Cardi B Opened Up About Why She Took Nearly a Year Off From Making Music

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In a September 30th interview with SiriusXM, Cardi B opened up about the constant pressure female rappers feel to put out new music—specifically, new music that's an instant hit. She said that it was because of this pressure that she decided to take nearly a year off from producing music before hitting the fans with "WAP" this summer.

"At one time, I felt like I was putting out too much music," Cardi B said, alluding to the fact that the constant pressure led her to overproduce and needing to take "a little break."

That "little break" ended up a being a nine-month pause between her 2019 album Press and the release of "WAP" with Megan Thee Stallion. And those nine months gave fans and critics plenty of time to speculate about why she wasn't putting out new tracks.

"Throughout this whole time people were making rumors like, ‘Oh she’s having problems with her label,’ ‘Her label is shelving her,’ ‘Her label is tired of her and they’re getting more female talent,'" Cardi B said. "It’s like, no, they never tired of me. Labels...they want you to put music out. That’s what they love. They want you to put music out all the time, all the time."

"Female rappers, y’all, they are always in mad pressure," she continued. "If you don’t have a super crazy smash, it’s like oh, you flop, flop, flop. The song could be like two-times platinum and it’s still flop, flop, flop. You’re always under pressure, and I feel like it’s not fair."

Cardi B then called out the fact that male rappers can "go two years without putting a song," and it's like no time has passed. "They don’t go, ‘Oh, you’re irrelevant. It’s over for you,'" she said.

"Me, I didn’t put out songs for nine months and it’s like, ‘Oh, she’s irrelevant. She’s over. She’s a flop. We told you that.'"

Though Cardi B said the pressure and constant criticism was starting to get to her, she said she had to remind herself that quality is always better than quantity.

"I'm not going to let that shit get to me to the point where I'm going to put out a song that I'm not really in love with just 'cause," she said. And we're thankful she reached that decision because if we have to wait years—decades, even—for another bop like "WAP," we'll do it without any complaint.