Cardi B has been collecting wins nonstop over the past few years. The rapper has worked long and hard to get to the top of the music charts. The fruits of her labor have been enormous. She went from stripper to reality TV star to music icon to movie star and took fans along for the ride on social media. Cardi may have scrubbed her Instagram account of her past, but those of us who have been watching her before Love & Hip Hop: New York made her a celebrity know that her transformation has been epic.
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Over the past two years alone, Cardi has made music history, performed around the world, gotten married, had a baby, and even dropped her own Fashion Nova clothing collection. The rapper is showing no signs of slowing down. She's kept her wins rolling in. Cardi scored a Las Vegas residency at the KAOS day and night club coming to the Palms Casino Resort. We are sure that is going to earn her a pretty penny, and that is only one of her new ventures! She served as a judge on the hip-hop music competition show for Netflix Rhythm + Flow, and she landed a role in the upcoming Fast & Furious 9 movie.
Cardi is getting paid! The growth of her success is most obvious when you observe how her beauty and fashion game have evolved throughout the years. Here is an in-depth look at her inspiring and epic evolution.
Baby Cardi was so adorable.
How cute is her little outfit? The frilly dress and flower headband are everything! She was born a princess.
Cardi has had major attitude and sass her whole life.
Here she is posing with her sister, Hennessy Carolina. "This is our playground now," she wrote in the caption for this photo. You didn't want to rumble with these two back in those days. Haha!
She has been laying the groundwork for her music career since high school.
Here she is doing her best rendition of Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" at a talent show. Cardi has come such a long way since those days.
Cardi dropped out of college and turned to exotic dancing to make a living.
She is proud of her strip club days and credits it with changing her life. "A lot of women here, they taught me to be more powerful," she told CBS's Sunday Morning. "I did gain a passion and love to performing. It made me feel pretty." She paid homage to her previous career in her music video for her song "Money."
While she was an exotic dancer, Cardi was also building a name for herself on social media.
The star gained an enormous following on Instagram thanks to her hilarious, unfiltered videos. People loved her because she didn't care about looking or sounding perfect. Cardi always kept it real.
That notoriety helped land her first major TV gig.
Cardi was cast on VH1's Love & Hip Hop: New York in 2015, which introduced her to a whole new audience. She was already working on music at the time, and her newfound celebrity status helped get her career off the ground.
Her glow up was real during her reality TV days.
Cardi experimented with different hairstyles and bold fashion choices on the show and in real life. Her transformation during her two seasons on the show was so impressive.
One of the biggest investments she made during that time was in her smile.
Cardi was constantly bullied about her teeth until celebrity dentist Dr. Catrise Austin got her hands on them. Dr. Austin did such an amazing job that she got a ringing endorsement from Cardi, which made her business blow up.
Cardi left 'Love & Hip Hop' to focus on her music career, and it paid off.
She dropped two mixtapes during her stint on the franchise, and by June 2017 she had signed a record deal with Atlantic Records. Her first single was the chart-topping "Bodak Yellow," and the rest was history.
The massive success of that song helped Cardi get an even bigger budget for her looks.
The fashion world also welcomed her with open arms. She took New York Fashion Week in September 2017 by storm. Here she is striking a pose with the iconic designers from the The Blonds.
The Cardi from the previous image and this one are like night and day!
Here she is backstage at The Blonds in September 2015. There is no question that her transformation has been incredible.
Her minimalist days on the red carpet are long gone.
She hit the red carpet of the 2016 VH1's Divas Holiday: Unsilent Night show in a simple black dress that showed a ton of cleavage and a whole lot of leg. Cardi still serves sexy looks, but they are so much more over the top.
Cardi stunned at the 2018 Grammy Awards.
She wore an incredible custom-made white dress by Ashi Studio. Christian Louboutin shoes and diamonds completed the sculptural look.
Then there was a surprise! Cardi was pregnant, but that didn't slow her roll at all.
Cardi was still working hard and serving looks! She proved that having a baby bump is no reason to ditch skin-tight dresses and colorful wigs.
Cardi's pregnancy style was goals.
She made jaws drop at the 2018 Met Gala. Cardi wore a dramatic bejeweled gown designed by Jeremy Scott from Moschino that we'll never forget.
Cardi announced the birth of her baby Kulture in epic fashion, of course.
The rapper looked like a total goddess in her maternity photos. "Kulture :’)… no better feeling," she captioned this post.
Cardi B's debut album was a massive hit and her music videos reflect it.
Atlantic Records definitely went all out for the video for her single "I Like It" from her Invasion of Privacy album. Miami was the perfect backdrop for the Spanglish track. The video looks so much glossier than her "Bodak Yellow" video.
Cardi snapped back in the blink of an eye.
Within weeks of giving birth, she was back onstage looking and serving looks as if she had never been pregnant.
Her epic glam squad deserves so much credit for her transformation.
They are constantly switching up her entire look so you never know what you're going to get next. Her crew knows how to keep us on the edge of our seats.
Her makeup looks alone have gotten so much more intricate.
Cardi's makeup artist Erika La Pearl has been killing it. She loves playing with color, and Cardi pulls off her looks beautifully.
This lavender feather moment was so good!
She performed at Paris Fashion Week last year in this power suit by designer Christian Cowan. The matching hair and makeup hit this look out of the park.
She can serve glam as easily as she can serve edgy street style.
Cardi slayed in this red bandana look. The piles of diamond chains around her neck are a hip-hop must-have.
Her red carpet looks are as dramatic as ever.
This floral Dolce & Gabbana gown she wore was a total masterpiece. Only a star like her could pull of such a major statement.
Cardi is a bona fide style icon, and it was only a matter of time before she dropped her own collection.
She teamed up with Fashion Nova, an online retailer that has been supporting her for years. The line was launched in November 2018, and it sold out in minutes!
Cardi has been gracing magazine covers like a total boss.
She served up old Hollywood glam for People En Español last year. They called her the star of the year in 2018 for a good reason.
Cardi now has her own clothing line with Fashion Nova.
She has become such a style icon, other people want to dress like her. Cardi is a true businesswoman, and her clothing line sold out in minutes when it launched in early 2019.
She wore this look the night she became a Grammy winner.
You don't wear an average dress when a Grammy is in your near future. The rapper wore this on the red carpet for the 2019 Grammys and went home with a trophy for best rap album for her debut Invasion of Privacy. She has come a long way!
She totally won the 2019 Met Gala.
If there were a winner for the biggest night in fashion, Cardi surely would have taken home the crown for best dressed. All eyes were on her as she walked down the pink carpet wearing the most extravagant red dress.
Cardi looked like a real-life princess.
Cardi B rose to the occasion when attending Rihanna's Diamond Ball in 2019 as a guest of honor. She wore the most luxurious soft pink gown, and it looked amazing on her. Her makeup and hair looks have gotten so much more polished through the years.
She is a favorite among the biggest names in fashion.
Cardi attended Paris Fashion Week in September 2019 and did not disappoint. She was styled and dressed by the best designers and has become a darling in the fashion world. What a change!
She has become a force in politics.
Cardi has always been outspoken regarding politics and injustices in her community. Since the start of her career, she has never been one to stay quiet and that has made her a favorite among politicians. She's even interviewed candidates like Bernie Sanders.
Cardi has become a pro on the red carpet.
Seeing her become an A-List celebrity at the biggest events in the music industry has been so mesmerizing. Cardi is now one of the last to arrive on the red carpet at events like the Grammys, and that late arrival is usually reserved for the biggest stars in attendance. One thing about her is that she is usually dressed in the best designers like, this dress from Thierry Mugler she wore to the 2020 Grammys.
Cardi's lifestyle has drastically changed.
Cardi B has always made it clear that she is a simple girl from The Bronx, New York, but her new lifestyle is far from what it used to be when she lived in the NYC borough. She now owns mansions and stays in the most gorgeous homes when she is touring and on vacation. How gorgeous is this house's backyard?
Cardi's glam squad has really improved.
From the perfectly winged eyeliner to that multicolored wig that is so well-done, to the glorious contouring, it is clear Cardi's glam squad has come a long way since her early days on Instagram.
