Cardi B dropped out of formal education to become a full-time stripper as she could not make ends meet

She was forced to drop out of college and abandon her dream of being a history teacher as she could no longer afford to support herself.

But 26-year-old New York rapper Cardi B has revealed she has not given up on her aim of going back to school — saying “it’s never too late to make your dreams come true”.

The Bronx-born artist, whose real name is Belcalis Almanzar, dropped out of formal education and became a full-time stripper as she could not make ends meet. She shot to fame after a number of her Vine posts about life as an exotic dancer went viral — which led her to become a regular on VH1 reality show Love & Hip Hop: New York in 2015.

Last year, her debut single Bodak Yellow stormed to the top of the US charts, with her first album Invasion of Privacy also debuting at number one and breaking several streaming records.

She has had three UK top 10 singles and her album peaked at number five in the UK chart. Speaking in the February issue of The Red Bulletin, the rapper said that despite her success she would not rule out going back to school.

“Maybe when I’m older I’ll have the time to go to college. Why not? It’s never too late to make your dreams come true. Sometimes it’s just a matter of juggling things to create the right atmosphere and the perfect conditions.”

The seven-time Grammy nominated star reflected on giving up her ideal career path, saying it forced her to look at life differently and take risks.

Cardi, who has a daughter — Kulture Kiari Cephus — with her rapper husband Offset, said: “I realised that shattered dreams don’t have to mean catastrophe in and of themselves; if anything, it’s the opposite. When you realise that, far from it being an obstacle, [the end of one thing can] actually be an opportunity to try something else, you begin to take risks.

“When it turned out I wasn’t going to get to [finish] college as I’d wanted, I got tied up with music instead.”