Cardi B Responds to Payola Claims After ‘Up’ Hits No. 1

Cardi B is firing back at her critics.

On Monday, the Bronx rapper earned her fifth No. 1 single as “Up” topped the Billboard Hot 100. She extends her record for most Hot 100 No. 1s among female rappers, and is the first female rapper with two Hot 100 No. 1s with no accompanying artists.

But not everyone was happy for her success. Some critics tried to discredit her by claiming she and her label used payola, the illegal practice of bribing a radio station to boost airplay.

“It’s sad that when I win people gotta scramble with lies for my success .Like they ain’t saw everybody, people coming out Amazon trucks and ambulances dancing my shit,” said Cardi, who shared a compilation video featuring celebrities and social media personalities dancing to “Up.”

She noted that radio airplay was not the driving force behind “Up’s” success, showing a chart breaking down the song’s numbers by streaming, sales, and airplay.

“They love to run with that ‘Payola’ to make them feel better mind you I didn’t debute number 1 because of my low radio play and WAP barely made radio cause it was so explicit yet still made number 1,” she continued. “Look at the second slide look at my AirPlay ( radio) compare to other artist radio spins.WHEN YOU START WINNING THE STORIES START SPINNING!!!”

She plans to address her haters on her upcoming sophomore album. “Imma adress all the hate on my album tho wait on it !!!” she said.

“Up” becomes Cardi’s fifth Hot 100 No. 1 following “Bodak Yellow (Money Moves),” “I Like It” with Bad Bunny & J Balvin, “Girls Like You” with Maroon 5, and “WAP” with Megan Thee Stallion.

A grateful Cardi celebrated her historic achievement by thanking those who supported her. “Yoooooo shit is amazing yoooooo .I got no words .Actually I got a lot of words but I can’t type it all NUMBER 1!!!!!” she wrote.