Cardi B will return to the stage for the first time since giving birth during the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards.
MTV announced Wednesday that the rapper will kick off the highly-anticipated awards show with her first live performance since she welcomed daughter Kulture Kiari one month ago.
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The opening number slot comes as a sort of full circle moment for Cardi, who attended her first VMAs in 2017 as a pre-show performance. This year, she’s nominated in 10 different categories, beating out acts like Beyoncรฉ, Jay-Z and Drake, E! News reports.
Previously announced acts include Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj, Travis Scott, Post Malone, Shawn Mendes, Logic and Panic! at the Disco. Jennifer Lopez will be awarded the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, and will perform.
The Backstreet Boys, Bazzi and Bryce Vine will headline the pre-show.
After giving birth, the “I Like It rapper” made headlines after she announced she was dropping out of Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic World Tour in order to spend more time with baby Kulture, as well as giving her body more time to recover.
“As of today, I’ve decided I won’t be joining Bruno on tour this Fall,” Cardi wrote on a lengthy Instagram post. “I thought that after giving birth to my daughter that 6 weeks would be enough time for me to recover mentally and physically.”
“I also thought that I’d be able to bring her with me on tour, but I think I underestimated this whole mommy thing,” she admitted.
The “Bodak Yellow” rapper continued, “Not only am I just not ready physically, I’m not ready to leave my baby behind since the doctors explained it’s not healthy for her to be on the road.”
“I hope you guys understand that this decision has been the hardest to make but I have to do what’s best for myself and my baby! Thank you, Bruno, for being so supportive and understanding,” she added.
Cardi has not been completely off the spotlight, however, as “I Like It” is officially a contender for 2018 song of the summer, and she has teased she may have some new music coming in the fall.
Shortly after giving birth, the rapper opened up about receiving help from her family and expressed her gratitude to them in a video on Instagram.
“I’m a very blessed person. I know y’all see all the blessings that God be giving me in my life, but one thing is that I’ve been blessed since birth,” Cardi said. “I’ve been blessed since I came out of my mom’s vagina because of my parents. Those are my biggest blessings, and I’m so thankful and I’m so grateful for them.”
The 2018 MTV Video Music Awards will air live from Radio City Music Hall on Aug. 20 at 9 p.m. ET on MTV. Fans can vote for their favorite artists now at mtv.com/vma.
