How many number one singles does Cardi B have?
Cardi B is arguably the most successful female rapper of all time.
She has won too many awards to mention here, has been listed as one of the most influential people on Earth by Time, and has set so many commercial records since she first emerged onto the scene. Among the more impressive is the sheer number of US number one singles she’s scored. None of her contemporaries can match her grand total of five.
Her first Billboard number one single came in 2017, with the release of her breakthrough track ‘Bodak Yellow.’ It actually took a while to reach the summit, but, once it did, the track stayed there for three consecutive weeks, which was a remarkable achievement for the period. By the time the furore surrounding the song had died down, its maker had been transformed into an out-and-out superstar. She had arguably changed the music industry itself, too.
That’s certainly what Cardi herself thinks, claiming during an X Spaces session earlier this year that, if it hadn’t been for the lofty success of ‘Bodak Yellow,’ women in rap wouldn’t have gone on to become as successful as they subsequently have.
“Labels literally have told me in my face, we started signing female rappers because of the success that you have,” Cardi claimed. “Labels were being real hard around 2017 with female rappers. No matter how good you rap, no matter how good you look, no matter how good anything, because it just wasn’t being done. It took ‘Bodak Yellow’ to show labels that you could really make money with female rappers; that female rappers is the new wave.”
Cardi had certainly started something with ‘Bodak Yellow,’ and it didn’t take long for her to build on its wild success. The following year saw her score two more number one singles in America: ‘I Like It,’ in which she rapped alongside Bad Bunny and J Balvin, and, a few months later, ‘Girls Like You,’ in which she backed up Maroon 5. That one stayed at number one for a remarkable seven weeks straight.
Perhaps Cardi B’s greatest hit was 2020’s ‘WAP,’ which she made with Megan Thee Stallion. Released at the height of the pandemic, ‘WAP’ became the first female rap collaboration to, immediately upon release, reach number one in the Billboard Hot 100. That success marked Cardi’s fourth number one single, while it also gave Megan her second. The track spent four weeks at the top of the American singles chart, albeit while dropping in and out of the top spot at different points, and it reached number one in other countries, too. Amid the weirdness of lockdown, the song was a smash.
When Cardi released ‘Up’ in 2021, it went straight to number two, which actually made it the highest debut for a woman’s solo rap single since Lauren Hill put out ‘Doo Wop (That Thing)’ towards the end of the ’90s. But the chart performance of ‘Up’ actually increased with time. Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Drivers License’ had initially held ‘Up’ at bay, while releases from the likes of Drake, Anderson .Paak and Bruno Mars also prevented ‘Up’ from moving up to top spot. But after Cardi performed it at the Grammys, it finally shot to number one.
‘Up’ became her fifth, and record-breaking, number one single. That marks the best success for any female rapper ever. Cardi B may well have spawned the growth of female rap with her first number one, ‘Bodak Yellow,’ but none of her contemporaries have yet managed to catch up with her. She continues to set the pace.