American rapper and multiple award winner Cardi B has opened up about how social media anxiety and fear contributed to her dwindling career.
Being a Black woman in the entertainment industry is an extremely difficult tightrope walk.
You have to project the image fans want, while also figuring
out a way to stay true to yourself. You have to be the “strong Black woman,”
but not too strong, or else you’ll come off as “the angry Black woman.” No
matter how hard you try to carefully balance all these expectations, someone is
always ready to tell you you’re doing it wrong.
Rap superstar Cardi B is the latest high-profile woman to
express how mentally straining it all can be.
The “Up” artist had a tough 2023, as she and her husband,
Offset, went through a very public rough patch in their marriage. Though her
singles regularly top the charts, she’s under constant pressure to put out a
new album. During an interview with Complex’s “360 with Speedy,” she explained
how the fear caused by the intense scrutiny led her to withdraw from being so
public.
“I just feel like I lost myself with everything, a lot of
music commenters and a lot of people just be like, ‘She’s afraid to drop an
album, she’s afraid to drop music,’” Cardi said. “Last year, I barely dropped
music. It’s just like I was just afraid to do everything.”
The Bronx native, who has been very open about her life in
the past, revealed that she backed away from social media because the criticism
became too much. She thought being an “open book” would help her, but it’s had
the opposite effect.
“I was afraid to go live, I was afraid to post a picture, I
was afraid to go to the club, and then the next day seeing people, what they
going to say about me, and everything,” she said.
Cardi is just the latest example of a famous Black woman
being chased out of the spotlight by the internet mob. When she lost the Oscar
in 2023, Angela Bassett was heavily criticized for showing disappointment in
the moment — as if she can’t be gracious and sad at the same time. Everyone had
an opinion on how she was supposed to handle the situation without taking into
account that behind the superstar actress there is a real person with real
feelings.
Not even being the biggest star in the world makes you
immune from impossible expectations. Every moment of Beyoncé’s life is
scrutinized, with strangers offering unsolicited opinions on her looks,
clothes, marriage and parenting. These are aspects of her life on which she
doesn’t want or need random opinions.
It’s one thing if you want to offer constructive reviews of
their art, but making things so personal to the point that they’re afraid to
live their normal lives is over the line. When you become that person who has
to comment on every little thing and is stopping others from enjoying their
life, you need to take a long look at who you are.
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