Everything’s coming up Cardi B! She began September victorious when she was found not liable in a frivolous $24 million lawsuit, where she also won in the court of public opinion thanks to her hilarious testimony. Then just last week she released her long-awaited sophomore album, the fabulously-titled Am I the Drama?, for which she’ll be headlining her first tour next year. Oh, and she’s pregnant with her fourth baby, the first she’ll share with boyfriend Stefon Diggs. I’m exhausted just listing all she has going on. And today there’s a new gig: NYC’s Metropolitan Transit Authority revealed this week that Cardi B, daughter of the Bronx, is the new voice of subway public service announcements. YES, Cardi is exactly the kind of energy the MTA needs!
Cardi B is set to be New Yorkers’ new commute soundtrack.
The Metropolitan Transit Authority announced on Tuesday, Sept. 23 that the rapper, 32, is set to voice new etiquette and rider safety PSAs that play in subway stations across the city. In a post on Instagram, the MTA shared a video of the Bronx native moving throughout subway stations and recording oh-so-Cardi PSAs.
“Hey New York! It’s Cardi B. I’m here at the MTA recording some PSAs you’ll be hearing in the subway stations,” the rapper, born Belcalis Almánzar, began in the video’s voice over.
The saga then cut to Cardi in front of a mic, recording short messages like, “We’re walking here!” “Steps are for stepping, not sitting!” and “Move it, bucko!”
“These trains don’t move without you, so make sure you pay that fare and keep it real. Stop subway surfing!” she concluded, adding, “Ride safe, keep it cute and keep it moving!”
Cardi’s MTA side quest comes after she took to the streets of New York to sell her album, Am I the Drama?, which dropped Sept. 19. In a clip posted on her TikTok, the creator spread her vinyls and CDs on a large blanket on the sidewalk.
“What up, y’all! We outside, we got that exclusive Cardi B new album we selling right today,” she said. “We got the vinyls, we got the CDs, we got the court edition. $9.99!”
She continued, “My label said I gotta get out in these streets and sell this album LINK IN BIO.”
The MTA has yet to announce which stations Cardi’s voice will play in, or when her PSAs will start being heard.
“These trains don’t move without you, so make sure you pay that fare and keep it real.” My fellow New Yorkers will appreciate the irony of that statement. Don’t get me wrong, when the subway works, it’s fantastic; the fastest way to get around and unlike cabs or buses, I don’t get motion sickness in them! But very frequently the trains don’t move even with us! (and our money!) When I first moved to New York and was a bright young thing full of hope and enthusiasm, the fare was $2 a ride. today we’re at $2.90, a figure that I assume was determined by the MTA out of fear of the revolution they will incite by crossing the $3 threshold. And for $2.90, you get to be delayed by a plethora of alerts, among them: “Crews are attending to a car that needed emergency cleaning.” “The line is being re-routed after a train struck a passenger.” And, my personal favorite, “We’re doing the best we can with the crews available!” Thus throwing their own subway staff under the proverbial bus.
So… when do we get to hear Cardi B delivering those announcements?
https://www.youtube.com/series?v=tuRzRJEFvHo
photos credit: CelebCandidly/ShotbyNYP/Chef/NikoTyler/Backgrid, Dutch/BauerGriffin/INSTARimages
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