Cardi B has responded to criticism over her plans to trademark her “Okurrr” catchphrase.
The Bronx rapper has regularly used the sound in her music and during interviews, and once described it as being comparable to the sound “a cold pigeon” might make her in her native New York City.
Cardi’s company Washpoppin Inc. filed the trademark application on March 11, with the intention being to trademark the use of ‘Okurrr’ on merchandise like t-shirts, hoodies and “paper goods – namely paper cups and posters”. Watch Cardi speak about “Okurrr” with Jimmy Fallon in an interview below.
The rapper later took to her social media to respond to the backlash around the move. In a post, she said: “Hoes is mad because I trademark ‘Okurrr’? Let me tell you something. Every single time I go to a corporate meeting, these folks be like, ‘Oh my god, can we please hear you say ‘Okurrr’?’
“Every time I go to a TV show: ‘Hey, hey, can you teach me how to say ‘Okurrr’?’ Every time I go do a commercial: ‘Hey, can you finish it off with ‘Okurrr’? You think I ain’t gonna profit off this shit?! Bitch, white folks do it all the motherfucking time, so you gonna be mad at me cos I wanna get some motherfucking money?”
She continued to explain that she was going to “secure all the fucking bags” while she was still working. “Let me give you a secret too,” she added. “It’s 2019 bitches, there’s a lot of ways to get rich. You’ve got to get yourself some business, stop minding motherfucking others’.”
Cardi B responds to the backlash of her trademarking her famous catchphrase, “okurr” pic.twitter.com/s05WQRclmy
— BallerAlert (@balleralert) March 22, 2019
Cardi recently landed her first role in a major motion picture. Titled Hustlers, the film will see the rapper star alongside the likes of Constance Wu and Jennifer Lopez.
Inspired by a 2015 New York Magazine article, the movie will, according to Deadline, “follow a crew of savvy former strip club employees who band together to turn the tables on their Wall Street clients”. Shooting will reportedly start in New York City today (March 22).
Kendrick Lamar, Beyoncé, Drake and many more have also been featured in illustrator Fulaleo’s ‘The 2080s: Past Is The Future’ series.