Seven years is a long time. For Cardi B, those years have crept by even slower. Her debut, the critically acclaimed and insanely successful Invasion of Privacy, was released on April 6th, 2018. (That’s approximately a century ago in rap years.) In a social media post on June 23rd, Cardi finally announced her long-awaited follow-up, Am I the Drama?, set to drop on September 19th.
Hip-hop is a persnickety beast. It both depends on and impacts pop culture; because of this cyclical reliance, and the short attention span of audiences, the genre moves fast AF. Cardi B has done her damndest to not be left behind, but is it enough?
While she hasn’t been a key player in the album conversation, Cardi has remained present and visible through her dominant features run over the past few years. In particular, her guest verses on GloRilla’s confidence-boosting 2022 single “Tomorrow 2” and Latto’s 2023 summer anthem “Put It on da Floor Again” have kept the rapper relevant, and generated excitement for Cardi’s new material. With Am I the Drama?, Cardi will be re-entering a familiar space — but it has transformed since those fiery features, and even more since her arrival.
Let’s start from the top down. The world is in a vastly different place than it was in 2018. Unbeknownst to us then, we were two short years away from a pandemic. COVID changed the way we interacted, supported, and engaged with one another. In fact, Cardi B took advantage of that moment when she released “WAP” with Megan Thee Stallion in the summer of 2020. Debuted on YouTube in a live video premiere with Megan, the song was an instant hit and topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart immediately upon its release. It was right around then that we were expecting an album from Cardi; in hindsight, it’s understandable why she didn’t want to release her sophomore effort into a vacuum.
We’ve collectively transformed, and that, in turn, has altered the mechanics of the music industry. The rise of COVID also brought about the rise of TikTok, the platform we love to hate. With TikTok came an overemphasis on viral snippets, which worked to the advantage of artists who are now able to make club appearances off of 30-second clips. (What a rich life, indeed.) Labels are now outright pushing artists to be content creators, and in some cases, coercing them to create music that is social-first. Before, during, and after the release of her new album, Cardi B will have to contend with this shift.
She already seems to be adapting. The lead single, “Outside,” is Cardi’s first solo release since last year’s “Enough (Miami).” While the latter song had a decent run, peaking at No. 9 on the charts, the new track sounds much more energized and dynamic. The production, handled by Charlie Heat, HeyMicki, and DJ SwanQo, is driven by a sample of The Showboys’ popular cut “Drag Rap,” better known as the “Triggaman” sound that is used in countless songs out of New Orleans. Over the booming, elastic production, Cardi pops her shit at the highest level, declaring that she’s ready to be back outside after a tumultuous marriage to her ex, Atlanta rapper Offset: “I been cuffed up too long, let me remind n****s,” she spits with venom.
“Outside” leaked weeks before Cardi officially dropped the single, and her fans ate it up. According to the rapper, she didn’t “care much for the song,” and she had no intention of releasing it. “I don’t know if I really wanna put that song out, to be honest with you,” she said on Instagram Live on June 9th. “And it’s not because I’m doubting myself and this, this, and that. I’m really, really grateful for all the love. It was never the plan. I don’t think I wanna put out a single to be honest with you. I just wanna put out my album all at the same time.”
Cardi B’s trademark self-determination hasn’t changed much — but the landscape has. Fan demand drives the music industry even more than it did when she was active, and it impacted her decision to ultimately release “Outside.” From K-Pop stans to Swifties to the BeyHive to Cardi’s own Bardi Gang, listeners make their voices heard through online activity that veers toward parasocial behavior, which Cardi is no stranger to. But this will be the first time that she is releasing a full album into the void of super standom. Regardless of her staunch autonomy, Cardi will have to adjust to the impact these communities have on the music itself.
Eight summers ago, Cardi released her breakthrough single, “Bodak Yellow.” After its June drop, the song cracked the Hot 100 in July, and spent two months ascending the chart before hitting No. 1 in late September, leap-frogging Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do.” Contemporarily, the industry, and the most vocal hip-hop fans, want instantaneous hits. For example, “Outside” didn’t debut atop the chart, à la “WAP” in 2020. This doesn’t mean “Outside” won’t find its way to the peak, but Cardi will have to revisit her diligent roots and bide her time.
Perhaps unintentionally, Cardi B paved the way for the class of scrappy new women MCs who are currently dominating hip-hop, like the aforementioned GloRilla and St. Louis rapper Sexyy Red. While Nicki Minaj always deserves her share of credit, in this particular vein, Cardi’s rough-around-the-edges persona, and her desire to be successful by any means necessary, is reflected in newer rappers. Her candid and frank sexual nature is also seen in the works of women today (“Pound Town,” anyone?), as is her tendency to lean into her pronounced accent and speaking inflections. Cardi is quick to jump on a song with these MCs, but with her new album, she’ll actually be competing with her daughters on a grand scale.
On top of being a direct inspiration for the #girlies, Cardi is nothing if not a businesswoman. By putting “WAP” and another past single “Up” on Am I the Drama?, Cardi B is gaming the system, ensuring that her album will be a success in terms of metrics. (With these additions, Am I the Drama? has already tied Invasion of Privacy as the female rap album with the most No. 1 hits.) Additionally, she’s learning from artists like Drake by putting 23 tracks on the album — versus 13 on her debut — as a means of increasing her odds of not only connecting with fans, but also landing multiple songs on the Hot 100. This is an intentional approach, and it bucks a recent trend: albums have become increasingly shorter in recent years.
And then, there’s the music. Cardi B has been testing the waters for the new album since 2018’s “Money.” Every so often, she throws a morsel out to her fans to see if they’re buying what she’s selling, and then she goes back into her hole of creativity to rework her formula. It’s clear by now that Cardi favors production that makes a statement, and it’s widely known that she collaborates with a team of writers to ensure she delivers the most potent lyrics possible. For the past seven years, she’s been observing her competitors’ output, and taking note of what works and what doesn’t. She’s had plenty of time to scope the scene. It won’t be easy, but Am I the Drama? might reveal that Cardi hasn’t been left behind — she’s been waiting for the right moment to reclaim her throne.
Cardi B’s full-length debut positioned her as the latest and greatest rapper to spit hard bars while leaving room for ample vulnerability. She was hungry as fuck, and she knew she had something to prove to the world. By taking an extended hiatus, Cardi inadvertently recreated those circumstances. All we can do now is watch and wait. It’s been 84 years… please don’t push the album back.
