Since her days on “Love & Hip-Hop,” Cardi B has never been afraid to speak her mind or say something outrageous. But what she said recently while making an appearance at this year’s ESSENCE Festival of Culture over the weekend may have been a bridge too far.
If you missed it, the conversation went down during a Beautycon panel at the multi-day festival. While there, the “Outside” rapper—who was set to make her performance debut—made an appearance at a beauty and hair panel hours before her set.
During the chat, she discussed why she made her haircare line, “Grow Good,” and the importance of customer retention to her business. Essentially, she told the audience that she didn’t want customers just to try her products once; she wanted repeat customers who kept investing because the products were so good.
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To further stress her point, she then made an analogy in only the way Cardi B would, comparing her products to..erm, enjoyable sex, to put it lightly.
“Everybody would be happy to f*ck some p*ssy. But if the p*ssy ain’t good, you not gonnna want to f*ck it again,” she said. “So I see my product as good p*ssy. ‘Grow Good’ is some good p*ssy! They gotta double back, they gotta double back on the product!”
Naturally, given the shock of her comparison, once more people got wind of her words, fans were quick to hop online and express their displeasure.
“She didn’t have to go vulgar. She could’ve kept it classy and legit Cardi from start to finish,” said one user on YouTube.
Over on TikTok, user Virgosgroove0830 expressed similar feelings: “We love your realness, we love your rawness, But still there is a time and place.”
She later added, “Baby, I get where you, coming from, Lord knows I do. But the aunties, I don’t think, was ready for it.”
However, not all the aunties were turned off by Cardi’s blunt and explicit analogy.
“I’m 43 and anybody in my age group that sang Trina, Lil Kim, or Khia have zero complaints with what was said!!” said one user on TikTok, in the rapper’s defense.
“Don’t speak for all aunties. I’m 69 years old. Live in New Orleans I agree with Cardi. Remember we were young before,” one other person wrote.
One other user wrote, “I am an auntie and I approve of everything about Cardi B every since love & hip hop.”
Added another: “I’m 52 and it doesn’t bother me. I was young before.”