Cardi B Explains the Meaning of Face Tattoo, Unveils New One on Instagram Live

The star has love — and ink — to spare.
Cardi B attends Cardi B Hosts Fashion Night Out on September 17 2022 in New York City.
Shareif Ziyadat/Getty Images

Cardi B is sharing the stories behind her fresh new ink. After talking about getting a face tattoo in early 2021, the rapper made it official in August, but fans hadn't seen the ink outside of a sneak peek from her tattoo artist. Cardi officially shared a closer look at the face tattoo and another new piece, both inspired by her children, on a recent Instagram Live session.

As noted by Billboard, Cardi hopped on IG Live on September 10 and showed off two new tattoos: a pale red cursive "Wave" in honor of her baby son on her face and a similar script "Kulture" on her arm for her daughter. “I tatted my son’s name because I love him,” she shared. “And I tatted my daughter’s name."

The Wave tattoo is inked on Cardi's lower jawline and the light color makes it difficult to see in certain lights, but Cardi's video shows the new design up close; once she brushes her hair away from her face and angles her head towards the light, you can easily see the "Wave" on her jaw. The "Kulture" tattoo is located on Cardi's bicep. (A fan account captured pics if you're curious.)

Fans had a feeling a face tattoo was in the works for the rapper. In January, she tweeted, "Random but… I’m 1% close [to] tatting my [son's] name on my face… I really really wanna do it!" At the time, she shared that she wanted it on her jaw, so it's pretty clear that she had a vision and carried it out with the help of tattoo artist Robinson De Los Santos.

In August, the tattoo artist posted a video of himself at work on the new design but didn't share a full pic, so fans could only speculate as to what Cardi got tatted. Now we know, and the meaning behind it is so sweet.