American rapper Cardi B recently made headlines during her concert in Saudi Arabia after warmly greeting the audience with Asalam Waleikum and saying Mashallah, moments that quickly went viral on social media. The rapper paused her high-energy performance at the MDLBEAST Soundstorm music festival in Riyadh to acknowledge the crowd, drawing loud cheers and applause from fans, many of whom fondly nicknamed her Halal B online.
Social media was soon flooded with clips from the performance, with fans praising her for making the effort to speak the local language and engaging with the audience.
For the show, Cardi B wore a custom hot pink outfit by Gaurav Gupta, marked by the designer’s signature futuristic silhouette. The look featured a sculpted corseted bodice and fluid, armour-like detailing. Crafted and brought to life with cascading “ghungroos”, crystal embellishments and the house’s Winged Panther emblem, the piece was shaped through constant dialogue between cultures, movement, structure, concept and performance.