Cardi B‘s long-awaited sophomore album, Am I the Drama? has finally arrived and is thankfully well worth the wait. The Bronx-born MC’s jam-packed album features a tasteful array of features, from pop powerhouse Selena Gomez to New York sexy drill maestro Cash Cobain, showing off Cardi’s genre-spanning range. As with much of her career thus far, Cardi’s real life is as much an element of this project as its stellar production and songwriting. Throughout Am I the Drama? she opens up about her rather public split with her ex-husband, Offset, and she’s got plenty of smoke for her numerous detractors. But the album isn’t full of only clapbacks. Cardi B proves herself to be among mainstream rap’s brightest stars, capable of adapting to a variety of genres. She teams up with Tyla for “Nice Guy,” a breezy and steamy love ballad, and follows it up with the marauding bar-filled “Killin’ You Hoes.”
From her raps about Kamala Harris to her not-so-subtle jabs at her enemies, Cardi B delivers on Am I the Drama? Here are 9 takeaways from what is sure to be one of the best albums of the year.
Cardi Mentions Offset On Several Songs
Cardi explores her highly publicized relationship with her ex-husband Offset on several junctures of the album. She throws a shot on “Magnet,” rapping, “got my baby daddy actin’ like my baby mama.” But she gets vulnerable toward the end of the album’s first half with three songs detailing the personal toll of their tumultuous relationship. “Man Of Your Word” is one of Cardi’s most intimate moments ever, as she pours her heart out over a drumless beat, rhyming, “should’ve held back from you, instead I gave you a son,” but also candidly rhyming, “as a wife I should’ve realized when you was hurt/but instead I put my music first.” She concludes the track, offering an olive branch by wishing him the best. On the Lizzo-featured “What’s Going On,” she references one of her classics, rhyming, “I told his ass be careful with me, I guess he thought I wouldn’t practice what I preach,” while chronicling more romantic woes. And on the self-explanatory “Shower Tears” with Summer Walker, she rhymes about a serial cheating spouse and surmises, “for all of this, might as well be alone again.” She doesn’t mention him by name on these songs, but the references seem so close to the Shaderoom headlines that it’s hard not to think that she’s addressing Offset. – Andre Gee
Editor’s picks
Less Singing, More Rapping
Cardi had both a lot to prove and a lot of room to experiment on Invasion of Privacy, so she flexed some of her lesser-known singing skills on songs like “Be Careful” and “Thru Your Phone,” fan favorites that bridged her hip-hop roots with her love of the many modern R&B artists she’s collaborated with, like Walker, SZA and Kehlani. This time around, Cardi is focused on her bars, showing off how she’s grown and sharpened her own skillset as a rapper. Other than a quick reference to “Be Careful,” she largely avoids trying to hit the high notes the way her old and new collaborators can. – Brittany Spanos
She’s a Bachata Baddie on “Bodega Baddie”
Cardi has always been proud of her Afro-Caribbean roots and the fusion of Latin and Black cultures she grew up around in the Bronx. So whenever she gets a chance to celebrate her heritage, she takes it. “Bodega Baddie,” which she had previewed on TikTok before the album release, is rich with bachata influences. It’s a surefire megahit with its pulsating dance-y beat and could be a massive crossover on Latin, rap, and pop charts. – B.S.
Cardi Claps Back at Bia on “Pretty & Petty”
Last year, in the midst of everyone and their mother beefing, Cardi B threw shots at Bia on the remix to GloRilla and Megan Thee Stallion’s “Wanna Be,” rhyming, “Hope she talk like that when I see her/Bitch, please, don’t nobody wanna be ya.” She then took to Instagram Live to inform the rap world that she felt the Boston rhymer had dissed her on Dreezy’s “Bitch Duh” remix and was accusing her of biting behind the scenes. Bia clapped back with a diss called “SUE MEEE?,” where she got extra personal, referencing Cardi’s kids while rhyming, “Thought your ass was for the culture, you just tryin’ to ride the wave/You should be home with your kids ’cause bitch, you speak like second grade.” Things went silent after that, but the heat got turned back up on Cardi’s “Pretty & Petty,” a three-minute Bia diss where Cardi raps, “I’d rather die on the surgery table before I gotta walk around lookin like you,” and “name five Bia songs with a gun to your head.” Let’s see what round two has in store for us. — A.G.
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Am I The Drama? Has Several Flips of Classic Songs
In her June 2024 Rolling Stone cover story, Cardi B spoke about wanting her music to be as timeless as icons like Beyoncé and Madonna; one way to achieve that is by dialoguing with timeless music. She did that on multiple junctures of the album. Of course, there’s the Jay-Z nod on “Imaginary Playerz,” which samples his classic track of the (pretty much) same name. But she also samples another legendary J — Janet Jackson on “Principle,” which flips the pop icon’s “Pleasure Principle.” On “What’s Goin On” with Lizzo, she explores the album’s most unconventional sample, turning 4 More Blondes’ “What’s Up” into a glimpse of romantic turmoil on “What’s Going On.” And on “Killin You Hoes,” Cardi borrows Trina’s eponymous refrain from her 2008 song of the same name. Cardi was overt with these samples, as they all have names that heavily cue to the sample. — A.G.
Kamala Harris Gets Inducted Into the Rap Lyric Pantheon
Kamala Harris had a fair share of rap stars attend her 2024 presidential campaign rallies, including Cardi B, so it was only a matter of time until the politician’s name was dropped in a verse. The former vice president gets a shoutout in the same line that Cardi B’s ex, Offset, catches a stray in “Magnet.” As the Bronx-born artist spits about attracting only the finest things in life while sitting pretty at the top of the celebrity ranks, she lauds “all my hoes who wear the pants like Kamala” and juxtaposes them against her “baby daddy acting like my baby mama.” During a rally speech in Milwaukee, Cardi B took her turn to convince voters that Harris was the one to elect, saying, “women have to work ten times harder, perform ten times better, and still people question us, how we got to the top. I can’t stand a bully, but just like Kamala, I always stand up to one.” Harris might not have gotten the chance to be the Leader of the Free World, but she did win the opportunity to be a catchy example of female leadership and, perhaps, a verified spot on Rap Genius. — Elise Brisco
After Many Rumors, Beyoncé is NOT on the Album
Unfortunately, for the sleuthing sector of the Beyhive, Beyoncé is not present on Cardi B’s sophomore album, ‘Am I The Drama?’ After weeks of speculation and conspiracy theories (fans took her Spotify interview with Kelly Rowland and a riddle on the Cécred account as clues), there is no Beyoncé x Bacardi mash-up. However, the two exist in each other’s orbit with Cardi being a special VIP guest at the Cowboy Carter tour over the summer and Beyoncé sending a specially signed ‘Renaissance’ vinyl to the rapper, thanking her for her support. A shit-talking Beyoncé on “Pretty & Petty” would’ve been great, but the closest Cardi B gets to the Carters on this album is the approved Jay-Z sample in “Imaginary Players” — E.B.
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Selena Gomez Goes Hip-Hop on “Pick It Up”
Selena Gomez is giving a mix of Thank U, Next era Ariana Grande and SOS-era SZA with her airy vocals on “Pick It Up,” whose twinkly, hip-hop-R&B hybrid of a beat Cardi B previewed for us last spring as our June cover star. It’s reminiscent of Gomez’s own 2015-ish era of tapping into to trap and R&B sonics, too. “Back on my bullshit, I mean it/I see your number/Thank God I didn’t delete it,” she sings in a near whisper in the first few seconds of the song. The last time Cardi B and Gomez linked up on a track was 2018, and it had a wholly different vibe – that was when they collaborated on DJ Snake’s housey-reggaetón smash “Taki Taki” with Ozuna as well. – Mankaprr Conteh
Summer Walker and Cardi B are Kindred Spirits on Two Tracks
Summer Walker and Cardi B have shared an uncannily similar life in the spotlight, when you think about it. Both are lover girls who have trekked through the thick mud of public opinion as they maintained declaredly difficult relationships with prominent men in hip-hop, all while becoming mothers of three (soon to be four, for Cardi) and more popular and powerful in their craft. “Hit them bitches where it hurt,” Cardi said to Walker of her detractors on “Bitter,” the intro to Walker’s 2021 album, Still Over It. “And put that shit in your music and make money off it in your music. Fuck these hoes.” So, when both women do just that and come out swinging on “Dead,” Am I the Drama?’s the first song, it feels like they’re offering each other a victory lap – and a shoulder to lean on. Both artists are openly sensitive, too, which their second collaboration of the album, “Shower Tears,” captures just as earnestly. – M.C.
