Cardi B Asks ‘Am I The Drama?’ On New Album

Cardi B

Getty Images for Revolve & FWRD

After the release of her Grammy-winning debut album Invasion of Privacy, Cardi B fans waited with bated breath for the rapper’s next move. The Bronx-bred MC released several singles over the subsequent years, and now, seven years after her first LP, Cardi’s long-awaited sophomore album Am I the Drama? is finally here.

Am I the Drama?’s release arrives days after Cardi announced her pregnancy with NFL player Stefon Diggs. The past year has been filled with ups and downs in the rapper’s personal life, from her filing for divorce from rapper Offset last summer and the birth of her third child last September to her growing relationship with Diggs this year. Unsurprisingly, Cardi takes aim at her soon-to-be-ex-husband – as well as other rappers – on the new album.

Cardi offers emotions ranging from anger to sadness in her lyrics addressing Offset on songs like “Man of Your Word,” “Shower Tears,” “What’s Goin’ On,” and “Magnet.” “Magnet” in particular is a blistering track where the hit-making rapper takes no prisoners, alluding to feuds with fellow women in hip-hop like JT and Ice Spice, speaking more directly to BIA on “Pretty & Petty.” Along the way, she collaborates with stars like Selena Gomez, Lizzo, Tyla, and Summer Walker; she even samples Janet Jackson’s hit “The Pleasure Principle” on “Principal,” marking the music icon’s first-ever feature on a woman artist’s album.

The album is a long-welcome return to the top of the hip-hop heap for Cardi, demonstrating that she wasn’t a one-album wonder despite seven years passing since her debut LP. In fact, she’s been laying in wait the whole time, perfecting the project and ensuring that her comeback is as impactful as possible. Case in point: the rapper, about halfway through her current pregnancy, has been promoting the album everywhere from interviews to the streets – literally.

“I’m just very picky. Everybody always said that I dropped the ball when I didn’t release an album after [2020’s] “WAP” and [2021’s] “Up,” but to be honest with you, I only had like six songs,” she told The Breakfast Club, describing a creative process where she eliminated tracks from consideration because she felt they weren’t up to par for her long-awaited second full-length.

As for the shots at other women rappers, she explained she simply had to let them know she wasn’t going to take any disses lying down.

“I was really angry because I feel like a lot of these girls were trying me, and I don’t like feeling tried,” she said. “I know you b***hes are not really like that, but you feel like you’re like that, because right now I’m going through this hate thing on social media, so you think you can take advantage and everybody’s gonna take your side, but I’m gonna let you know: You not nowhere near me when it comes to artistry.”

Cardi B will take Am I the Drama? on the road with the Little Miss Drama Tour kicking off Feb. 11 in Palm Desert, California and wrapping up April 17 in Atlanta.