UPDATE 1-Rapper Cardi B appears in New York court over strip club fight charges

Grammy Award-winning rapper Cardi B appeared in court on Tuesday to face felony assault charges over her alleged involvement in a fight at a New York City strip club. The 26-year-old performer from the Bronx, whose real name is Belcalis Almanzar, wore a blue and pink pant suit and carried a pink handbag as she was escorted into the New York Supreme Court in the borough of Queens with her lawyer and bodyguards.

"Free Cardi B," one fan shouted, as the singer known for chart-topping hits "Bodak Yellow" and "I like it" waved to supporters with a hand sporting long, pink fingernails. The rapper surrendered to New York City police last October after a complaint claimed she was involved in a fight at the Angels NYC strip club in Queens.

"I ain't going to jail, I got a daughter," she declared near the end of her sold-out concert Saturday night at Los Angeles' Staples Center. Cardi B initially faced misdemeanor charges of assault and reckless endangerment, but was indicted by a grand jury on felony charges earlier this month.

According to police, the rapper got into an argument in August with two of the club's female bartenders. She had accused one of them of having an affair with her husband, Offset, a member of the rap trio Migos, according to local media. The New York Times, citing police, said Cardi B's bodyguards and members of her entourage attacked the sisters with bottles and chairs.