Cardi B as Playboy Bunny? Okurrr, but make it creative director in residence instead
Okurrr! Cardi B is making more money moves — Playboy Bunny-style.
The rambunctious “Bodak Yellow” and “WAP” rapper has been named the iconic magazine’s first creative director in residence, adding another title to her ever-growing résumé.
“Introducing the FIRST EVER Creative Director In Residence at the legendary @playboy, it’s ME!!!” Cardi B wrote Thursday on Instagram. “Joining the @playboy family is a dream and I know yall are going to love what we put together.”
Cardi said she’s “startin this party right” as the founding creative director and a founding member of the soon-to-launch Centerfold, the new creator-led platform from the lifestyle brand.
“I can’t believe this is real. For as long as I can remember, I’ve felt connected to Playboy,” the 29-year-old rap sensation said in an official statement from Plby Group Inc. “It’s truly the original platform for uncensored creativity and I’m inspired by its incredible legacy of fighting for personal freedoms. I have so many ideas already — I can’t wait!”
Newsstands soon could be stripped of one of the nation’s most iconic publications: Playboy magazine.
The New York-bred star’s appointment demonstrates the lifestyle company’s move into social media and influencer culture, which has paved the way for creator-led platforms such as the subscription service OnlyFans.
In March 2020, Playboy, which the late Hugh Hefner founded in 1953, announced that its spring issue would be its last quarterly edition of the year — and perhaps ever — citing content production and supply-chain issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
But the end of that era ushered in a new one Thursday.
“Cardi B is a creative genius and we are absolutely thrilled and honored to bring her immense talent and creative vision to Playboy,” said Ben Kohn, CEO of Playboy’s parent company, Plby Group, in a statement that called the rapper “the embodiment of the Playboy brand” and a “creative visionary.”
In today’s “WAP” update, Cardi B says she spent $100,000 on COVID-19 testing for the video. And country artist Margo Price gives the hit song a makeover.
The “Up” rapper’s duties are more than just nominal. They include overseeing Playboy’s artistic direction on digital editorials, experiential activations, co-branded apparel and sexual-wellness products.
Kohn praised Cardi B‘s “unapologetic commitment to free expression” and “dedication to lifting up artistic voices and her celebration of sex and body positivity” as qualities that lined up with the brand, which will collaborate with her on merchandise design, development and distribution capabilities and content production.
After calling off a divorce from Offset in November 2020, Cardi B is expecting a second child.
Centerfold, the platform expected to launch next month, will also give creators an opportunity to “interact directly with their fans, expand their communities and build their own personal content and commerce businesses” across music, fashion, art, activism and adult entertainment.
Kohn hopes that Centerfold “will revolutionize the creator economy just as Playboy magazine shook up the publishing industry nearly 70 years ago — and Cardi is the perfect shepherd into this new era.”
It’s been a big week for the rapper, who also launched her vodka-infused whipped cream called Whipshots this week. The product sold out twice almost immediately.
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