How did Cardi B get her rap name?
A pop star, typically speaking, needs a good stage name to succeed. It needs to be catchy, simple, and look good on a poster—Cardi B seems to tick those boxes, but that particular stage name traces back to an unexpected source.
Cardi B’s birth name is Belcalis Marlenis Almanzar—a bit of a mouthful, and somewhat tricky for non-Spanish speakers to say fluidly. She was born in New York, but her dad is Dominican and her mum is Trinidadian. Her real name, then, reflects her rich Caribbean heritage.
Cardi has spoken passionately about her pride in her heritage, as during a conversation with Zendaya for CR Fashion Book in 2018. “Some people want to decide if you’re black or not, depending on your skin complexion, because they don’t understand Caribbean people or our culture,” she said. “I feel like people need to understand or get a passport and travel. I don’t got to tell you that I’m black.”
She highlighted the lessons that her dad imparted upon her, noting that he had taught her about European colonization of the Caribbean. “That’s why we all speak different languages,” she said. “I expect people to understand that just because we’re not African American, we are still black. It’s still in our culture. Just like everybody else, we came over here the same fucking way. I hate when people try to take my roots from me.”
While she was growing up, the young Belcalis was given a nickname: Bacardi. This was after the famous rum brand, itself a product of the Caribbean. Both the rum and her family heritage are rooted in that sea and its islands.
Another reason why she came to be known as Bacardi was because of her sister, whose real name is Hennessy. Hennessy is a famous cognac from France, so people were clearly having fun with the idea of referring to Belcalis by another famous alcohol brand. Hence, Bacardi, her alcohol-infused nickname.
“My sister’s name is Hennessy, so everybody used to be like ‘Bacardi’ to me,” Cardi once told The Wendy Williams Show. “Then, I shortened it to Cardi B.”
One might expect that the B stands for her real first name, Belcalis, but Cardi herself isn’t so sure. “The ‘B’ stands for whatever, depending on the day,” she said. “Beautiful or bully.”
In fact, it likely stands for any other than Belcalis, as very few people refer to her that way. As she explained, “No one calls me Belcalis except for my family, my mother, and my daddy.”