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Everyone who’s familiar with Cardi B’s meteoric rise to fame knows she was an Instagram star before going on to become a reality TV star and smash Billboard records with the singles “Bodak Yellow” and “I Like It.”

What they didn’t know — according to the world of Lee Daniels — is the acclaimed director put her on the map to get discovered in the first place.

While speaking to Raquel Harper during an episode of TMZ’s Raq Rants, Daniels explained how it was his own Instagram account that was the radar that attracted Love & Hip Hop creator Mona Scott-Young’s attention.

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“My favorite Hip Hop artist right now, today, is Cardi B,” Daniels admitted. “She came to my Instagram. You can dig deep into my Instagram — dig deep! I was looking for somebody for Star and she came in to audition for me and I said, ‘Do you mind if I,’ — this before she got on the reality show, even before the reality show. Mona told me she hired her from [looking at] my Instagram.”

“So yeah, I think she’s my favorite right now,” he concluded adding, “I’ve seen her a little bit. I think she’s fantastic” when asked if Belcalis herself every gives him first-hand props.

The Instagram post that Daniels referenced dates back nearly three years ago so his stake in the discovery claim seems to be valid.

#justanotherincrediblemomet #castinggirlgroup #everything @iamcardib #omg ??❤️??

A post shared by Lee Daniels (@theoriginalbigdaddy) on

Thanks to the success of her recent song “I Like It,” Cardi B recently made history by becoming the first female rapper with two Billboard No. 1 hits to her name.

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