On the red carpet for the 2018 Billboard Music Awards, Jennifer Lopez stood up for Cardi B, with whom she recently collaborated on new track "Dinero." E! host Jason Kennedy asked Lopez what it was like to work with an artist who seemingly came out of nowhere.
"What do you think about the fascination with Cardi B? I mean, she's gotten famous really really quickly over the past year and a half," Kennedy said.
But, Lopez pointed out, Cardi – a social media and reality star for several years before "Bodak Yellow" pushed her to the musical mainstream in 2017 – didn't emerge from thin air.
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"[Cardi B]'s been grinding away for a while. Things don't happen overnight. She is a hard worker and from working with her, I know that," Lopez told Kennedy. "She knows who she is and she is unabashedly herself. People love that. They love authenticity That's what I loved about her. I loved her before she started rapping. I used to follow her on Instagram and thought this girl is so real. I found out she was from the Bronx. Then, the record came along. I thought to myself, she is so perfect for this."
Below, a clip of Lopez's interview, which also features a preview of the upcoming music video for "Dinero," which features J. Lo, Cardi B, and DJ Khaled. The full video will be released on Thursday.
"I'm a lucky girl. both [artists] are on fire. I sent them the song. They both loved it.... It just came together really easily and fun. I'm so excited about it," Lopez shared.