Her debut studio album, Invasion of Privacy (2018), debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, broke several streaming records, was certified triple platinum by the RIAA and named by Billboard the top female rap album of the 2010s. Critically acclaimed, it won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, making Cardi B the only woman to win the award as a solo artist, as well as the first female rap artist in 15 years to be nominated for Album of the Year. It spawned two number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100; "Bodak Yellow", which made her the only female rapper to achieve a Diamond-certified song by the RIAA, and the second female rapper to top the chart with a solo output following Lauryn Hill in 1998, and "I Like It", which made her the first female rapper to attain multiple number-one songs on the chart. Her Maroon 5 collaboration "Girls Like You" made her the only female rapper to top the Hot 100 three times. "WAP", the lead single of her second album, made her the only female rap artist to achieve Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping singles in two decades (2010s and 2020s). "Up", the following single, made her the only female rapper to achieve multiple Hot 100 number ones with solo songs, and extended her record as the female rapper with the most Hot 100 number-one singles as her fifth leader.
Recognized by Forbes as one of the most influential female rappers of all time, Cardi B is known for her aggressive flow and candid lyrics, which have received widespread media coverage. She is the highest-certified female rapper of all time on the RIAA's Top Artists (Digital Singles) ranking, also appearing among the ten highest-certified female artists. She is the female rapper with the most billion-streamers on Spotify, and became the first artist to top the inaugural Billboard Global 200. Her accolades include a Grammy Award, eight Billboard Music Awards, five Guinness World Records, five American Music Awards, eleven BET Hip Hop Awards and two ASCAP Songwriter of the Year awards. In 2018 Time magazine included her on their annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, and in 2020, Billboard honored her as Woman of the Year.
Selfish
Cardi B Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
So loyal to you that I betrayed myself
Well I guess I'ma wither away
You a snake and you chose to slither today
I gave my all my love and my trust but
I guess my all just wasn't enough
Yeah there's something about you I can't help it
Babe your melody is the voice I need makes me skip a beat, yeah
And baby you know it, yeah
But it's hard to show it, yeah
See the one I love used to be in clubs used to fuck with thugs, yeah
And I can't expose it yeah cause she already know it, yeah
But why don't you ask me?
Why is it so hard to fall in love?
Why don't you ask me?
Why can I never ever ever try?
Why don't you ask me?
Why everything is going in circles?
Why don't you ask me? (I guess we'll never know)
I guess we'll never know
They say the one that you truly love hurts you the most
Now the one that I truly love hurt me the most
Now the one that you truly love is hurting you the most
I guess I'll never know
Why I got so cold
It's not your fault girl
Be selfish, be selfish, be selfish (I'm so cold girl)
Be selfish, be selfish, be selfish (it's not your fault girl)
Be selfish, be selfish, be selfish (I'm so cold girl)
Be selfish, be selfish, be selfish (it's not your fault girl)
Withering away as I gaze at the sky
Looking in his face and all the pain he caused me
I ask why
Didn't I love?
Didn't I give you more than I ever gave myself?
What do you wish?
'Cause that part of me no longer exist
This time I'm first, I'm picking me
I finally learned to be selfish
In Cardi B's song "Selfish," she talks about being too loyal to someone who didn't deserve her loyalty. Cardi gave everything to her previous relationship but still got betrayed, and she's okay with the fact that she withers away as a result of it. She realized that it's okay to be selfish sometimes and do things that benefit herself more than others. The song's lyrics perfectly illustrate the emotions of a person who had given everything to someone they thought would reciprocate but got hurt instead.
Cardi is expressing her pain in the song's chorus, where she asks herself why she loves the person who hurt her the most. She's questioning asking why she can't fall in love again, and everything seems to be going in circles. Perhaps the most poignant part of the song is when Cardi says that the one she truly loved hurt her the most.
Overall, the song's lyrics are about a person who gave everything in a relationship and got betrayed. She realized that she deserved better and needed to be selfish to make things right for herself.
Line by Line Meaning
I gave you more than I give myself
I invested more in you than I did in myself
So loyal to you that I betrayed myself
I remained committed to you to the point where I compromised my own principles
Well I guess I'ma wither away
I'm losing my will to live
You a snake and you chose to slither today
You're deceitful and you're showing your true colors today
I gave my all my love and my trust but
I devoted my entire heart and trust to you but
I guess my all just wasn't enough
I suppose all that love and trust wasn't sufficient for you
Yeah there's something about you I can't help it
Despite everything, I feel an inexplicable attraction towards you
But I'ma do for myself I'm being selfish
But now, I'm prioritizing myself and looking out for my own interests
Babe your melody is the voice I need makes me skip a beat, yeah
Your voice is so captivating that it triggers my heartbeat
And baby you know it, yeah
You're aware of the effect you have on me
But it's hard to show it, yeah
It's difficult for me to express it openly
See the one I love used to be in clubs used to fuck with thugs, yeah
The person I loved used to hang out in clubs and associate with dangerous criminals
And I can't expose it yeah cause she already know it, yeah
I can't reveal this to you because she's already aware of it
But why don't you ask me?
But why don't you just ask me about it?
Why is it so hard to fall in love?
Why is it such a challenge to find true love?
Why don't you ask me?
Why don't you just ask me what's on your mind?
Why can I never ever ever try?
Why am I never able to give it my all?
Why don't you ask me?
Why don't you just ask me instead of making assumptions?
(I guess we'll never know)
(I suppose we'll never find out)
They say the one that you truly love hurts you the most
It's often the person you truly love that causes you the most pain
Now the one that I truly love hurt me the most
Now the person I love dearly is the one causing me the most anguish
Now the one that you truly love is hurting you the most
Now you're in agony because of the one you hold dearest
I guess I'll never know
I suppose I'll never have the answers
Why I got so cold
Why did I lose all warmth and affection?
It's not your fault girl
It's not your culpability, sweetheart
Be selfish, be selfish, be selfish (I'm so cold girl)
Be self-centered, be self-absorbed (I've become emotionally distant)
Be selfish, be selfish, be selfish (it's not your fault girl)
Be self-centered, be self-absorbed (it's not your responsibility, darling)
Withering away as I gaze at the sky
I'm deteriorating as I stare up at the sky
Looking in his face and all the pain he caused me
As I face him, all the hurt he inflicted upon me resurfaces
I ask why
I'm wondering why this happened
Didn't I love?
Didn't I truly love him?
Didn't I give you more than I ever gave myself?
Didn't I give him more priority than I gave myself?
What do you wish?
What are your desires?
'Cause that part of me no longer exist
Because that part of me is gone forever
This time I'm first, I'm picking me
From now on, I'm considering myself first
I finally learned to be selfish
I've finally realized the importance of being self-centered
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Belcalis Marlenis Almanzar, Josh Exantus
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Patrick Unger
I wanna know why shit like this good don't get the props it deserves.
Ms. Camille Smith
😢 0:27 I totally feel this song 💔
Chocolate Sugar
Favourite ❤