that record. But hey, we got here.
Off her debut studio album, Invasion Of Privacy, Cardi B's "I Like It" featuring J Balvin and Bad Bunny just hit No. 1. The track samples Pete Rodriguez' 1967 tune "I Like It Like That," and its Latin trap feel is infectious. Cardi B previously earned a No. 1 hit with the GRAMMY-nominated song "Bodak Yellow," also from her debut album. Now a two-time chart topper, the New York native has surpassed other female rappers with one No. 1 hit, including Lauryn Hill, Lil' Kim, Shawnna (as a featured artist), and Iggy Azalea.
If you think that's the only record Cardi B notched, think again. According to Billboard's calculations, she is the first artist since Macklemore & Ryan Lewis in 2013 with two Billboard Hot 100 chart toppers from their debut album. She's also the first solo artist with two Hot 100 hits since Bruno Mars in 2010 and 2011. And she's the first female solo artist this decade to earn two No. 1 hits since Lady Gaga in 2009.
NUMBER FUCKING 1 . Billboard hot 100!!!!
— iamcardib (@iamcardib) July 2, 2018
Considering the underwhelming number of female musicians who have made big chart moves in recent years, we can only hope the success of "I Like It" starts to turn things around. Because in the words of Cardi B herself: "Yeah they call me Cardi B, I run this s*** like cardio."