Cardi B has warned aspiring stars not to "turn to drugs" to deal with fame.
The 33-year-old rapper admitted life in the public eye can be difficult, and while she's had to find ways to cope with the scrutiny she finds herself under, there are certain lines she won't cross.
She told Vogue Arabia: “You just gotta find a mechanism that works for you [to help deal with the fame].
"But whatever mechanism you decide on, just don’t turn to drugs, okay?
“I know it’s hard. I know it really is. Being famous is almost like a mental game but whatever you do, just don’t do drugs.”
The Bodak Yellow hitmaker finds some aspects of fame thrilling, but she didn't realise just how stessful her life would become and she's found it hard to "protect" herself.
She reflected: “I have proven a lot of people wrong over and over and over again. It makes me feel good that I achieved things that nobody else did.
“That’s why they say to be careful about what you wish for because you just might get it. Being a celebrity comes with a lot and sometimes I feel I didn’t apply for this.
“You can’t really protect yourself. You are never gonna be ready for this type of pressure, you know?”
Cardi - who has Kulture, eight, Wave, four, and Blossom, 23 months, with ex-husband Offset, as well as a nine-month-old son with Stefon Diggs - thinks she's a chill mom, but she's strict when it comes to her children's education.
She said: "I don’t want my kids to grow up and be like, ‘Damn, I’m not good at this, my mom should have made me do it.’ When you are younger, you don’t want to do things, and then when you’re older, you appreciate that you did them.”
The WAP hitmaker admitted she has had to make "sacrifices" for the good of her family and hopes they will understand why she has to work away from them at times.
She said: "I try my best to have my kids around me as much as possible, but sometimes I can’t be with them. Mothers have to make sacrifices.
"Lawyers also have to go out of state for some cases and that might take three weeks or a month. And they don’t make excuses. It’s sad, but we need to look at the bigger picture.
"I hope that my kids look at what I do and understand, ‘Mom was working her a** off'.
"She wasn’t clubbing, she wasn’t dating, she wasn’t partying ... Instead, she was making sacrifices for a better living, you know what I’m saying?"