Are you as obsessed with all things Cardi B and Offset as I am? Silly question — who isn't? These two are quickly becoming hip-hop couple royalty, and the fact that they've been through public breakups, makeups, and even cheating scandals and sex tapes only makes them more compelling. So, of course we want to know everything there is to know about them and their relationship, and we look for clues in the couples' interviews, social media, and, of course, what Cardi B and Offset’s body language reveals about them.
While Cardi has opened up in recent interviews about the current status of their relationship (much better), and their plans for the future (an Atlanta wedding!), I always want more. To find out what she's not saying, I reached out to Patti Wood, body language expert and author of Snap: Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language, and Charisma to see what more she could tell us, and folks, our this couple has been through it. I showed Wood a series of photos taken over the last year to get her take on their journey, and here's what she sees.
When you look at this photo, what is the first thing your eye is drawn to? Cardi’s beautiful glowing face, right? The same is true for Wood.
“What I love about [this] photo … is the look on her face," Wood tells Elite Daily. "She is so happy and she is looking at him with such warmth. She’s pulling herself away from him with her upper body, I think that’s to get a better look at him and try to look him in the eye.”
Wood notes that Offset appears to be low-energy. “It’s as if he’s incredibly fatigued…" she says. "The hand hold is gentle and nice but it doesn’t show that he is giving a lot of energy to her, so whatever he’s feeling, this photo is extremely subtle. But she is really happy."
In this second photo, which was taken a couple of weeks before the pair officially got engaged, Wood sees two people who are very happy to be together. She points again to Cardi’s expression.
“Look at the delight on her face, oh my gosh, she’s so taken with him," she says. "Again, she’s making the effort. See how she’s reaching her arm and hand down to him.”
In Offset, Wood sees someone more reserved and comfortable in the relationship. “His fingers are pointed down so he wants to keep the relationship a little bit more quiet and subdued than she does,” Wood says. “I do like how he is smiling in this photo and if you look at his leg placement, he’s got his legs far apart and that says 'I’m an alpha male.' Again, it’s clear from this photo that she is happy in his presence.”
This photo of the couple was taken about a month after sex tapes of Offset allegedly cheating on Cardi began surfacing — and the strain of that is beginning to show in this photo. That’s not to say Wood doesn’t see some of the love still there, though it’s more subtle in this image.
“I like in this photo that his feet — which are the most honest part of the body — are angled…towards her,” she says. But the difference in Cardi’s face in this photo is undeniable.
“She’s very sassy in this photo, that hand on the hip is strong and powerful, [but she’s] more tense and I don’t see that warm smile,” says Wood. “It’s not good, it doesn’t bode well.”
If there were hints of strain in the relationship in the last image, it’s on full display in this picture from February 2018. “If you look at her face, there’s such sadness,” says Wood. “See how she’s pulling her head away to detach slightly? This is not a happy couple.”
Well, that’s a bummer. But the good news is, things seem to be much better between the two now. As Cardi told GQ, “It was just too much playing games. He would look for me; sometimes he would take a jet to me. And it was just like, 'Let's stop playing. We really love each other. I'm scared to lose you, and you scared to lose me.'”
It's also important to note that their body language in this photo may be indicative of where they were at that current moment, but not necessarily where they were in their relationship as a whole. Maybe they had just gotten into a fight. Maybe they were tired (it was New York Fashion Week, after all) and didn't really want to be at another event. Their body language, though tense, might not mean that their relationship is strained — though it very well could. But based on recent interviews and Cardi's pregnancy announcement, it seems like hip-hop's royal couple (sorry, Bey and Jay) is happy.
All evidence points to them working through their problems and getting the relationship back on track. All of the most epic love stories have ups and downs — that’s what makes them so compelling, and what makes us root so hard for them to make it.
