Cardi B Literally Left Jimmy Fallon Speechless on 'The Tonight Show'

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published 21 December 2017

Cardi B stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday and left the seasoned host speechless when she responded to a compliment on the success of her hit single, "Bodak Yellow," with a shimmy and a silly sound.

After a long, gloriously awkward pause in which he tried not to lose it with laughter, Fallon asked the rapper about her stage name (her real name is Belcalis Almanzar) and Cardi B gifted us all with her unique name's origin story.

"My name come from...You know what? My sister name is Hennessy. You know what I'm saying? My sister name is Hennessy, right? So, everybody used to call me Bacardi. So, I always call myself Bacardi, right?" she explained. "Then it was my Instagram name—like Bacardi, Bacardi B—but for some reason, my Instagram kept getting deleted; I think it was Bacardi that had something to do with it so I just shortened it to Cardi B."

Cardi was in peak Cardi B form throughout the entire interview. Perfection.

Kayleigh Roberts is a freelance writer and editor with more than 10 years of professional experience. Her byline has appeared in Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, The Atlantic, Allure, Entertainment Weekly, MTV, Bustle, Refinery29, Girls’ Life Magazine, Just Jared, and Tiger Beat, among other publications. She's a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.