© 2026 Boise State Public Radio
NPR in Idaho
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Stay informed when wildfire smoke impacts Idaho. Find air quality resources, smoke safety tips and more in our wildfire guide.

The Cardi B Conundrum

Cardi B attends her 3rd Annual Diamond Ball benefitting The Clara Lionel Foundation at Cipriani Wall Street on September 14, 2017 in New York City.
ANGELA WEISS/AFP/Getty Images
Cardi B attends her 3rd Annual Diamond Ball benefitting The Clara Lionel Foundation at Cipriani Wall Street on September 14, 2017 in New York City.

If you don’t know who Cardi B is, you’d better catch up quick.

The rapper’s hit single “Bodak Yellow” recently peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and made history. Cardi B is the first female hip-hop artist to top the chart since 1998. There have only been four other female rappers to do so.

Women in hip-hop have a strong legacy, but why has their success in popular music been limited of late?

GUESTS

Marjua Estevez, Senior editor, Vibe

Fredara Hadley, Visiting assistant professor of ethnomusicology, Oberlin College

Mark Anthony Neal, Professor of African and African American Studies, Duke University

Scott Heath, Assistant professor, Georgia State University

For more, visit http://the1a.org.

© 2017 WAMU 88.5 – American University Radio.

Copyright 2021 WAMU 88.5. To see more, visit WAMU 88.5.

You make stories like this possible.

The biggest portion of Boise State Public Radio's funding comes from readers like you who value fact-based journalism and trustworthy information.

Your donation today helps make our local reporting free for our entire community.