As Cardi B continues to rise to fame in the U.S., it’s no surprise that Dominican music legends are starting to pay attention. By now, the Dominican-Trinidadian rapper has collected multiple profiles in local newspapers, and even a potential collab with La Mayimba Fefita La Grande. The latest merengue icon to show respect for the “Bartier Cardi” rapper is Toño Rosario, former frontman of Los Hermanos Rosario and the force behind “Kulikitaka,” the world’s best gibberish merengue banger.
On Friday, February 16, Toño and Cardi met backstage on the New York stop of Romeo Santos’ Golden tour at Madison Square Garden, where Cardi made an appearance to sing “Bartier Cardi” and few of her other hits.
Cardi, visibly starstruck, grins from ear to ear, while Toño hilariously struggles to remember Belcalis’ name. “Tu tiene’ un nombre medio gringo, no?” Toño asks while introducing her to the camera. “Muy inglé,” she responds.
Toño asks Cardi to sing his hit “Dale Vieja Dale,” to which she shyly agrees. “Tengo un chin de vergüenza,” she giggles, a bit speechless. Watch the heartwarming clip below:
Cardi wasn’t the only celebrity who covered “Dale Vieja Dale” behind the scenes at Romeo’s show; Toño also tapped Romeo himself for a backstage moment.
Only time will tell if this meet-up yields a trap-merengue collab, but keep your fingers crossed. In the meantime, read more about how Cardi’s Instagram is putting her non-Latino fans onto reggaeton and trap en español, and about how she’s evolving the future of Latino pop.