Who Is Cardi B and Other Things You Missed While You Were Momming

I knew I was reaching a point of no return on my pop culture knowledge when I began to ask, “Who’s that?” about the hosts and musical guests on Saturday Night Live. Maybe the fact that I’m still watching SNL already gives away my age. Either way, it all started with a rapper named Cardi B. Apparently, she’s pretty popular right now, and I’ve never heard of her. 

I’m out of the loop, and I blame my kids. While I’ve been momming, all sorts of new and interesting things have been happening. I barely have enough time to stay current on world events, let alone keeping tabs on the latest trends in celebrities, lingo, fashion, apps, ugh. . . my 35-year-old self is tired just thinking about it all.

I don’t have regular exposure to teens and young 20-somethings, so I’m rapidly falling behind the curve on what’s trending. To be clear, my goal is not to fit in with the younger set. I’m a mom, and by definition, moms aren’t cool. If we were, we’d never need to describe ourselves as “cool moms.” The cool would be implied. And, side note: “cool” is out, anyway. We should be striving to be “dope moms.”

Either way, I’m happy to be past those unsettled, topsy-turvy stages of life. I just don’t like being so out of the loop – my personal goal is to be pop culture literate. I started with my most burning questions, given my age, location, personal background, and current life experiences, and I asked my sister-in-law’s 20-year-old sister to clue me in.

You may have totally different questions and answers, depending on who you are, where you live, and what you do, and I’d love to hear them. Comment below, so we can all learn together. If it takes a village to raise children, it takes an even bigger one to understand what the hell the younger villagers are talking about. 

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Who is Cardi B? 

She’s a female rapper whose real name is Belcalis Amanzar. She’s engaged to Offset, whose real name is Kiari Kendrell Cephus. He’s part of the rap group Migos. Cardi B first became popular for her song, “Bodax Yellow.” 

(Here’s the video. Fair warning: the f-bomb drops about 15 seconds in.)

[xyz-ihs snippet=”Cardi-B-music-video”]

What does “Bae” mean, and do people still say it?

Bae is a term of endearment. Some use it as an acronym for Before Anyone Else. Others use it as a shortened form of “babe.” It’s still used but is falling out of style.

What other slang words aren’t used anymore? 

“Fab” for “fabulous,” “tots” for “totally,” and saying “Lit” when something is amazing or when someone is drunk are all out. 

So what do you say instead?

People say “send it,” as in, “let’s go, let’s have a party/ good time.” 

What social media apps are you using? Facebook’s for old people, right? 

Young people are still using Facebook. Snapchat is huge! Same with VSCO, which is similar to Instagram, but you post more frequently and the images are artsier. Instagram is popular, but Twitter is not as widely used, although some people love it. Tinder and Hinge are popular dating apps.

(So, the short answer is All Of The Apps.)

What age do you think is old and why?

Thirty years old is old because that feels far enough away and most people have kids around then. 

Should I still be using emojis? 

Yes! The more that come out, the better. People love them for captions on Instagram. 

What text abbreviations should I know? 

sus = suspicious; brb = be right back; rt = retweet (agreeing with someone else); ily = I love you; smh = shaking my head; lol = laughing out loud; stfu = shut the f*ck up; lmk = let me know; lmao = laughing my ass off; tbh = to be honest; omg = oh my God

What are your go-to clothing brands/ stores? 

Forever 21, Free People, Lululemon, Anthropologie, Madewell, Nike, Marshalls, South Moon Under, and Nordstrom.

I’m so out of it, I don’t even know what else to ask. What else should I know?

So many boys and men – not just teens – are obsessed with the video game Fortnite.

The Kardashians are still super popular right now and so are their kids’ names. 

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All in all, there is some overlap between me and the 20-year-old crowd, and what better, mid-thirties way to show it than with a helpful Ven diagram?