1. “Life-threatening illness”
As a young child, Cardi struggled with serious health problems. “Cardi B has had really bad asthma basically all of her life.” Shawn Setaro, Associate Editor at Complex, revealed. “She was in and out of the hospital when she was a kid. Her mother was always worried that Cardi would have an asthma attack and die while she slept.”
2. Too bad to eat
When Cardi was 18, she attended the Borough of Manhattan Community College while working at the Amish Market in Tribeca to make ends meet. “Work and classes were during the day and she often didn’t have enough money to take the train and eat, so she had to go for hours without eating,” explained Setaro.
As Cardi put it, “I was fucking poor. I lived with my ex-boyfriend who hit my ass. I had to drop out of school.”
3. Secret stripping
At the age of 18, Cardi dropped out of school and was fired from her job. So she started working at the New York Dolls Gentlemen’s Club. “I cried after work. I could only imagine how embarrassed my parents would be,” revealed Cardi. “I’m so ashamed of myself, but then it’s just like, ‘I just made $ 500 today.” Cardi Original kept her job a secret and said she was a babysitting lie. When her mother found out the truth, she was so angry that she poked it.
