Former stripper Cardi B told Andy Cohen that the profession has gotten 'lazy'
In a visit with the gossip guy, rapper Cardi B held forth on strippers, Birkin bags, her go-to karaoke number and more.
Rapper Cardi B joined Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen on Monday, where the former stripper reflected on the state of her previous profession and how dancers have gotten “lazy.”
Cardi B, who is also an actress and a former reality TV star from VH1’s Love & Hip Hop: New York, touched on a variety of topics as the solo guest during her first-ever visit to Cohen’s show. And because she began her entertainment career by working as a stripper at age 19, one viewer named Katie P. emailed a question asking how much Cardi B usually tips during a night at the strip club, now that she’s famous.
“I overdo it,” she said.
Then the popular rapper decided to elaborate on the current state of stripping today.
“What I don’t like is, I feel like back then strippers, like, danced a little harder. Like now, the girls won’t even climb the poll.”
“Are they lazy?” Cohen asked.
“They’re lazy,” Cardi B said. “They’re lazy and I be spending like racks.”
For those unfamiliar, a “rack” is considered to be about $1,000 cash.
Cardi B, whose real name is Belcalis Almánzar-Cephus, has said she got into stripping to escape poverty and domestic violence and to help put herself through school at the Borough of Manhattan Community College. She has since become one of the most influential female rappers of all time, earning the most number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 with five and picking up a Grammy for Best Rap Album in 2019.
Her interview with Cohen also included a few other tidbits, like that she owns over 30 Birkin bags, and that her go-to Karaoke song is Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You,” even offering up a few notes of it.
She also said the most famous person to slide into her DMs has been tennis great Serena Williams, saying “she just gets me.”
When asked how she felt about Carole Baskin coming after her for using big cats in her music video for “WAP” Cardi B said, “I actually felt cool… she loves me.”
The rapper also admitted that she is afraid to approach some of her idols to collaborate on songs and revealed why:
“I wouldn’t want to send somebody that I would love to collab with — I think things too much — a song and then they would be like, ‘uhh that’s not my vibe,’ and then my feelings would get hurt,” she said, later adding. “I love you so much, I don’t want to hate you.”
And, as is customary when a big star stops by the WWHL clubhouse, Cardi B delivered what her opening tagline would be if she was a member of a Real Housewives cast.
“The only thing I throw harder than mics, is shade," she said.
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen airs Sunday through Thursday nights on Bravo.