Female artists in the music industry are often scrutinized for getting pregnant during the height of their career and are pressured to choose between having a family or career. After a highly anticipated pregnancy reveal, platinum-selling rapper Cardi B admitted to considering an abortion.
The “Bodak Yellow” artist sat down with Power 105.1’s “The Breakfast Club and opened up about tackling motherhood despite her skyrocketing rap career. She goes more into depth regarding the people around her being more concerned with her success declining and telling her now wouldn’t be the appropriate time to have a baby.
Cardi told Charlamagne Da God, that she “kinda sorta” considered not having the baby, but wanted to show people a different perspective of affluence and motherhood.
“It disgust me because I see a lot of women online like ‘I feel sorry for you, your career is over’,” the rapper said. “Why can’t I have both? As a woman, why do I gotta choose a career or a baby? … I want both.”
“A lot of people around me was concerned… I don’t think it can happen, it never really happens”, Cardi B. added while saying she’s prepared now to have a child.
Other female hip-hop artists like Remy Ma and Lauryn Hill experienced similar situations in their career. Ms. Hill’s song “Zion” describes how critics in the music industry suggested she get an abortion since she was at the pinnacle of her career, but she refused to and later departed from the music industry.
The “All the Way Up” artist was moved to tears by the announcement of Cardi B’s pregnancy and wrote: “I just woke up at 2:45am and saw this video; I’m crying real tears – happy tears,” she wrote. “For so many years they made us (women) feel like we had to pretend to be single, pretend to not have a real life, and put our lives on hold to ‘entertain’ the masses. Meanwhile, you feel trapped in your own body, a prisoner to your career, and so unhappy when you supposed to be having the time of your life. @IAmCardiB I am so happy you are free too.”
