Of course Cardi B is helping out victims of the Bronx fire

The rapper is just the latest in a long line of philanthropic hip-hop legends.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 19: Host Cardi B attends the 2021 American Music Awards Red Carpe...
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Culture

Hip-hop is predicated on underdogs having a chance to shine, and those who have reached the mountaintop don’t forget to pay it forward. Cardi B is continuing hip-hop’s long history of giving back by offering to cover the funeral costs for the families of the victims of the deadly January 9 fire in the Bronx.

Ten days after 17 people, including 8 children, lost their lives in the Twin Parks high-rise apartment building, the Bronx-native is partnering with NYC mayor Eric Adams to offer financial relief. The west Bronx neighborhood where the tragedy occurred was home to many residents with ties to Gambia, and Cardi has agreed to pay to transport them back to their West African homeland.

“I’m extremely proud to be from the Bronx and I have lots of family and friends who live and work there still. So, when I heard about the fire and all of the victims, I knew I needed to do something to help,” Cardi B said in a statement. “I cannot begin to imagine the pain and anguish that the families of the victims are experiencing, but I hope that not having to worry about the costs associated with burying their loved ones will help as they move forward and heal. I send my prayers and condolences to everyone affected by this horrific tragedy.”

Cardi isn’t the only Bronx native looking to help. Days after the fire changed so many families’ lives, Fat Joe also partnered with the NYC Mayor Fund to launch a fundraiser to help families devastated by the Twin Parks fire. The rapper assured 100% of the donations will go to funding help for those families, including the distribution of emergency supplies. He was able to secure additional donations from hip-hop luminaries Jay-Z and DJ Khaled. Within one day, Joe raised $1 million. “No matter where I go in the world or what I achieve, I could never forget my community,” Joe told Pix 11 News. “I had to react, but I couldn’t do it on my own.”

Joe’s been in the public eye for decades, but ever since Cardi became a hip-hop sensation with the historic success of her 2017 smash single “Bodak Yellow” she’s been using her newfound fame to help. Before she helped Bronx families bury their loved ones, she donated $8,000 to the family of 15-year-old Lesandro Guzman-Feliz in June 2018. Guzman-Feliz was fatally attacked in the Bronx by five gang members over mistaken identity. In April 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic was beginning to wreak havoc in America, Cardi donated 20,000 bottles of vegan, plant-based meal replacement supplement drink OWYN to NYC hospitals so medical professionals could nourish themselves if the overwhelming burden of keeping people safe was causing them to skip meals. She also partnered with Fashion Nova to donate $1 million to families negatively impacted by the pandemic.

Hip-hop may celebrate excess and opulence, but the genre has a long history in philanthropy. In 1993, Tupac granted a terminally ill boy’s wish to meet the rapper by flying to meet him in Maryland and taking him to a basketball game. In 2000, Sean Combs hosted a fundraising event on Labor Day for New York City foster children at his palatial East Hampton, New York estate. In 2015, Kendrick Lamar was honored as the 35th Senate District's Generation Icon for the hundreds of thousands of dollars he donated to the Compton Unified School District.

No one should be shocked that Cardi B is giving back and helping out. That’s just what hip-hop does.