Cardi B confronted the realities of New York City’s lease surge and issued an unfiltered apology for selling her album whereas serving to a good friend who was condo looking within the Bronx.

The Grammy-winning rapper took to livestream to vent her disbelief over the present housing market, calling out the steep costs in what she described as “the most f###### cheapest borough.” She informed viewers, “I don’t know how people are surviving. I am so sorry for asking y’all to buy my album and this is how the economy is right now, that the rent is so f###### high and crazy in the Bronx, no matter where. I am so sorry.”

Her remarks come as lease costs throughout New York City proceed to climb. According to Realtor.com, the median asking lease within the metropolis hit $3,397 within the first quarter of 2025, marking a 5.6% leap from the 12 months earlier than. Data from StreetEasy additionally confirmed a 2.1% improve from October 2023 to October 2024.

The housing crunch isn’t restricted to New York. SmartAsset reported that Newark, New Jersey, noticed the sharpest lease hike nationwide at 8.1%, adopted by Cleveland, Ohio, at 7.25% and Columbia, South Carolina, at 6.69%. The nationwide median lease now sits at $1,394, although it dipped barely by 0.4% in September 2025.

In New York state, lease stabilization insurance policies have capped will increase between 2.75% and three.20% for lease renewals from October 2023 by means of September 2024. However, these guidelines don’t apply to all flats, leaving many renters uncovered to market-driven spikes.

Cardi B, who has beforehand spoken out about economic injustice and donated $100,000 to her former middle school, didn’t maintain again in her criticism of political leaders. “I hate the fact that I know if you was to say something to the Trump administration about the cost of living right now, they’ll be like ‘Yeah, suck it up,’” she stated through the livestream.

She additionally floated concepts for reduction, together with expanded housing vouchers and simpler entry to meals help applications. Cardi identified how shortly the lease scenario has worsened. “How the f### you m############ surviving?” she requested, including, “Y’all gonna have to sell p####, dick, and balls.”

The rapper clarified that her apology wasn’t rooted in ignorance however relatively a delayed consciousness of how extreme the difficulty had grow to be. “It’s not that I don’t realize, it’s that I hadn’t been paying attention,” she stated.

Her statements come amid rising nationwide concern over housing affordability, particularly in massive cities the place lease has outpaced wage development for years.

New York City’s median lease reached $3,397 in Q1 of 2025, in keeping with Realtor.com.

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