Cardi B’s friends want nothing but the best for her amid her recent divorce filing and pregnancy announcement.
The rapper, 31, revealed on Thursday, August 1, that she’s expecting her third baby, one day after filing for divorce from Offset, 32. Cardi and her husband of six years are also parents to daughter Kulture Kiari Cephus, 6, and son Wave Set Cephus, 2½.
The two tied the knot in September 2017 and had an on-and-off again relationship throughout their marriage. Although Cardi originally filed for divorce in September 2020, she called it off nearly two months later and revealed that they were back together.
A representative for Cardi told PEOPLE that her divorce filing is “not based on cheating rumors, but rather has been a long time coming.”
A friend of the star tells PEOPLE exclusively that the divorce filing is “something that they had been discussing and talking about for a while.”
“It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, she woke up one day, some incident happened, and this was it.’ She’s been very calm about everything, and she’s focused on her kids,” they say. “She is excited about this new baby, and she’s recording, so everything with her is actually pretty good.”
The source notes that while Cardi and Offset have had issues for “at least a year or so,” the decision to split seems “amicable” and “her friends just want her to be happy.”
“We’ve seen them break up, get back together, break up, get back together, and it’s like we just want her to stick to her decision and just enjoy her f—ing life,” they say. “You’re so successful. You’ve come so far in your career, just enjoy your life.”
As for the highly anticipated follow-up album to Cardi’s Grammy-winning 2018 debut, Invasion of Privacy, the source says it’s “coming at some point this year” and that the musician has “been in the studio every night.”
“She’s finishing up recording right now. There’s no exact date, but this situation is not changing anything with music,” they say.
While announcing her pregnancy news in an Instagram post Thursday, Cardi spoke about being “grateful” for her “new beginning,” next to photos of her growing belly.
“You’ve reminded me that I never have to choose between life, love, and my passion,” Cardi wrote. “I love you so much and can not wait for you to witness what you helped me accomplish, what you pushed me to do! It’s so much easier taking life’s twists, turns and test laying down, but you, your brother and your sister have shown me why it’s worth it to push through.”
