In a new Vogue Arabia feature, the rapper gets candid about the challenge of balancing a global career with raising four children.
Cardi B has built a career around being unapologetically herself. But behind the couture, chart-topping music and global fame is a mother of four trying to figure out how to balance ambition with being present for her children.
In a new Vogue Arabia feature, the rapper opens up about the reality of raising her children while maintaining a career that regularly takes her around the world.
Cardi, whose four children range in age from 8 months to 9 years old, describes herself as a “very cool and chill mum” while acknowledging that she is strict when it comes to education. Her own experience leaving college informs how seriously she approaches her children’s schooling.
“I don’t want my kids to grow up and be like, ‘Damn, I’m not good at this, my mom should have made me do it,’” she told Vogue Arabia.
But education isn’t the only lesson Cardi hopes to give her children. She also wants them to understand the sacrifices that come with building a career.
The rapper’s schedule can mean missing time at home, something she says her children understand is part of her profession.
“I try my best to have my kids around me as much as possible, but sometimes I can’t be with them,” Cardi said. “Mothers have to make sacrifices.”
Her explanation is striking because it moves the conversation beyond the familiar idea of celebrity mothers simply having access to resources that make parenting easier. Cardi acknowledges that, despite the privileges that come with fame, there are still moments when work means being away from her children.
She compares her situation to other working mothers—and workers generally—who have demanding careers that sometimes require extended time away from home.
“Lawyers also have to go out of state for some cases and that might take three weeks or a month,” she said. “And they don’t make excuses. It’s sad, but we need to look at the bigger picture.”
For Cardi, that bigger picture is the life she is trying to build for her children.
“I hope that my kids look at what I do and understand, ‘Mom was working her a— off,’” she said. “She wasn’t clubbing, she wasn’t dating, she wasn’t partying… Instead, she was making sacrifices for a better living.”
It’s a sentiment many working mothers can recognize, celebrity or not: Sometimes providing for your children means missing moments with them. The hope is that, one day, they understand why.
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