Hip Hop News: Cardi B Had A Truly Wild Comparison For The Smoky Air Conditions In New York City This Week (2024)

For the past week, social media users have been marveling — and fretting — over photos of the New York City skyline as a haze of smoke from Canadian wildfires has rendered the air quality a murky shade of orange (and not very safe to breathe). The tableau has been compared to the aesthetic of films like Blade Runner and Dune, with one post I saw today drawing an unhinged parallel to the Wes Anderson memes that have been going around online lately.

Not to be outdone, Twitter’s reigning queen of audacious statements, Cardi B, made a truly wild comparison for the eerie scene in the NY sky. “I kid you not the sky is literally yellow today,” the “Tomorrow 2” rapper wrote. “It’s giving smoking on opps.”

Meanwhile, other New York artists have also commented on the situation in their own ways. 50 Cent, internet troll extraordinaire, cracked “I’m headed to the store, if anybody need anything just call me,” on Instagram next to a still from Blade Runner 2049 from the scene where Ryan Gosling’s K enters the irradiated ruins of Las Vegas.

Questlove of The Roots, however, found humor in the world right outside his window. He posted a photo of a Diabo IV billboard reading “welcome to hell” and noted the “divine timing,” calling it “genius marketing.” In a separate post, though, he begged his followers to start taking climate change seriously.

So far, the poor conditions haven’t prompted New York-based events to shut down yet; Governor’s Ball is set to proceed as scheduled this weekend. However, some performers on Broadway reported difficulty breathing, halting shows due to the smoke, so it’s possible that performances could be affected at the festival as well.

Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.