LOS ANGELES (AP) — Seven years after her landmark debut “Invasion of Privacy,” Cardi B has returned. And, in typical trend, she’s doing it with loads of spectacle.
The Grammy winner made her long-awaited sophomore album “Am I the Drama?,” launched Friday, really feel like prime-time theater. Friday’s launch arrived days after she revealed she revealed her fourth being pregnant — her first little one with New England Patriots vast receiver Stefon Diggs — and barely two weeks after she emerged victorious from a Los Angeles courtroom.
With a title that nods to the scrutiny that has trailed her profession, Cardi B channels the swirl of headlines into music that doubles down on her strengths: blunt confidence, playful wit and sharp-edged bravado. The 23-track challenge options collaborations with Janet Jackson, Lizzo, Selena Gomez, Megan Thee Stallion, Money Cobain, Kehlani, Summer season Walker and Tyla.
Cardi B threads in previous hits like “Up” and “WAP” with Megan Thee Stallion. That alternative sparked criticism on-line for padding the album with older materials.
Nevertheless, Cardi B, by no means one to duck an argument, clapped again on X in June:
“This will be the last and only time I’m gonna address this…‘WAP’ and ‘Up’ are two of my biggest songs…they deserve a home.” She added, “These two songs don’t even count for first week sales so what are yall even crying about???… Now let them eat cake. Go cry about it!!!”
Alongside these chart-toppers, Cardi unleashed contemporary tracks too. The chest-thumping “Outside” and the breezier “Imaginary Playerz” showcase her vary between hard-hitting anthems and smoother, radio-ready flows.
Cardi’s private life has solely amplified the highlight. Her relationship with Diggs — who joined the Patriots this season after years as one of many NFL’s prime receivers — has drawn as a lot consideration off the sector as on it. The couple stored a low profile till this week’s being pregnant reveal, marking their first little one collectively.
The announcement capped a turbulent stretch for Cardi B, who additionally prevailed this month in a lawsuit filed by a safety guard alleging assault throughout a physician’s go to whereas she was secretly pregnant years in the past. The courtroom win and public reveal solely sharpen the backdrop for “Am I the Drama?”, an album that leans into the very query that has hovered over her profession.
The rap star has three youngsters from her earlier marriage with rapper Offset: daughters Blossom, 1, and Kulture, 7, and son Wave, 4. Diggs additionally has a daughter from a earlier relationship, Nova, who was born in 2016.
Cardi B will now take all of her momentum into the Little Miss Drama Tour, her first enviornment tour. The 30-plus date trek begins Feb. 11 in Palm Desert, California, and wraps in Atlanta in April, with stops in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and Toronto.
