Cardi B Explained Why She’ll Never Steal Mariah Carey’s Iconic Christmas Song Spotlight
Cardi B has never been shy about her love for the holiday season. She continues to turn Christmas into a time of family, fun, and over-the-top festive flair. Every year, the rapper shares glimpses of her elaborate home decorations. And they include towering Christmas trees to themed ornaments for her children, proving that she treats the holidays as both a personal celebration and a chance to delight her fans. While fans would love for Cardi to release Christmas music, she once explained why she’d rather leave the holiday tunes to the queen of the season, Mariah Carey. Here’s what she said.
Cardi B once explained why she turned down the opportunity to record a Christmas song of her own
In 2019, Cardi B starred in “A Cardi Carol.” The holiday‑themed commercial debuted as part of Pepsi’s “Gift It Forward” Christmas campaign. In the ad, Cardi reimagines a classic yuletide narrative. It opens with an animated scene of her as a young girl in the Bronx. After being left off Santa’s gift list, she vows to one day spread holiday cheer on her own terms. Fast forward to the present, and she transforms into a larger‑than‑life figure running “Cardi’s Twerk Shop.” Pepsi cans whimsically turn into stacks of cash for gifting, reflecting the campaign’s theme of giving money to loved ones, whether they’ve been naughty or nice.
According to W Magazine, Cardi told Billboard that she had the opportunity to record a Christmas song. However, she turned it down.
“I feel like those aren’t things you should touch,” she said at the time.
“You should leave it to Mariah Carey and leave it there,” she continued. “You don’t want to mess it up. You don’t want to put a Christmas song out and it don’t do good and it ruins your spirit. Listen, I am not playing with Christmas.”
Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” has become one of the most remarkable chart-topping holiday songs. In 2025, the 1994 classic tied the record for the most weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, according to Forbes. It spent 19 nonconsecutive weeks at the top. And it matchedthe longstanding reigns of Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” and Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” Carey is the first artist to score No. 1 hits on the Hot 100 in four different decades (1990s through 2020s).
