The Life and Career of Wave Set Cephus: The Son of Cardi B

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Wave Set Cephus is a two-year-old media personality, only known as the second child of rappers Offset and Cardi B.

Early life

Wave Set Cephus was born on 4 September 2021, in Atlanta, Georgia USA. His parents kept the pregnancy a secret until June of that year, when Cardi B shared pictures of a plaster cast of her baby bump. Shortly afterwards, she attended the BET Awards in a shiny bodysuit with a thin mesh at the front that covered her belly. However, they only revealed his name and pictures of him in April of the following year.

Around that time, the proud parents shared that he was supposed to be named Wave Marley Cephus, a play on his mother’s middle name. They ultimately settled on Offset’s suggestion for a middle name, a shortened form of his stage name. His mother named him after an ocean wave and stated that his full name would have Almánzar at the end if he were born in the Dominican Republic. Wave is of African-American descent on his father’s side, and Dominican-American, Spanish and Trinidadian-American descent through his mother.

Father

Wave’s father is Kiari Kendrell “Offset” Cephus, who was born on 14 December 1991 in Lawrenceville, Georgia. He gained renown as part of the rap group Migos, with Quavo and later Takeoff, who died on 1 November 2022. Migos released two notable mixtapes, “Juug Season” in 2011 and “No Label” in 2012, and singles “Versace” in 2013 and “Bad and Boujee” with Lil Uzi Vert in 2016. They released “Culture III,” their third and last studio album, in June 2021. Shortly before Takeoff’s death, Quavo and Offset released the album “Only Built for Infinity Links” as the hop-hop duo Unc & Phew. Takeoff’s debut solo album, “Father of 4,” was released in February 2019, and his second, “Set It Off,” was released in October 2023.

Mother

Wave’s mother is Belcalis Marlenis “Cardi B” Almánzar Cephus (née Almánzar), who was born on 11 October 1992 in the Washington Heights neighborhood of the Manhattan borough of New York City US. She is an actress and rapper, probably best known for her songs “WAP” featuring Megan Thee Stallion, “Girls Like You” featuring the Maroon 5 band, “Bodak Yellow,” and “Bartier Cardi” with rapper 21 Savage.

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Cardi B’s debut album, “Invasion of Privacy,” released on 6 April 2018, topped the Billboard 200 chart – Billboard named it the top female rap album of the 2000s, and it won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, making her the first female rap artist to win the accolade solo. “Bodak Yellow” was the first solo song by a female rapper to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the 21st century. Cardi B earned the “Reigning Queen of Hip Hop” nickname in the 2010s, and appeared in movies such as “Hustlers” as Diamond in 2019, and in “F9: The Fast Saga” as Leysa in 2021.

Siblings, other family members

Before meeting Cardi B in 2016, Offset was a father of three children. Son Jordan Cephus was born on 21 December 2009 to Justine Watson. In 2015, he became father of a daughter Kalea Marie Cephus, born on 23 March, from his relationship with rapper Shya L’Amour, and a son, Kody Cephus, born on 2 March, with his ex-girlfriend Oriel Jamie. Besides three half-siblings, Wave has an older biological sister, Kulture Kiari Cephus, born on 10 July 2018 in Atlanta.

Wave’s maternal grandparents are Carlos, a former taxi driver, and Clara Almánzar, a retired supermarket cashier. His maternal aunt, Hennessy Carolina, was born from that marriage on 22 December 1995. Wave’s mother has six half-siblings from Carlos’s first marriage: two sisters and four brothers. Not much is known besides the name of one brother, Fernando, and two sisters, Nicauly “Nicky Love” Villalona and Maciel.

Wave’s paternal great-grandmother, Sallie Diane Cephus, was born in Edgecombe County, North Carolina, US. Wave’s maternal grandparents were born in the Dominican Republic, but his grandmother lived in Trinidad. His maternal great-grandmother was born in Trinidad, while his great-grandfather was a Spanish immigrant to the island.

Career

Surprisingly, Wave is not too young to have a career; he made his acting debut four days after his second birthday. Additionally, he‘s been mentioned in the media since birth, and his siblings even longer. That’s because his parents broke up and reconciled several times during their marriage, and his parents’ fans saw his birth as an indicator that they were on the right track. Cardi B married Offset on 20 September 2017 after several months of dating. Offset proposed to her during his set with Migos at Power 99’s Powerhouse concert in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US.

According to People, the couple broke up publicly on 5 December 2018, got back together in January 2019; Offset filed for divorce in September 2020, but they made amends and halted the process by November. Cardi B forgave him for cheating, and made it clear that monogamy would be the only way forward.

Cardi B told People she received criticism for having a child with a single father, but saying that she ‘loved the pop of fun to life that the children brought to her life, and enjoyed seeing Kulture interact with her half-siblings.’

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Turning one

Two months after Wave’s name and likeness were revealed, Cardi B shared a new photo of him via Instagram, saying that he was growing too quickly for her liking. He was smiling and wore an all-blue outfit with two silver chains.

Cardi B and Offset then posted Instagram picture sets of Wave’s first birthday celebration. Priceless Event Planning brought three Lamborghini vehicles, colored red, green and blue, and sent up hundreds of balloons in various colors. The company also set up a sitting area, and staged it with colorful chairs, made a sign with Wave’s name, which had Lamborghini car toys glued to it, and created a traffic light sign with ‘Wave, Set, Go!’ printed beside it.

Perhaps the most impressive display was two large Lamborghini cars made of black, yellow, and silver balloons. Wave also received a Mercedes-Benz kiddie car with his name and a shark print from Hennessy, which he excitedly drove around the venue. Cardi B posted an Instagram picture of him in the car and wrote that ‘his name fits him perfectly because he is the wave,’ implying that he has a bright future.

Wave wasn’t the only one with that privilege; Kulture received $50,000 for her birthday that year. However, Cardi told Vogue Singapore that ‘her children shouldn’t feel comfortable getting things from her parent,’ explaining that she and Offset are teaching them to be humble, but provide many material things for birthdays because they didn’t have much growing up. Offset, while discussing his work in “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” said that they ‘spend big on their children because they are away from home and want to bring the family together and go all out to give their children an idea of what life can be.’

His mom’s tattoo

When Wave was 13-months-old, Cardi B posted new photos via Instagram, which she captioned with ‘All mine ♥’ One photo showed him in navy cargo pants and a knit quarter zip sweater, wearing a grey beanie, and staring into the distance with awe. Another showed him talking to his mom over the audio and video calling application FaceTime, making a kissy face, and sending kisses to his mom.

On 17 November, Cardi B revealed via Instagram that she had tattooed Wave’s name in red along her jawline on the left side of her face, an area usually covered by her makeup and long hair. That was unsurprising to some because she said in January ‘that she was 1% closer to tattooing her son’s name on her face.’ Additionally, her tattoo artist, Robinson De Los Santos, posted a video of himself working on the tattoo in August on social media.

Cardi B Tattoo is God Tier.🦋 pic.twitter.com/7BpQjiSk22
— 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶 𝗕🤍 (@cardi_hourly) February 24, 2022

Life in 2023

In early 2023, Cardi B called her son handsome but hyper as he refused to sleep, which was problematic because he had a runny nose and watery eyes. In early June, Offset posted a video in which Wave crawled across the floor and picked up $100 bills, which he then returned to his father. Cardi B told Extra TV around that time that she loved her routine of ‘waking up early to take her daughter to school, going back to bed until noon, then playing with Wave until Kulture’s school day ends.’ She also shared that Offset is very hands-on, and that Kulture and Wave sometimes become unruly in public places. Cardi B also noted that Kulture is a picky eater like her daughter, but Wave eats everything that she offers him.

Sadly, Offset publicly accused Cardi B of cheating shortly afterwards. According to People, he posted an Instagram Story, a temporary image, hinting at it, then sang the first verse of “I Should Have Cheated” by Keyshia Cole via the Twitter Space audio-only live stream. Cardi B replied that he was ‘spiraling and imagining shit and acting stupid.’ He later retracted his statement and said that ‘she is a New Yorker and gets crazy at the mouth like a pit bull,’ so he felt compelled to respond with something extreme. That conflict did not stop Offset from taking his three sons to the “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” premiere in May. Wave and his brothers wore similar black leather outfits and black sunglasses.

Shortly after, Cardi B revealed that she had purchased a $20,000 backyard set for Wave and Kulture. Kulture received a pink Birkin bag worth about $25,000 for her birthday. Billboard reported in August that Wave joined his father while he recorded “On the River,” the opening track to his “Set It Off” album, and was well-behaved and swayed to the music.

Page Six caught the couple celebrating Wave’s second birthday with a trip to Disneyland in Anaheim, California, US, with Kulture and a group of friends. That indicated that Wave preferred experiences while Kulture liked material things or cash. A few months before, Offset told Essence magazine that he ‘was blessed to have all his children in one place and a wife who treats them all as biological children.’ Wave then voiced the Wavey Shark character in “Baby Shark’s Big Movie!” His mother played Sharki B, while his father lent his voice to Offshark.

His parents’ likely divorce

Cardi B stated that she was planning an official wedding around the fifth marriage anniversary, which did not happen. Therefore, the couple’s fans expected it to occur in 2023, with Wave and Kulture in attendance. Additionally, she told People magazine that she was excited for her third baby when it felt suitable. Unfortunately, People magazine revealed that two attended the TikTok In The Mix event in Mesa, Arizona, US, on 10 December 2023, yet were photographed separately and seemed to avoid each other.

Cardi B live-streamed on Instagram a day later and stated that her recent social media activity and music have been full of clues. She referenced vague posts from 4 December, in which she admitted that ‘she was tired of protecting people’s feelings and wanted to put herself first and felt that she outgrew some relationships.’ Furthermore, Wave’s parents unfollowed each other on most social media shortly before.

Cardi admitted in the above livestream that she had been afraid and unsure how to tell the world for a while but sensed that the day was special. She revealed that she had ‘been single for a minute but wanted to start 2024 fresh, open, and with excitement and curiosity for a new beginning.’ She did not post pictures with Wave afterwards, but Offset did. On 13 January 2024, he uploaded images taken inside his private plane in which he held Wave, who was in pajamas and with a pacifier.