Carlos Alman is a Dominican-American former taxi driver best known as the father of rapper Cardi B. Born on March 19, 1958, in the Dominican Republic, he later moved to New York City and worked hard to support his family.
His life became more widely known after Cardi B achieved international success in music. Carlos also raised Hennessy Carolina and helped his children stay connected with their Dominican and Caribbean family roots.
Beyond his famous family connection, Carlos has lived a quiet life. His story covers his early background, career, marriage, children, fatherhood, cultural influence, and retirement in New York City.
Who Is Carlos Alman?
Carlos Alman, whose full name is Carlos Almanzar, was born on March 19, 1958, in the Dominican Republic. He later moved to the United States and established his home in New York City. His working life was centered largely around supporting his family rather than seeking recognition.
He spent years working as a taxi driver in New York. The demanding job required patience, long working hours, and knowledge of the city. His income helped him provide for his household while raising his children.
Carlos later became widely recognized because Cardi B achieved international success. However, he remained largely outside celebrity life himself.
Early Years and Dominican Roots
Carlos spent his early years in the Dominican Republic, where family and cultural traditions were an important part of his upbringing. His mother was Esperanza Almanzar. Growing up in a Dominican environment introduced him to traditions and values that he later carried into his own family life.
Family unity, respect, responsibility, and hard work became important themes throughout his adult years. His background also helped him maintain a strong connection with his homeland after relocating abroad.
Those Dominican roots eventually became part of his daughters’ identities. The family continued celebrating its Caribbean heritage while building a new life in America.
Age, Appearance and Personal Details
Born on March 19, 1958, Carlos Alman is 68 years old as of 2026. His zodiac sign is Pisces. He is described as approximately 5 feet 11 inches tall, equal to around 180 centimeters, with a weight of about 65 kilograms.
Carlos has black hair and dark brown eyes. His appearance reflects his Dominican background, while his lifestyle has generally remained simple compared with the highly visible world surrounding his famous daughter.
He speaks Spanish and English. These languages reflect both sides of his life: his Dominican origins and the many years he has spent living in New York City.
Starting a New Life in New York
Carlos moved from the Dominican Republic to the United States during the early 1990s. New York became his new home, with the Bronx providing a multicultural environment that included a large Caribbean and Dominican community. Moving offered new opportunities but also brought major changes.
Adjusting meant learning to navigate a different culture and demanding economic environment. Carlos focused on working and creating stability for his growing family. His new life required persistence and a willingness to handle difficult responsibilities.
Over time, New York became closely connected with his family story. His daughters grew up there and developed their identities within its diverse communities.
Career as a New York Taxi Driver
Carlos worked as a taxi driver after establishing himself in New York City. Driving professionally in such a busy city required long hours and considerable patience. He traveled through crowded streets while earning the money needed to meet everyday family expenses.
The occupation was modest compared with the entertainment career Cardi B later developed. Still, it represented an important source of stability during her childhood. Carlos continued working instead of pursuing fame or a glamorous public lifestyle.
His career also demonstrated the value he placed on responsibility. The years spent driving helped provide his children with support while they were growing up.
Marriage to Clara Mercedes Almanzar
Carlos married Clara Mercedes Almanzar in 1991. Clara has Trinidadian and Spanish roots, while Carlos came from a Dominican background. Their marriage therefore brought different Caribbean cultural influences together inside the same household. They eventually became parents to Cardi B and Hennessy Carolina.
Their daughters grew up experiencing both sides of their family heritage. Food, language, family customs, and Caribbean traditions contributed to the environment around them. Both parents also worked to support their household.
The marriage eventually ended in divorce in 2005. Their shared role as parents, however, remained an important connection following their separation.
Fatherhood and His Eight Children
Carlos Alman is the father of eight children. His best-known daughters are Belcalis Marlenis Almanzar, professionally known as Cardi B, and Hennessy Carolina. He also has children from an earlier relationship, making the Almanzar family considerably larger than many people realize.
Among his other children are Maciel Almanzar, Nicauly Villalona, and Fernando Almanzar. These family members have generally maintained much quieter lifestyles than Cardi B and have not built similarly public entertainment careers. Three additional children are also included in his family.
Despite their different paths, family remains one of the central themes associated with Carlos’s life and personal story.
Raising Cardi B and Hennessy Carolina
Carlos and Clara raised Cardi B and Hennessy Carolina in New York. Their household combined Dominican and Trinidadian influences while also exposing the sisters to the everyday realities of life in the Bronx. Their parents worked hard to maintain stability and provide for them.
Carlos’s taxi work often required long hours away from home. Still, his working life offered his daughters a direct example of persistence, responsibility, and earning a living through steady effort. These experiences became part of their upbringing.
Both sisters eventually entered public life. Cardi pursued music, while Hennessy developed her own presence in entertainment and social media.
Relationship With Cardi B
Carlos shares an important father-daughter connection with Cardi B. Before she became an internationally known rapper, she grew up watching her parents work and deal with ordinary financial responsibilities. Her father’s years of driving a taxi formed part of that childhood experience.
As Cardi’s popularity increased, Carlos did not follow her into celebrity culture. He continued preferring a quieter life, away from regular interviews and public appearances. Cardi has also shown concern about maintaining her father’s privacy.
Their relationship demonstrates the difference between public success and private family life. Carlos remains connected to her story without trying to become a celebrity himself.
Divorce and Family Support
Carlos and Clara’s marriage came to an end in 2005. Their divorce changed the structure of the family, but both continued to have important places in their daughters’ lives. Their shared responsibility as parents remained separate from their relationship as a married couple.
Carlos continued offering guidance and maintaining his relationship with his children. His role did not disappear simply because the marriage ended. Family support remained an important part of his life as his daughters moved toward adulthood.
Years later, their daughter Cardi B became globally successful. Both parents remained important figures connected with the background that shaped her early personality and ambitions.
Dominican Culture in His Family
Carlos brought Dominican culture into his children’s upbringing. His roots influenced the traditions, language, food, and family environment that surrounded Cardi B and her siblings. Their mother’s Trinidadian background added another Caribbean influence, giving the household a distinctive multicultural identity.
Cardi B later became widely recognized for openly embracing her heritage. Spanish language and Latin-Caribbean influences have remained visible parts of her personality and public career. This connection did not suddenly appear after she became famous.
It began at home. Carlos’s Dominican identity helped provide one side of the cultural foundation that his daughters carried with them into adulthood.
Life Away From Celebrity Attention
Despite being the father of one of the world’s most recognizable rappers, Carlos has maintained a low-profile lifestyle. He does not appear regularly in entertainment programs or build his identity around Cardi B’s popularity. Instead, privacy has remained an important feature of his later years.
This makes his life very different from his daughter’s. Cardi B works in an industry built around performances, cameras, social media, and public attention. Carlos has generally remained outside that environment and continued living quietly.
His approach shows that celebrity connections do not always result in a public lifestyle. His family relationship exists largely beyond the entertainment spotlight.
Retirement and Present Life
After spending years working as a taxi driver, Carlos eventually retired. He continues to live in New York City and has entered a quieter stage of life. His daily routine is far removed from the demanding schedule he experienced while driving professionally and raising a family.
Retirement also allows him more time for personal life and family. He has not attempted to use his daughter’s success to establish an entertainment career or major public profile of his own.
Instead, Carlos remains associated with a simple and private lifestyle. His present life reflects the same low-key personality that has characterized much of his public image.
Hard Work and Personal Challenges
Carlos’s journey involved responsibilities that came with moving countries, supporting a large family, and working long hours. Establishing a life in New York required financial effort and personal adjustment. Taxi driving could also be tiring, especially when combined with the responsibilities of fatherhood.
His story additionally includes periods of personal struggle, including addiction-related difficulties. These challenges became another part of a life that was not always simple or comfortable. He continued moving forward while remaining connected with his family.
Such experiences show a more complicated side of his journey. His life included hardship alongside family growth, employment, migration, and eventual retirement.
Influence on Cardi B’s Journey
Carlos did not build Cardi B’s music career, but his working example formed part of the environment in which she grew up. She saw the effort her parents made to support their household, giving her firsthand experience of financial pressure, sacrifice, and determination.
Cardi eventually followed a completely different professional path. She entered entertainment and became a successful rapper with international recognition. However, the lessons connected with work and persistence had already been present throughout her upbringing.
Carlos’s influence therefore lies mainly in fatherhood rather than music. His contribution came through providing, working, maintaining cultural connections, and helping create the family environment behind her early years.
Carlos Alman’s Financial Life and Career Earnings
Carlos Alman spent many years working as a taxi driver in New York City. His job gave him a steady income and helped him cover household expenses while raising and supporting his large family.
Unlike his daughter Cardi B, Carlos did not build his wealth through music, entertainment, or business ventures. His financial life was mainly connected to his years of regular work and his simple lifestyle.
Now retired, Carlos continues to live quietly in New York City. He focuses on family and personal comfort rather than fame, luxury, or maintaining a public career.
His Family Legacy
Carlos Alman’s story is closely connected with family, immigration, work, and cultural identity. He left the Dominican Republic and built a life in New York, where he spent years working to support his children. His journey ultimately became connected with a much larger entertainment story.
His daughter Cardi B went from growing up in the Bronx to becoming an internationally recognized rapper. Hennessy Carolina also established a public identity of her own. Carlos, however, remained behind the scenes rather than pursuing similar attention.
His legacy rests largely in his family. Dominican heritage, persistence, responsibility, and parental support remain important elements of the story surrounding him.
Final Thoughts
Carlos Alman may be widely recognized because he is Cardi B’s father, but his biography tells a broader story. Born in the Dominican Republic, he moved to America, worked as a New York taxi driver, and spent many years supporting a large family through ordinary working life.
His Dominican roots also contributed strongly to the cultural environment in which Cardi B and Hennessy Carolina grew up. Even after his daughter achieved global fame, Carlos maintained his preference for privacy and simplicity.
Today, his story represents family dedication, migration, cultural identity, and perseverance. His influence is most clearly seen through the family he helped raise.
FAQs About Carlos Alman
Who is Carlos Alman?
Carlos Alman, whose full name is Carlos Almanzar, is a Dominican-American former taxi driver. He is mainly known as the father of famous rapper Cardi B and social media personality Hennessy Carolina.
How old is Carlos Alman?
Carlos Alman was born on March 19, 1958, in the Dominican Republic. He is 68 years old as of 2026. He spent much of his adult life working and raising his family in New York.
What did Carlos Alman do for a living?
Carlos Alman worked as a taxi driver in New York City for many years. His work provided a steady income for his family and helped him support his children while they were growing up.
Who is Carlos Alman’s ex-wife?
Carlos Alman was married to Clara Mercedes Almanzar. They married in 1991 and had two daughters together, Cardi B and Hennessy Carolina. Their marriage ended in divorce in 2005.
How many children does Carlos Alman have?
Carlos Alman has eight children in total. His most famous children are Cardi B and Hennessy Carolina. His other children include Maciel Almanzar, Nicauly Villalona, Fernando Almanzar, and three additional siblings.
Where is Carlos Alman from?
Carlos Alman was born in the Dominican Republic and later moved to the United States. He settled in New York City, where he worked, raised his family, and continued his connection with Dominican culture.
Where does Carlos Alman live now?
Carlos Alman lives in New York City and is retired from his career as a taxi driver. He maintains a quiet lifestyle and spends his later years focusing on his personal life and family.
