Cardi B is refuting claims that she used payola to boost her hit songs. On Monday (March 22), the Invasion of Privacy emcee made history as her newest single “Up” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making her the first female rapper with two Hot 100 No. 1s with no supporting artists.
While many people congratulated Cardi on her new accomplishments, others accused her of using payola — the illegal practice of bribing a radio station to increase airplay — to chart her singles. On Tuesday (March 23), the Bronx native took to Instagram to shut down her critics.
“It’s sad that when I win people gotta scramble with lies for my success,” she wrote. “Like they ain’t saw everybody — people coming out Amazon trucks and ambulances dancing [to] my shit. They love to run with that ‘Payola’ to make them feel better. Mind you, I didn’t debut number 1 because of my low radio play and ‘WAP’ barely made radio cause it was so explicit. Yet [and] still, I made number 1.”
Cardi then shared an image that showed the airplay for different songs on the Billboard charts. Songs such as “What You Know Bout Love” and “Driver’s License” got over 50 percent of their exposure from radio play, while “Up” only received 24 percent radio play.
“Look at the second slide. Look at my AirPlay (radio) compare to other artist radio spins,” she added. “WHEN YOU START WINNING THE STORIES START SPINNING!!! Imma address all the hate on my album tho. Wait on it!!!”
Aside from the hate, “Up” has become Cardi’s fifth career No. 1 hit, joining “Bodak Yellow,” “I Like It,” “Girls Like You” and “WAP.” She has extended her record as the female rapper with the most Hot 100 No. 1s.
Check out her post below.