The Super Bowl is not only an accomplishment for the two best NFL teams of the season to compete for the Lombardi Trophy, but a coveted position for music powerhouses to share their artistry on the world's largest stage. While it's not completely uncommon for artists to turn down the Super Bowl, it still always raises some eyebrows about why a musician would say no to this opportunity. Cardi B recently revealed that she has joined the list of artists who have said “no” to the Super Bowl.
In a conversation with Billboard, the rapper shared that when the phone call came after her Grammy win in 2018, she decided against performing. However, the “Outside” artist is not against performing in the future.
“Of course, definitely,” she said when asked if she would perform at the Super Bowl. “And I'm really glad it's… that —What year I got asked to do the Super Bowl? I'm not sure if it was 2019, 2018, and I denied. But I'm glad. I feel like soon. If I get to do it, I feel like I'm going to have more hits, and I feel like I'm going to be more experienced. And hey, I'mma eat that up.”
In 2019, Cardi previously shared that she decided to turn down the Super Bowl over the controversy involving Colin Kaepernick. The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback declined to stand for the national anthem at games and took a knee in 2016 in protest to police brutality and racial injustices against Black people in America. Since the “Take a Knee” movement, he has not played in the league since.
“My husband, he loves football. His kids play football. It’s really hard for him… He really wants to go to the Super Bowl, but he can’t go to the Super Bowl, because he’s got to stand for something,” Cardi told the AP at the time. “You have to sacrifice that. I got to sacrifice a lot of money to perform. But there’s a man who sacrificed his job for us, so we got to stand behind him.”
She added that more people should support Kaepernick and his efforts: “You guys should sympathize and you guys should understand why this man took a kneel and I feel like they should make a change.”
“You have a lot of colored people that work for you guys and make you guys a lot of money and just as a human being you should have sympathy,” she continued, “and you should take action on what’s going on in this country to minorities.”
Cardi B's new album Am I The Drama?
The rapper is gearing up for her sophomore release, Am I The Drama? which is set to drop on Sept. 19.
“I always knew that I was going to drop a second album, I just didn’t have a project well put together,” she explained to Billboard. “Success for me will be people saying, ‘She put out a great album.'”
Cardi continued, “If [at] 3 a.m. people are talking about the album, that’s going to be success for me because people can’t wait to downplay it. I even want the people who don’t like me to be like, ‘Yo. That s–t is fire.'”
So far, she has released “WAP,” “Up,” “Outside,” and “Imaginary Playerz” which is set to be on the project.
