Cardi B Tears Up After Becoming First Solo Woman to Win Rap Album Grammy

By Alex Stedman

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Cardi B made history at Sunday night’s Grammy Awards — and understandably got pretty emotional.

She won the best rap album award for her debut “Invasion of Privacy,” beating out Nipsey Hussle, Pusha T, Travis Scott, and the late Mac Miller, making her the first solo woman to do so. During her speech, the rapper, taking the stage with Offset, teared up while talking about her pregnancy and daughter, who was born this past July.

“I want to thank my daughter,” she said. “I’m not just saying thank you because she’s my daughter. It’s because, you know, when I found out I was pregnant, my album was not complete, like three songs that I was for sure having. And then you know, you know how it was, we was like, we have to get this album done so I could still do videos while I’m still not showing. And it was very long nights.”

Cardi admitted she was nervous, joking when she took the stage, “The nerves are so bad. Maybe I need to start smoking weed.”

While Cardi’s the first woman to win the award for a solo act, Lauryn Hill did win best rap album as part of hip-hop group Fugees (also made up of Wyclef Jean and Pras Michel) in 1997.

Cardi is nominated for record of the year and album of the year, and also scored a nod for rap performance. She was on the Grammys stage earlier on Sunday for a rousing rendition of her single “Money.” 

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