Album Review: Am I the Drama? by Cardi B
Cardi B emerges from a seven-year period marked by legal battles, childbirth, marital strife, and label disputes, yet Am I the Drama? is both a question and a provocation.
On a packed New York City A train this month, a familiar voice echoed down the aisle. Clutching a Welch’s candy box repurposed as a crate for compact discs, Cardi B pitched her sophomore album to commuters for $9.99. Passengers laughed as she swapped jokes with a fellow hawker and flashed the vinyl to a group of teenagers. The spectacle was part of a series of self‑produced skits that made physical media the centerpiece of the rollout for Am I the Drama?, her first album since Invasion of Privacy. Earlier clips showed her peddling CDs outside 125th Street with incense burning on a sidewalk blanket; another found her in a faux boardroom, riffing that Atlantic Records cut her budget after financing her “Imaginary Playerz” video. “My label said I gotta get out in these streets and sell this album,” she joked in a Harlem skit. By taking the hustle literally—selling albums at bodegas, MTA stations, and pop‑up events—Cardi is reclaiming the grind of her come‑up and turning promotion into performance art. The deliberate return to street sales also pokes fun at contemporary music fandom’s obsession with first‑week numbers and label machinations, reminding Bardi Gang that behind the streaming metrics is a woman who once sold clothes in the Bronx and is unafraid to look silly to move her product.
The seven‑year gap between Invasion of Privacy and her sophomore effort wasn’t due to complacency but to perfectionism and life upheaval. In a 2024 interview she explained that she wouldn’t release songs unless they sounded flawless: “I take my music so fucking seriously… if it’s not perfect to my ear, if every fucking word doesn’t sound like it’s pronounced right, if the beat is overpowering the words or the words [are] overpowering the beat, I don’t want to put it out.” That obsession coincided with dramatic personal shifts. Cardi gave birth to three children after her 2018 debut and recently told Gayle King she is pregnant with a fourth child, her first with NFL receiver Stefon Diggs. She balances the demands of motherhood with a bruising schedule; even during pregnancy, she insisted that by the time the tour arrives, she would be doing “splits, somersaults, backflips, and handstands.” The hiatus also encompassed lawsuits—she fought and beat a $24 million civil battery suit brought by former security guard Emani Ellis—and a public rift with Atlantic Records, which changed leadership since signing her. Rather than hide these headaches, she wove them into the rollout. The “Courtroom Edition” CD featured her viral courtroom hairstyles, a nod to a jury unanimously rejecting Ellis’ claims; she even warned after the verdict that the next frivolous lawsuit would be met with a countersuit because she works hard for her family and refuses to hand over money easily. The humor masks a deeper theme: Am I the Drama? is born from a tumultuous period in which Cardi simultaneously fought in courtrooms, navigated divorce filings, and gave birth to children while fans clamored for new music.
Sure, including “WAP” and “Up” on the album is looked at as padding streaming numbers (point that finger towards Billboard and RIAA), but to her defense, it anchors the record in the years when Cardi kept fans fed with singles despite lacking a full project. “WAP,” her raunchy 2020 duet with Megan Thee Stallion, remains a cultural flashpoint for its explicit celebration of female desire and its bass‑heavy, minimal beat. The track’s presence on Am I the Drama? positions the album within a continuum of sex‑positive anthems and reminds listeners of Cardi’s willingness to weather backlash to own her body. “Up,” released in 2021, is built on a punchy trap beat and features a staccato flow with call‑and‑response energy; its viral hook “If it’s up, then it’s stuck” turned into a TikTok mantra. Cardi justified including these songs by noting that her fans repeatedly search for them on her debut album and deserve a proper home. In context, they function as milestones marking her growth throughout her career. “WAP” was recorded while under pandemic constraints, while “Up” was a test of her ability to deliver a solo hit after collaborative success. Their placement among new material also highlights how her flow has evolved—where “Up” is frenetic, “Imaginary Playerz” (more on that later) is leisurely; where “WAP” revels in explicit imagery, later tracks balance frankness with reflection.
From its title and cover onward, Am I the Drama? cranks up Cardi B’s over-the-top persona. The album title nods to a meme from RuPaul’s Drag Race (“Am I the drama? I don’t think I’m the drama. Maybe I am…”)—a fitting in-joke for a star who treats life like a reality show and isn’t afraid to play the comic-book villain. The horror-movie artwork (Cardi in a blood-red bodysuit besieged by a flock of black crows) telegraphs the vibe: campy, aggressive, maybe a little scary. Cardi leans gleefully into that role on the opening track, “Dead” (featuring Summer Walker). Over ominous bass and sirens, she basically declares open season on her rivals—dropping murderous bravado in a snarling flow that makes “Bodak Yellow” sound polite. In a twisted stroke, R&B singer Summer Walker lends ethereal vocals that sound like a haunted news report intro and a ghostly hook, heightening the theatrics. It’s a menacing diss track through and through, complete with Cardi threatening to “collect body bags like they purses” and dragging unnamed enemies to hell. The song’s dark humor and horrorcore flourishes set the stage: Cardi is here to slay (figuratively, we hope) and she’s having fun being the bad guy.
Much of the album finds Cardi in attack mode, settling scores with a grin. “Pretty and Petty” is exactly as advertised—a blistering takedown of an unnamed female rival that die-hard fans will recognize. Well, let’s rewind that. Over a jolting beat, Cardi sneers, “I’m pretty and I’m petty as fuck,” then proceeds to back it up with insults that are as cleverly absurd as they are savage. She even zeroes in with specific barbs that all but confirm one target: at one point, Cardi dubs someone “Diarrhea BIA,” punning on rapper BIA’s name, and mocks her for clout-chasing and lack of hits (one line asks if this foe has even “got a BET award”). It’s a direct hit delivered with cartoonish venom—pure hip-hop theater.
Likewise, “Imaginary Playerz” sees Cardi flipping a classic JAY-Z sample to flex on all comers. The title alone signals her stance toward those she considers pretenders; over a smooth, mid-tempo groove (built from JAY-Z’s 1997 “Imaginary Players”), she ridicules rappers who brag about achievements she surpassed back in 2016. “Every song platinum, I’m not the other bitch,” she spits matter-of-factly, reminding everyone that whatever her peers are doing, she’s done it bigger. She is cocky and effortless, full of luxury-brand name drops and witty put-downs. She even jokes that her rivals’ booking fee is just her “makeup and hair” money. By referencing fashion archives and fan page antics, Cardi makes “Imaginary Playerz” a sly commentary on her ongoing feud with a certain superstar counterpart—without ever saying Nicki Minaj’s name, she channels all that competitive fire into braggadocio for the ages. It’s one of the album’s purest rap moments and showcases that Cardi’s crown is secured by both her commercial might and her brazen personality.
For all the punchlines and peacocking, Am I the Drama? also pulls back the curtain on Cardi’s personal tumult. A significant thread of the album deals with heartbreak and betrayal, clearly drawn from her very public marriage and recent split from Offset. The emotional center shines through on tracks like “What’s Goin On,” featuring Lizzo. This pop-rap confessional transforms the collapse of a relationship into a call-and-response, which may not resonate for most due to the sound. Lizzo’s soulful voice riffs on the famous “Hey, what’s going on?” refrain (evoking 4 Non Blondes’ 90s hit) as Cardi catalogs the red flags of a love gone wrong. In her verses, she’s unflinchingly honest and characteristically blunt: she notices her man “stopped callin’, wasn’t wakin’ up to me in the mornin’… anniversary gifts started lackin’.” With each line, you can hear the frustration of a woman who gave chance after chance.
“Shower Tears” (another Summer Walker collaboration) digs even deeper into that hurt. Over moody R&B production, Cardi delivers perhaps her most vulnerable performance on the album, sounding raw and exhausted as she confronts a cheating lover at 4 a.m. “All these years, all these shower tears that I done shed… this the last straw,” she laments, voice crackling between anger and sorrow. Summer Walker’s silken hook—“Why would you do this?… I know love ain’t supposed to hurt. We should be good by now,” echoes the disbelief at the core of the song. It’s a beautifully sad moment that humanizes Cardi beyond the trash-talk; the invincible rap vixen is also a wife and mother whose family life has been in upheaval. She doesn’t wallow, though. On “Man of Your Word,” Cardi reflects on the lessons of that seven-year relationship with surprising maturity. She owns up to some mistakes (“As a wife, I should’ve realized when you was hurt, but I put my music first,” she admits) while ultimately wishing her ex well, even as she wishes he’d truly been the man of his word. It’s an unexpectedly gracious conclusion to the saga, revealing that underneath the anger lies genuine heartache and growth.
Fittingly, the very next track is “Outside,” the project’s lead single and a triumphant kiss-off. Powered by a classic New Orleans bounce sample, “Outside” flips the album’s mood from despair to defiance. Cardi uses a frenetic Triggerman beat to celebrate her freedom—she’s single, sexy, and “outside” on the prowl. The song is outrageously fun, as Cardi gleefully boasts about turning the tables: “I been cuffed up too long… you was playin’ games, now you on timeout,” she snaps over springy percussion. The verses combine her humor and audacity at full blast, with bawdy one-liners about hooking up with athletes and making her ex jealous. (In one memorable quip, she teases that her ex’s favorite basketball player is in her DMs and jokes about letting him “dunk” in a very NSFW way.) It’s the kind of raunchy, quotable banger only Cardi B can deliver, turning personal drama into a rallying cry for enjoying the single life. Not only does it bring the album’s narrative full circle from tears to empowerment, it’s also a showcase of Cardi’s sonic adventurousness. The bounce influence gives it a distinctly Southern party vibe, adding yet another genre to her toolkit.
One of the album’s strengths, despite its 70-minute length, is its sonic variety without compromising Cardi’s identity. Am I the Drama? is a grab bag of styles, featuring drill and trap, Latin dance, glossy pop, doo-wop flavors, Jersey and New Orleans bounce—held together by Cardi’s inimitable presence. “Bodega Baddie” is a great example: it’s a bilingual Bronx anthem that fuses salsa swagger with her twist. Over a lively Jersey Club beat, Cardi switches between English and Spanish, shouting out “¿Qué lo que, papi?” and proclaiming herself “la más sexy del Bronx.” The track’s exuberant horn samples practically transport you to a summertime block party on Highbridge—it’s a loving nod to her Dominican-Trinidadian heritage and the vibrant immigrant culture of her hometown. On the opposite end, “Pick It Up” (featuring Selena Gomez) ventures into synth-pop territory. Selena’s airy vocals handle a sugary hook about romantic longing, while Cardi delivers verses that show a more wistful, restrained side as she urges a lover to “pick up” where they left off. It’s a catchy, radio-ready song that proves Cardi can ride a pop melody when she wants to, without sounding forced.
“Principal” is an unexpectedly smooth gem, an ‘80s-inspired R&B glide that blends flirtation with self-respect, sampling the classic “The Pleasure Principle.” Expecting Janet Jackson to show will disappoint the majority. The production nods to the glossy Minneapolis sound of Janet’s prime, all silky synths and soft funk bass, as Cardi lays down the law for her man. “It’s the principle… can’t be out here playin’ with a bitch like me,” she sings-raps in a bouncy cadence. Janet’s presence is subtle but palpable; whether through a sampled interpolation or new vocals, the pop icon adds a layer of sultry class, basically cosigning Cardi’s message that independence is non-negotiable. The album’s rolodex of guests might look random on paper, but it all clicks into Cardi’s world. Kehlani infuses “Safe” with warm harmonies, newcomers like Tyla (who lights up the Afro-fused “Nice Guy”) and Lourdiz (adding hook duties to the explicit “On My Back” that also samples another Janet song with “Funny How Time Flies”) broaden the album’s palette without stealing focus from Cardi. She remains the ringmaster throughout this circus of sounds.
Despite its length and sprawl, the album rarely loses the plot—the “drama” is the through-line. Whether you think she delivers her raps or somebody else is the matter of opinion, but the whole experience is theatrical, as if Cardi B is both dramatist and actress in her own musical soap opera. She punctuates songs with ad-libs that feel like asides to the audience; her famous sense of humor flashes even in the skits and background moments. One minute, she’s growling threats, the next, she’s practically winking at us. That balance of camp and sincerity is a big part of the album’s charm. You feel Cardi is in on the joke of her exaggerated persona (she knows exactly how ridiculous a “horror revenge” rap concept can be, and she’s game to milk it), but she also lays bare real emotions enough that we invest in her story. In the context of the last two songs of the album, they serve as reminders that Cardi B has been dominating the conversation for years now, and she’s not about to apologize for it, especially with the hard-hitters with “Magnet,” “Trophies,” “Killin You Hoes,” and the 2 Chainz flip on “Salute.”
Am I the Drama? lives up to its name with a messy, entertaining, and ultimately revealing portrait of Cardi B’s world. It amplifies everything we know about her—the rowdy humor, the bold sexuality, the no-filter trash talk (*ahem* BIA and JT to name a few), and then surprises us with moments of introspection and vulnerability. The album’s biggest flaw is arguably its ambition: at 23 tracks and 70 minutes, it occasionally risks overload, and not every experiment lands perfectly. Cardi set out to give us “love, life, and loss” writ large, and she’s done that in technicolor. The production is top-notch; mainly, the energy never flags, and Cardi’s personality is magnetic enough to carry us through the occasional chaos. In the end, she does cement her place at hip-hop’s summit—not by showing restraint or playing it safe, but by doubling down on what makes her unique. The new tensions in her stardom—the weight of expectations, the tabloid drama, the competitive arrows—are all acknowledged here, but she alchemizes them into art that’s brash and honest. If Invasion of Privacy announced her arrival, Am I the Drama? confirms that Cardi B isn’t going anywhere, except wherever she wants. It’s her show, and we’re just living in it.
Great (★★★★☆)
Favorite Track(s): “Dead,” “Man of Your Word,” “Pretty & Petty”