The old song that makes Cardi B the most money
It’s safe to say that, currently, Bronx rapper Cardi B is hip-hop’s most prevalent female artist. As Nicki Minaj begins to take the backseat and enjoy the fruits of her labour, Cardi B presently reigns over the realm once controlled by Minaj.
First arising in 2014 as an Instagram personality, Cardi has slowly but surely risen to the top. Despite the odd controversy here and there, the emcee, for the most part, has been a consistent figure who seems faultless in her career choices.
Cardi B was on the famous reality TV show Love & Hip Hop: New York when she began releasing music. At first, it did not generate much money for her at all, and her primary source of income was television. While on TV, Cardi released her first two mixtapes, Gangsta B*** Music Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. Shortly after the release of Gangsta B*** Music Vol. 2 in 2017, the ‘WAP’ rhymer released what would be her breakout hit ‘Bodak Yellow’.
Although ‘Bodak Yellow’ was an extremely successful club anthem and managed to top the Billboard Hot 100, her fans and the industry more broadly were seeing whether or not the former reality star could put out a high-quality album with strong singles.
However, this is when Cardi’s career turbo-charged as one of her singles reached such heights it is still making a lot of money for her today. Although the rapper has brand deals and is involved in multiple business ventures, her 2018 single, ‘I Like It’ featuring Bad Bunny and J Balvin, is still generating massive amounts of cash for the lyricist.
Produced by J. White alongside Craig Kallman, ‘I Like It’ is a Latin trap fusion track that combines elements from both hip-hop and Salsa music, making it friendly for an international audience. Notably, he song samples the 1967 track ‘I Like It Like That’ by Tony Pabon and Pete Rodriguez.
Still, nobody was prepared for its effect because, upon its release, it debuted at number one, making Cardi B the first female rapper in history to have two solo singles debut at number one.
In 2022, Cardi unveiled the single had reached diamond status on Instagram, writing, “My album came out in 2018 and it’s still breaking records. I have a solo [diamond] record, a feature [diamond] record and now ANOTHER [diamond] record from a collab with two people that I look up to and love so much, J Balvin & Bad Bunny!”
She continued, “I remember like it was yesterday when this song went #1, and now it’s Diamond. I honestly just can’t believe this is happening! I’m so proud to have two songs off my debut album, go Diamond. I hope I can achieve the same or even better on my next one. Thank you to everyone that has supported and loved this record.”
However, Cardi also revealed that ‘I Like It’ is her most lucrative song due to its constant use in film and television worldwide and the number of times it gets streamed. Furthermore, it even catapulted her into fashion circles.
In her Instagram post, she concluded, “Fun fact: This song started my great relationship with Balenciaga and is the record that gets me the most coin since it’s requested for commercials and brands all the time.”