If you’re on social media then you probably know Grammy winning female rapper, Cardi B, and how she can be quite vocal about her political opinions on her different social media platforms.
Cardi B alongside other celebrities were very public about their choice to decline an offer to perform at the 2019 Super Bowl halftime show. Cardi B did this in support of former NFL player, Colin Kaepernick, who started the movement of kneeling during the national anthem to call attention to social issues, such as police brutality, racial inequality, among others. According to an article published by billboard.com, she stated, “I got to sacrifice a lot of money to perform. But there’s a man who sacrificed his job for us, so we got to stand “
Yet, did she really sacrifice a lot of money? Cardi B still performed at the Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest the Saturday night before the Super Bowl and also took part in multiple Pepsi commercials that aired that Sunday during the Super Bowl. By taking part in multiple Super Bowl festivities, Cardi B was still generating money from this NFL event. If she is truly supportive of Kaepernick, she would express that, and still choosing to take part in Super Bowl events doesn’t seem to show much support. It seems she is just saying she supports the movement but not showing it through her actions.
According to billboard.com, Cardi B believes she is not completely supporting the NFL by performing in the Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest, because she was not directly inside the Super Bowl arena. Debatable. Those events would not be taking place if the NFL wasn’t hosting the Super Bowl. The reasoning for the events being a big deal is in support of the Super Bowl happening. You don’t have to be in the arena to support the NFL, you can be in the comfort of your own home watching the game to do so.
Her true drive seems to be very clear. The title of her latest hit that is currently number 16 on the Billboard Top 100 is “Money”, after all. As she is a well-known public figure, the message she is sending to those who follow her doesn’t seem to quite add up. Does Cardi support Kaepernick? Or does she say she supports Kaepernick to get our attention to then gain publicity to generate more money? She also said, “And it’s like, well, if the NFL could benefit off from us, then I’m going to benefit off y’all. Y’all make the most money off our people. Why am I not going to take advantage of y’all and take money from y’all too?”, said Cardi B on billboard.com. We can see this idea of money and good publicity taking precedence over the importance of social issues, social issues that she hasn’t clearly stood on
It all seems a bit hypocritical to not want to take part in the Super Bowl halftime show to support social issues but to then take part in Super Bowl related events and commercials to generate money from it. A well-known public figure that millions follow, Cardi doesn’t seem to be giving her fans the right idea. Instead of focusing on social issues that are taking place in society she is focusing her efforts on the ways she can generate money. In contrast to the narrative she’s trying to claim, a “regular degular shmegular”, as she quotes herself being, don’t generate make millions.
