Ghostwriting in hip hop is a topic that essentially every artist and fan has a strong opinion about. In the wake of Lil Yachty revealing that he penned most of City Girls’ hit single, “Act Up,” countless have been weighing in.
Most recently, Cardi B took to Instagram to weigh in on the taboo subject, specifically addressing those who feel that City Girls working with an additional songwriter means their successes are less than.
“So what if he wrote it or not? The f–k?,” Bardi begins. “I bet you rap that whole f–king song with your whole motherf–king heart, b–ch!”
Elsewhere during her on-brand, expletive-laden broadcast, she touches on the industry’s double standard, insinuating that fans don’t have any trouble rapping along to songs by male artists that have been written with additional help on the down low. She also talks about how the same critics hating on City Girls for utilizing Lil Yachty’s pen game are rapping along no problem.
“I bet you use they accent though! You not using Lil Yachty accent, you using they accent! The f**k!” she continues. “Y’all be singing that song with y’all whole f–king chest. Y’all b–hes be hating.”
While it is encouraging to see Cardi B stick up for her past collaborators (her and City Girls previously joined forces on the track “Twerk”), the subject hits close to home as the Bronx native found herself being called out for her own usage of songwriters in the past.
After the release of her Grammy Award-winning album, Invasion of Privacy, she opened up on the subject in accompanying interviews, during which she addressed the situation and credited Pardison Fontaine for assisting her in the studio. To Cardi, as long as the song resonates with fans and the artist is transparent about who they are working with, the usage of ghostwriting is just part of the rap game now.
Take a look at Cardi B’s latest comments on the subject of ghostwriting in the clip below.