Eight years since her debut, Grammy award-winning album, “Invasion of Privacy,” Cardi B returns to the music scene with her sophomore album, “AM I THE DRAMA?”. Her debut album defined the late 2010s, and Cardi B aims to relive her glory and renew her talent in her latest work.
“AM I THE DRAMA?” includes 11 collaboration tracks. However, not all of the pairings are created equal. “What’s Goin On (feat. Lizzo)” interpolates 4 Non Blondes’ “What’s Up?”, an over-memed and outdated sample, lacking anything fresh to rejuvenate it. “Pick It Up (feat. Selena Gomez)” and “Nice Guy (feat. Tyla)” fall flat as poor attempts at pop R&B.
Packed with filler songs, “AM I THE DRAMA?” becomes bloated with excess of the same concepts. Each track repeats the same story of Cardi B flaunting her haters and flexing her success while doing it far worse than other songs on the tracklist.
Although controversial, Cardi B placed 2020’s “WAP (feat. Megan Thee Stallion)” and 2021’s “Up” as anchors for her new album. Critics point out that this tactic boosts streaming numbers and sales; however, in an album about reclaiming her place as a legend, Cardi B is entitled to feature songs that cemented her into pop culture iconography.
“Imaginary Playerz” captivates with a silky ’90s beat, and “ErrTime” helps solidify themes of revenge. “Bitches tried to gaslight me, now I’m back with kerosene,” from “Trophies” highlights that Cardi’s back and out for blood.
Cardi B’s Afro-Latina identity continues to set her apart from her rap contemporaries. Building off the best song from her debut album, “I Like It,” “Bodega Baddie” injects an infectious Dominican beat straight to the soul. Cardi B lets us in with “Safe (feat. Kehlani)” and “Man of my Word (feat. Dougie F),” allowing herself to be vulnerable and grounding the album from Cardi’s larger-than-life persona, one that is exemplified in “Hello.” “Principal (feat. Janet Jackson)” samples Jackson’s 1986 “The Pleasure Principle,” making it the superior use of a retro sample on the album.
“Shower Tears (feat. Summer Walker)” holds down as the best pop feature on the album, and Walker is a clear Cardi favorite too, appearing on the record twice. “On My Back (feat. Lourdiz)” showcases the most of Cardi B’s ‘certified freak’ agenda and the best of the record’s R&B pop.
On her album cover, Cardi B appears as a Grim Reaper, and her first track, “Dead (feat. Summer Walker)” serves as a warning that “AM I THE DRAMA?” is Cardi B reaping what those who wronged her sow. She shuts the casket on her ex-husband, Offset, and her fellow rapper BIA in “Outside” and “Pretty & Petty.” A D1 hater, Cardi shines when she is unapologetically catty. Like scenes from her court case, her natural humor and genuine hatred deliver an authentic Cardi classic.
In its entirety, Cardi B returns with the same unapologetic voice that captivated the world eight years ago in her second album. Despite “AM I THE DRAMA?” being on par with her debut, her sophomore album fails to become the all-encompassing cultural moment that she achieved in 2018. So, if Cardi B is consistent, what changed?
In the 2020s, can music define us without a culture war behind it? Kendrick Lamar’s “GNX” reached beyond his own fans due to a feud with Drake, Sabrina Carpenter’s general rise stemmed in large part from drama with fellow pop star Olivia Rodrigo, and “Brat” by Charli XCX maintained relevance through coopting a tumultuous US presidential election. Cardi B can even speak to the new attention economy as “WAP” sparked its own debate about women and sexuality in 2020.
Despite delivering a solid album, her biggest shots are taken at relatively unknown rapper BIA and her irrelevant ex-husband, Offset. “AM I THE DRAMA?” by Cardi B’s lack of cultural resonance shines a light on the naive optimism of 2010s culture that greatly rewarded Cardi’s authenticity and fresh voice to the genre. No matter how objectively good Cardi B’s sophomore album is, without divisive controversy, it will slowly fade in a forever-changed media landscape that incentivizes the reactionary.
