Fans were excited to hear of Cardi B's collaboration with El Alfa. When "Mi Mami" finally dropped, however, some fans were left with feelings of disappointment. They had expected the duo to release a dembow track and were offered a reggaeton trap song instead. Cardi has internalized the criticism and offered her following a breakdown of their choice to hop on the current trend before introducing dembow music to the mainstream audience.
The female rapper hopped on Instagram live to discuss the matter. While she would love to offer dembow later, the decision to first serve a Latin take on trap was strategic.
“I know that when dembow goes mainstream, it’s going to change everything,” Cardi continued, arguing that the decision not to make a dembow was strategic since the genre is less visible in the mainstream Spanish-language music industry. “It’s like, ‘Ok, let’s play the game they play and make reggaeton/trap and then we’ll hit them with dembow.’ I knew that people wanted a dembow with me and El Alfa. But [we decided to make] a song that’d take off and then when people find out, that’s when we’ll give them a dembow,” she said in Spanish.
Ultimately, she is rooting for her fellow Latino artists and their unique sounds.
“Next year, I want Dominican rappers nominated at the Billboards. I want them to be nominated at the Latin Grammys. I want them to be nominated at Premios Lo Nuestro. I don’t understand why we’re not there. We work hard. Our music is amazing…I just want my people to push forward…I want us to get to the top."