Despite years of grinding, Cardi B‘s ascend to the upper echelon of the music industry has been all sorts of rapid.

Turbo-charged by 2017’s ‘Bodak Yellow’ and a string of smash hit collaborations, the 25-year-old rocketed into the hearts, ears, and minds of the masses at lightening speed.

But it hasn’t been without its drawbacks.

In a stunning feature spread for GQ‘s May issue, Cardi opens up about how her life has changed, the drawbacks of success, and the risky measures she took to enhance her look.

She also revealed that she gets shy when meeting other stars – namely Beyonce, who she says almost made her “sh*t on herself”. And yes, those are her exact words.

More from the name on everyone’s lips below…

Cardi On Pressures Of Her New Life:

“I feel like I’m not in control of my life. [If I wanted to take tomorrow off], I would have to call so many people. I would have to call the label, my management, my publicist. It’s like a partnership. I’m the artist, but I don’t feel like I have a higher position than anybody that’s working for me. If I don’t want to work tomorrow, I cannot just stop working, because then, how’s other people gonna feed their family? It is a lot of pressure.”

Cardi On Being Shy Meeting Beyonce:

“I’m too nervous. I’m too shy. When I met Beyoncé, people be like, ‘How that felt? I bet you was mad happy.’ It’s like, ‘Actually, I wanted to sh*t on myself.’ It was a very scary thing. All she was doing was like, ‘Hi. I love your music.’ And I was like (nervously) “UHHHN!”

On Getting Her Butt Enhanced…In A Basement:

“When I was 21, I did not have enough meat on body-if I was to get lipo, I wouldn’t have enough fat for my ass.” So Cardi found a woman in a basement apartment in Queens who would inject her ass with filler. “They don’t numb your ass with anything,” she explains of the process. “It was the craziest pain ever. I felt like I was gonna pass out. I felt a little dizzy. And it leaks for, like, five days.

While Cardi was happy with hers, she planned to return for a touch-up. “But by the time I was gonna go get it, the lady got locked up ’cause she’s supposedly killed somebody. Well”—Cardi clarifies with c’est la vie insouciance—”somebody died on her table.”

Cardi On Rumors Of Her Being In A Gang:

“Here’s the thing, I never really wanted to talk about that, because I always wanted a music deal. I always want to keep my endorsements.

When I was 16 years old I used to hang out with a lot of Bloods. … And they’d say ‘Yo you really get it poppin’. You should come home. You should turn Blood.’ And I did. Yes, I did.

“One thing I could say, you could ask any gang member: Being in a gang don’t make you not one dollar. And I know for a fact every gang member, he asking himself, ‘Why did I turn this?’ Sometimes it’s almost like a fraternity, a sorority. Sometimes it’s like that. And sometimes I see people that’s in the same gang kill each other. So sometimes there is no loyalty. Sometimes you gotta do certain things to get higher, to get higher and higher. You’re doing all of that and not making money off of it.

That’s why I don’t talk about it much. Because I wouldn’t want a young person, a young girl, to think it’s okay to join it. You could talk to someone considered Big Homie and they will tell you: ‘Don’t join a gang.’ The person I’m under, she would tell you, ‘Don’t join a gang.’ It’s not about violence. It’s just like-it doesn’t make your money.” [Source]

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Cardi always gives engaging talk and here was no different.

The feature arrives just days after the rapper revealed that she is pregnant with her first child.

Your thoughts?

[Photo credit: GQ]