Cardi B and Offset are sharing the wild side of how their marriage came to be.
Way back before welcoming their two children together, the powerhouse couple got hitched as a dare, according to Cardi. The "Up" rapper revealed in her cover story with Essence that when Offset first proposed the idea of having kids together, she made a joke about how marriage was the only way she'd let it happen.
"We were making out and he was like, ‘You're going to have my baby one day,'" Cardi told the outlet, "and I was like, ‘We ain't having no baby. You have to marry me,' and he was like, ‘Alright, let's get married.'"
The two got married in Offset's Atlanta home on September 20, 2017. Seven months after tying the knot, Cardi announced she was pregnant with her first child during her appearance on Saturday Night Live.
Although the announcement was a riveting start to a new chapter in her life, Cardi was concerned about maintaining the momentum of her career before the baby's arrival. Luckily, she had Offset—whose real name is Kiari Kendrell Cephus—to support her through the challenge.
"He kept telling me, ‘Trust me. It's going to be alright. You're huge. Everybody loves you. People are going to understand.'" Cardi shared. "And I just kept telling myself, I have to put out my album before I get big and I can't do these music videos. I can't let everybody in the industry that believes in me down."
Their baby girl, Kulture Kiari Cephus, was born in July 2018. Describing her daughter as "a breath of fresh air" in her life, Cardi recalled that "people used to be on some 'You're a fourth baby mom' s--t" prior to Kulture's birth. (Offset is also a father to Jordan Cephus, 12, Kalea Marie Cephus, 7, and Kody Cephus, 7, from previous relationships.)
"But when I had my baby, I felt like things were going to be alright, because I know the type of man that he is with his kids," she continued. "It's hard for me to explain, but I see how much he loves his kids and how passionate he is about his kids, and I love that."
Offset, who went on to welcome son Wave Set Cephus with Cardi in September 2021, first became a dad at the age of 17. Speaking to Essence, the Migos rapper shared that he was initially "scared" of fatherhood, but became more confident in his parenting skills as the family expanded.
"It's a blessing to be able to have them all together, and to have a wife who's open and treats them as if they're her kids," Offset said of his older children. "It could be an issue, but I don't have to go through that, and that's beautiful."
However, marriage wasn't always easy for the couple. Throughout the years, Cardi and Offset have broken up twice: once in late 2018—just months after welcoming Kulture—and again in 2020. Both times, the pair rekindled their romance in the months following the split.
Marriage wasn't easy for Cardi and Offset. Cardi announced their split in December 2018 five months after Kulture was born.
"I feel like our first year, even though we were in love with each other, we had a lot of lust," Cardi said. "We didn't really know each other like that, because he was doing four shows a week. I was doing four shows a week. We would see each other about three or four times a month."
Now, they're focusing on their careers as Offset prepares his second solo studio album and Cardi is in the midst of filming her Meta series, Cardi Tries. The duo have also kept details of their newborn son close to the chest—something Cardi said was a deliberate move after witnessing the online reaction to Kulture.
"We went through a lot of sad things when it comes to Kulture—terrible behavior that not even the older kids have ever been through," she said. "So many people will post mean, disgusting things, just to get a reaction from us."
They were hesitant to post Wave because, as Cardi explained, "We want to protect our feelings, because we get very, very angry and upset."
As for Kulture, Offset shared that he and Cardi are raising her to focus more on her work ethics than celebrity status.
"I've never told my daughter she's a celebrity," he said. "I want her to have the mind of a working person. I always tell my kids how hard I worked, how many years I put in to be in a position where everything is good."