When she’s not online slamming rumors, telling fans about her latest music and other ventures, and calling out trolls, Cardi B likes using her social media platforms to speak about issues that are important to her.
During an interview with former late-night host David Letterman on his Netflix show My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, which debuts its fourth season on May 20, the “WAP” rapper said that although she doesn’t get political in her music, she “uses the f*ck out of my platform” to give her opinion on current events. “You might think that people are not looking, but they are,” she tells Letterman in a preview for the episode.
The preview starts with Letterman admiring Cardi B for using her status as a celebrity to make positive change. “I think people in your position have a strength in terms of political activism, and changing the world, and changing the way people feel and think, not only about themselves, but the problems of the world at large,” he said.
Cardi B seems to understand the influence she wields on social media. She might consider herself a “hood chick…from the Bronx,” but she knows she is always in the spotlight. “A lot of people relate to me and follow me because they want to see how I’m dressed, they want to see my lifestyle,” she said. “So, I feel like I have a responsibility to also share to them like, ‘Hey, while you here and you’re checking my outfit and checking my music, check out what’s going on over here in this part of the world.’”
In February, Cardi B weighed in on the Russia-Ukraine situation before the war began. She also took to Twitter earlier this year to speak about the mysterious death of a young Black woman in Connecticut. With 131 million followers on Instagram and another 22.5 million on Twitter, Cardi B’s reach is massive.