Cardi B has appeared in a fluffy cloud of a video, part of W Magazine’s ASMR interview series. In it, the singer experiments with the expressive powers of volume control. Revelations on her biggest artistic moments and on motherhood are issued in between assured nail strokes across stalk-like microphones framing her face, snuggly rugs draped across her lap.
The clip is weird until you settle into it, and then it is great. It could well force you to take a look at a nearly omnipresent star with an entirely different framing — or fall into a Youtube ASMR hole. (Both?)
Belcalis Almanzar talks throughout the piece about her beloved ASMR practice, a nightly before-bed ritual she supposedly adheres to at the chagrin of Offset. She’s good. Certain corners of the ASMR universe are thrilled to claim her as one of their own. She talks about the song of the summer she didn’t expect to pop (“I Like It”), but also the track she was surprised didn’t rise to become her biggest hit (“Be Careful,” because “Every woman can relate to that record.”) She may be giving the interview’s topics sincere consideration, but the monologue still resembles nothing so much as her flows. It’s something about giving the ear what it wants, a whisper-soft “okurrr”.
Cardi’s revelations on her new role in life don’t come until almost the end of the clip’s 13 and a half minutes. Her motherhood whispers constitute a conspiratorial, intimate moment with all her biggest fans, . The moment has finally come when you and her can sit down and have some quality time with her and Kulture! Her care for audience recalls nothing more than children’s TV host Fred McFeely “Mr.” Rodgers. Take, for example, part of Cardi’s sign-off; ““I hope this put you to sleep/and I hope that this relaxed you/and you have a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, blessed, blessed …”
Those who find themselves smitten by celebrity ASMR should note that the W Magazine series has also featured Salma Hayek.