Entertainment

Cardi B Thanks Taylor Swift For Sending Her Flowers In Basically The Cutest Way Possible

by S. Atkinson
Rob Kim/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

With a little smash hit known as "Bodak Yellow," Cardi B became the first female rapper to hit the number one spot on Billboard's Hot 100 chart in over three years. That would give anyone an ego the size of the meteoric heights to which the rapper has soared, right? But Cardi B thanking Taylor Swift for sending her flowers proves that, despite making modern day history, the musician is still as grounded and relatable as ever.

For those who weren't up to date on who was topping the charts, Swift previously held the number one spot with her return to pop music "Look What You Made Me Do." No matter whether or not you thought the song was a jam, this wasn't exactly unlikely, given her 103 million followers on Instagram, 85 million followers on Twitter, 74 million followers on Facebook and Swift's elaborate digital marketing to launch Reputation. But there was something kind of joyful about Cardi B, an Instagram celebrity who decided to start rapping simply because her manager suggested she try her hand at it, according to The New York Times, and who got pushed to the top of the charts on nothing more elaborate than sheer talent and charisma. There's something even more joyful about her then taking the number one spot.

And the latter resulted in Swift sending the rapper flowers. Cynics could accuse the Reputation singer of attempting to dominate the conversation, even when it's not focused on her, but the rapper's own response to the act has been unbelievably generous, with her even giving Swift's own music a shoutout.

And let's not tiptoe around what a big deal this was. Sure, Iggy Azalea was the last rapper to do it with "Fancy," but if you ask yourself when the last time a woman of color rapped her way to number one as a solo artist, according to Vulture, you've got to rewind almost 19 years to 1998, when Lauryn Hill took the crown with "Doo Wop (That Thing)."

The New York Times also stressed how huge this all was when they spoke to Trevor Anderson, a chart manager at Billboard about the former Love & Hip Hop: New York star, who said "We haven’t seen a song from someone brand new go up the charts this quick since Meghan Trainor." Anderson implied it was almost unheard of that a hit from a female rapper would go so swiftly from niche to the top of the charts, especially since that it happened "without a meme, without a dance, it makes it that much weirder."

Of course, this is all the more impressive given all the fine female rap talent that haven't scored number ones; the most obvious example is Nicki Minaj, who has never scored a number one despite regularly making it into the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100. Even "Anaconda" only made it to the number two spot.

So, it would make all sorts of sense if suddenly the rapper didn't respond in such a generous way to flowers from Swift — or if she didn't make time to respond at all, considering how busy she might be celebrating. But as you've probably already clocked from Cardi B's Instagram response to her winning the number one spot, she's as great in person as she is on the track.

The video above, posted on the day she discovered she'd hit the number one spot, really doesn't feel like it's the fruit of hours of digital strategy meetings. It's a fumbling, heartfelt response; in the words of Instagram user @krunkaholic_artistic_stylist's response of the video: "We love you because you are authentic!!!! You deserve it all!!!!!" What did the world do to deserve Cardi B? It's hard to say. But, now that she's here, she definitely deserves all the flowers the world can offer.