Cardi B talks feeling ‘nervous, shy’ around other celebs with Mariah Carey

'We're doing this over the phone, but if it was in person, I wouldn't be able to look you in the eyes,' Cardi B told the pop diva.

Cardi B covered the latest issue of Interview Magazine and had a conversation with pop star Mariah Carey. The two women discussed all-things celebrity and navigating Hollywood relationships.

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“Oh my gosh. I’m freaking out,” Cardi B exclaimed after being greeted by Carey.

Both women, who have broken records in their individual lanes, seem to set stardom aside for a down-to-earth conversation. They begin by discussing what an average day is like for the rapper during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“During the pandemic, the average day is me waking up with a lot of ideas in my head, so I’m always calling my team, trying to make whatever I have in my head happen, or I’m wondering about a business venture so I call my lawyer. And sometimes I go on Twitter, I go to blogs, I see what’s going on in the world. I try to stay off it most of the time, because sometimes it’s such a bad vibe. I usually wake up around noon and my daughter wakes up at 3:00 p.m., so I really have no time to just work, work, work, work,” the “Bodak Yellow,” Cardi B remarked in the interview that was published Tuesday.

Rihanna's 5th Annual Diamond Ball
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 12: Cardi B attends Rihanna’s 5th Annual Diamond Ball at Cipriani Wall Street on September 12, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Steven Ferdman/Getty Images)

Cardi B also shared how although a global star herself, she is still sometimes star struck by her celebrity peers.

“You’ve settled into the whole celebrity thing. In terms of connecting with other artists, are here people you’ve met and had great relationships with? Like, they’re cool, and you became friends. And then are there situations where you’re like, “Well, I guess I could have been friends with this person if they hadn’t acted such and such a way”? I’ve noticed that in my life,” the “We Belong Together” singer remarked.

The Bronx rapper responded, “A lot of celebrities invite me to places, but I’m really shy. We’re doing this over the phone, but if it was in person, I wouldn’t be able to look you in the eyes. That’s how nervous I get around celebrities. And sometimes my head starts talking, like, “Oh my gosh, I look stupid, I feel stupid, I’m dumb.”

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The women also shared how they were perceived growing up and moments from adolescence.

“I was able to write my memoir and got to tell my story from the time when I was a little girl, and that was the most important thing to me, because nobody knew that little girl. It was only once I became a well-known recording artist that people knew me and treated me differently, but I had an interesting, dysfunctional childhood. I was wondering, did you feel beautiful as a little girl?” Carey asked.

“I know that I didn’t, for my own reasons. When you were little, did you always know, “I stand out from the crowd. Different people notice me, I feel beautiful”? Or did you feel like an outsider?”

“Well, I’m from New York, right? And New York is a melting pot, especially where I grew up in the Bronx. I’m Trini and I’m Dominican, and there’s a lot of Dominicans that look a certain type of way. They have soft, pretty, curly hair. Growing up, guys would ask me weird questions like, “If you’re Dominican, why is your hair so nappy?” I used to dye my hair,  and people used to be like, “Oh, your hair’s so crunchy.” And it would make me feel so weird,” Cardi B shared.

The Bronx rapper shared a photo from her editorial spread and called the interview one of her favorites on Instagram.

“I really loved talking to you! It felt so good to speak with someone who could feel and relate to everything I was saying! This might be one of my favorite interviews I’ve done!” she wrote in the caption.

Beyond her second album, theGrio reported the Grammy-award-winning rapper is also building her acting credits. Cardi B is set to star in her first lead role on Assisted Living. The 28-year-old will play a small-time criminal named Amber who takes on the identity as an elderly person to hide from law enforcement and her former criminal crew.

Temple Hill and Stephen Love will produce the project for Paramount, from an original script by This Is Us writer Kay Oyegun. Paramount won the rights to Assisted Living after engaging in a competitive bidding war according to the report. Cardi B has previously held a supportive role in the film Hustlers starring Jenniffer Lopez.

“Cardi just came with a lot of authenticity and history,” said Hustlers director Lorene Scafaria at the time according to theGrio. “She’s an incredibly gifted and talented person who came from a lot, and I find what she’s made of herself to be an inspiration. I’m so grateful she was in this film [and that] Cardi read the script and felt it was authentic enough to be a part of!”

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