Cardi B is back with the latest episode of her Facebook Messenger series Cardi Tries ____, in which she gets into the Olympic spirit by trying her hand at the very tricky discipline of rhythmic gymnastics. As in past episodes — where she got some help from professionals while trying to learn ballet, wig weaving, ranching, playing video games and racing cars — the latest dive into the unknown comes with an assist from a ringer: USA Rhythmic Gymnastics National Team member Nastasya Generalova.
She’s also joined by actress and child gymnast Amanda Seales (Insecure) in the 14-minute episode that finds the pregnant rapper donning a sparkly unitard and whipping it hard with a ribbon. In the limo on the way to the gym, Cardi tells Seales that she’s way into the Olympic spirit and figured that learning how to do some acrobatic moves on the mat might be a good thing for her three-year-old daughter, Kulture.
“I am not a flexible person, however everything that I can do I’m gonna make sure that my daughter do,” said Cardi, whose signature lengthy talons seem ill-suited for the handiwork involved in the artistic discipline that involves moving smoothly with the aforementioned ribbon, a ball, clubs and a hoop. “I just wanna be really flexible, because being flexible always take you a long way with everything.”
After getting a pump-up from Seales about how this is a great moment for Black female gymnasts, Cardi joked that she knew she’d be the worst in the beginners’ class. Generalova then takes the pair through their paces by demonstrating the disciplines. “I didn’t even know that, like, balls are involved,” Cardi quips. “Balls are always fun!”
Seales praised Cardi’s ability to flip the clubs around with those long nails, which also impressed the teenage girls in the class who were struggling to get it done without working around a baby bump and art talons. After whacking herself in the face a few times with the hula hoop, Cardi tried her best, but said it’s definitely not for her.
She did way better with the ribbon, though she lamented that “mines are ugly” when she looked around at the tight circles being whipped up by the girls in the class. Both were most excited to slip into their special outfits for a class-ending performance, preceded by a slow-motion walk-up and stop at the chalk stand to get their hands prepped. “It’s just gonna be super fun watching Cardi and Amanda do it together and their routine and I think it’s going to be super funny and cool,” predicted Sage, 10.
With Amanda in a black leotard bedazzled with rainbow-hued jewels and Cardi in a striped leotard, the women indeed put on a funny, cool performance, with Seales showing off some of her childhood moves and Cardi just trying to keep up before luxuriating in the flood of roses from the other students.
Check out the episode below.
