Cardi B’s court-mandated community service has evolved into a lesson on doing good (while looking good).
Last September, the rapper — whose legal name is Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar Cephus — was sentenced to 15 days of community service after pleading guilty to third-degree assault and second-degree reckless endangerment. The charges stemmed from a 2018 strip club brawl incident in New York in which the artist and two others allegedly took part in throwing glass bottles, a drink, and other objects at a bartender. At the time, the Queens District Attorney’s office said that the alleged assault resulted in cuts to the bartender's legs and bruises to her feet.
Now, Cardi is carrying out her sentence and using her Twitter profile to spread the word about the importance of staying in line with the law.
In a recent tweet shared to her Twitter page, the “Tomorrow” rapper urged followers not to commit crimes.
“Community service today till 4 pm ... Just cause you famous, it don’t mean your special …OBEY THE LAW!” she captioned the post. A selfie image was included in the tweet and saw her standing before a mirror to show off her outfit, which included a varsity-style jacket and camel-toe boots outfit.
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A few days before, she shared that her brain was “burning from waking up early, community service, then studio.”
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“But I did the crime,” she finished out the post. “I only have myself to blame.”
For this, the rapper posed for another mirror selfie, this time one that saw her in a Chanel beanie hat, gray sweatpants, and, once again, camel-toe boots.
In a statement issued to NBC News soon after her sentencing in 2018, Cardi expressed a desire to hold herself responsible for poor choices made in her past.
“Part of growing up and maturing is being accountable for your actions. As a mother, it’s a practice that I am trying to instill in my children, but the example starts with me. I’ve made some bad decisions in my past that I am not afraid to face and own up to. These moments don’t define me, and they are not reflective of who I am now,” the statement said.
Beyond dressing with style, Cardi’s acts of contrition have recently seen her speak at a police mentorship program for young girls.
A Twitter post from the New York Police Department’s Police Academy shared a video of her time with the program.
While speaking to the audience of girls, Cardi urged them to “be great. Be you. You’re amazing. You’re dope yourself.”
Though the Grammy winner has yet to detail the full extent of her community service efforts, she has been vocal about the impact that it has had on her.
“Community service has been the best thing that has happened to me,” she wrote in a Feb. 25 tweet about her service. “Almost like a spiritual journey because sometimes I leave these centers in tears. Those people that we leave behind they just need somebody to talk and a lil push and YOU might be able to change their life forever.”
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
