Cardi B’s Long Beach appearance excites fans in more ways than one

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story provided an incorrect timeline for the fight.

Cardi B’s meet-and-greet event in Long Beach had a fan who flew in from Vegas, people who voluntarily waited in line for five hours and even a fight between a security guard and a drunken lady who was denied entrance outside of Fingerprints Music on Thursday. 

The event was held to promote her second album, “Am I the Drama?,” the rapper’s second album, which was released seven years after her massively successful debut album.

Cardi B fan Gerardo Torres, who followed her on Instagram even before she blew up, waited five hours in line to meet her with a custom Cardi B American flag. 

_{Cardi B superfan Gerardo Torres shows off his signed Cardi B American flag outside record store Fingerprints Music at Long Beach, California on Thursday, Sept. 25. (Paloma Maciel)}

“I just met her right now and she’s so beautiful and sweet and humble, and she signed my flag so period,” Torres said. 

Torres had kept up with Cardi B before her rise to musical fame after her debut single “Bodak Yellow” in 2017 and used to follow her on Instagram back when “she’d post really funny videos and quotable memes.” 

“I see her like a beacon of hope, like anyone can make it. She was a stripper that people looked down upon and talked smack about, now she’s an A-list celebrity, one of the biggest celebrities in the world”, said Torres. 

There were many excited fans at the event like Torres, but one fan made a purchase incorrectly, which ruined her plans for the day. 

A purchase of the new album was needed to get into the event, but this fan had a misunderstanding of how the CD needed to be bought and was denied entry after she waited in line for the day. 

The fan who was denied entry was upset enough to swing at security, and was eventually subdued and moved off the property.

The fan returned to the front of the store in her car with another attendee and began to yell at those who were still in line for the event.

_{An upset fan tries to fight a security guard outside of record store Fingerprints Music in Long Beach, California on Thursday, Sept. 25. The fan was forced to leave after a misunderstanding with the entry process, but returned. (Isaiah Ryan)}

Even though she seemed upset, other fans like Esteban Contreras went up to her car and tried to make her feel better by singing Cardi B lyrics to hype her up. 

The upset fan was not too appreciative of his gesture, got out of her car and instead punched Contreras in the face. 

“(The driver) did come by, she did try to pull me a little bit but no basically all my energy from what Miss Cardi B taught me is f— these h—,” Contreras said.

Shea, another fan who was waiting in line, didn’t like that the upset fan was causing a scene and tried to defend Contreras but got water thrown in her face by the upset fan’s passenger.

^{An upset fan that was denied entry yells outside of record store Fingerprints Music in Long Beach, California on Thursday, Sept. 25 during Cardi B’s meet-and-greet event. (Isaiah Ryan)}

^{Esteban Contreras pushes back an upset fan after being punched in the face who was denied entry outside of the record store Fingerprints Music in Long Beach, California on Thursday, Sept. 25. Contreras is a big fan of Cardi B, and attempted to cheer up the upset fan by singing Cardi B lyrics and dancing. (Isaiah Ryan)}

^{An attendee, Shea, of the Cardi B meet-and-greet is splashed with water by the passenger in the car of an upset fan who was denied entrance outside of record store Fingerprints Music in Long Beach, California on Thursday, Sept. 25. Shea did not like that the car’s driver started a commotion at the Cardi B meet-and-greet event. (Isaiah Ryan)}

^{An upset fan that was denied entry yells outside of record store Fingerprints Music in Long Beach, California on Thursday, Sept. 25 during Cardi B’s meet-and-greet event. (Isaiah Ryan)}

Contreras still continued to express nothing but adoration for the rapper, even after the altercation with other fans. 

“Miss Cardi B we love you, you little bada– B, you’re that b— every time, back and forth, up and down we love you baddie, I’m turned up at the party,” Contreras said.

A fan even flew in from Vegas for the event and spoke about her love for Cardi B. 

“She doesn’t have to be like super fancy in like her writing or her lyrics… she just basically rambles how she thinks and you know her experience and what is going on in her relationship, or you know to have fun, to be confident, to be who you are, and she’s just real and like really really relatable and so I feel like that’s another reason why a lot of people love her,” Mashu Nguyen said. 

_{Cardi B enters through the backside of the record store Fingerprints Music in Long Beach, California on Thursday, Sept. 25. (Isaiah Ryan)}

The owner of the record store, Rand Foster, shared that for the safety of everyone, they anticipated at least 800 people to attend, and had approximately 50 people helping out at the event including Cardi’s security and the store’s security. 

Fingerprints Music holds live performances, album signings, art shows, book events and listening parties. 

“We’re not a venue by any means, but we’re a record store that knows that community is important and the way you build community is by giving people things to be excited about in their neighborhood and that’s kind of what we are about,” Foster said.  

Throughout the event, fans bonded by singing loudly and passionately outside of the store to Cardi’s music that was played from speakers. 

Cardi B fan Nathan Pilataxi, described that it was “surreal” to meet one of his top artists, and that her break between albums was worth the wait.

“It took her seven years, but I think the seven year wait was worth it, during that time she lost a lot of fans but honestly it was worth it. She showed a lot of growth in her artistry during that time and she gives a little bit of everything, vulnerability, raunchiness, sexiness, you know, all of it is on that one album,” Piltaxi said.

​​LBCC student Alize Rodriguez felt that Cardi B’s visit to Long Beach was meaningful, as she believes the city is sometimes unacknowledged by bigger names.

“Yeah we’re Long Beach, but I feel like we don’t get a lot, so for an artist that big to come out here, I thought that was pretty cool… she could’ve went to LA or somewhere way bigger but the fact that she chose to come here, says a lot,” Rodriguez said.

^{An upset fan is held back by a security guard while another tells her to leave outside of record store Fingerprints Music in Long Beach, California on Thursday, Sept. 25. (Isaiah Ryan)}

^{An attendee, Shea, of the Cardi B meet-and-greet outside of record store Fingerprints Music in Long Beach, California on Thursday, Sept 25 yells at an upset fan after being splashed with water. (Isaiah Ryan)}

^{Cardi B fans dance outside of the record store Fingerprints Music in Long Beach, California on Thursday, Sept. 25. (Isaiah Ryan)}

^{Cardi B smiles and greets fans behind the record store Fingerprints Music in Long Beach, California on Thursday, Sept. 25. (Isaiah Ryan)}

^{Aquila Spry dresses to match the cover of Cardi B’s vinyls of her new album “Am I the Drama?” at Fingerprints Music store on Thursday, Sept. 25 in Long Beach, California. (Paloma Maciel)}

^{Excited Cardi B fans look up at a news helicopter overhead while waiting outside the record store Fingerprints Music in Long Beach, California on Thursday. Fans had a chance to meet-and-greet Cardi B at the event. (Jose Calix)}