Cardi B had time and a mic at this year’s ASCAP Voice of the Culture Award ceremony in Los Angeles. The Bronx-born rap juggernaut drew a line in the sand at the private event not just to thank her team but to clap back at critics questioning the integrity of her pen.
The award recognizes artists who influence the culture through their lyrics and voice and could not have come at a more poetic time. Music is a collaboration. “I hate that if you don’t write every line by yourself, that means what you have to say isn’t real,” Cardi said emphatically from the stage, her voice razor-sharp. She spoke directly to a genre that’s made ‘writing your own bars’ a make-or-break purity test.
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Cardi was making a statement. “The biggest hits, the greatest records, they come from teamwork. They come from people working together, sharing experiences, pain, joy, and energy. It isn’t about ego. It’s about impact,” she said, acknowledging the writers and creatives who had a hand in shaping her journey.
The speech spoke volumes to online critics, the same gatekeepers who, for years, have been dragging Cardi online for lacking in lyrical authorship. “So she is saying – she doesn’t write her RAPS but a collaboration/teamwork. Man, held Nah!” tweeted one user. Cardi wasn’t here to hear them out. “I write, I co-write, I rewrite. I speak to what’s true to me,” she fired back. “My pen, mind, and feelings are inside every verse and every hook.”
And she made it a point to say that honoring the craft didn’t have to mean isolation. “This award isn’t just for me but for the culture, for every writer who helps build it and makes us feel things. Let’s keep the pens push dancing,” said Cardi. “I don’t care what nobody says, like Chris Martin said, “If you don’t ever try, you’ll never know,” said 1fan, to which another concurred, “These flowers and the acknowledgment you get for your writing and talent, that’s what matters.
” ASCAP Chairman Paul Williams also had Cardi’s back, praising her fierce voice onstage and her unapologetic message in the statement as she continues to redefine what it means to be a woman in Hip-Hop. You might not like her, but Cardi’s message was loud and clear on Sunday: collaboration doesn’t negate authenticity. It fortifies it. And when she gets on the mic, Cardi B has something to say, whether you like it.
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