SAN ANTONIO – Cardi B is calling one San Antonio muralist’s work “amazing."
The rapper took to Instagram Sunday to shout out local artist Colton Valentine’s work, which was updated to reflect the state of the nation amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Valentine added a facemask and the words “CORONAVIRUS!!! S*** IS REAL!!!” to his Cardi B mural on a building near the corner of San Pedro Avenue and Cypress Street.
Now, that video has received more than 52 million views on Instagram.
On Sunday, she posted a photo of the mural on her Instagram story and said “Wow this is amazing... I appreciate the love. This makes me sooo happy.”
Valentine told KSAT that he wanted to “bring some laughs” in this time of uncertainty.
“Honestly I just thought about adding the mask the other day while working on a different mural ... but after I started planning it out, I realized it was actually a great way to spread awareness ... while also bring some laughs and joy to the city," he said. “... I know there are some people going through really tough times and are in fear.”
COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new virus, stands for coronavirus disease 2019. The disease first appeared in late 2019 in Wuhan, China, but spread around the world in early 2020, causing the World Health Organization to declare a pandemic in March.
Rebecca Salinas is the Digital Executive Producer at KSAT 12 News. A San Antonio native, Rebecca is an award-winning journalist who joined KSAT in 2019.