{"id":43133,"date":"2025-09-25T18:40:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T18:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/43133\/"},"modified":"2025-09-25T18:40:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T18:40:10","slug":"cardi-b-am-i-the-drama-album-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/43133\/","title":{"rendered":"Cardi B, \u2018Am I the Drama?’ Album Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tIn the seven years since Cardi B<\/a> left an indelible mark on hip-hop and pop culture with her Billboard 200<\/a>-topping, Grammy-winning debut studio album, Invasion of Privacy, two U.S. presidential administrations passed, Taylor Swift<\/a>\u2019s re-recordings project began and presumably ended, and Cardi went from expecting her first child to awaiting the arrival of her fourth. In this era of instant gratification and constant consumption, each passing year without Cardi\u2019s sophomore album felt more mind-boggling than the last. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe interim between her two studio LPs, of course, was anything but quiet: She added two more Hot 100 No.1s to her collection with \u201cUp\u201d and the Megan Thee Stallion<\/a>-assisted \u201cWAP,\u201d dropped several singles that bricked by her standards (remember \u201cHot S\u2014t?\u201d) and cemented her near-incomparable cultural pull with film cameos (Hustlers), buzzy co-signs via ace guest verses (GloRilla<\/a>\u2019s \u201cTomorrow 2\u201d; Latto<\/a>\u2019s \u201cPut It On Da Floor Again\u201d), successful product lines (Whipshots<\/a>), and, most notably, her major moves<\/a> in the fashion world.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tInvasion of Privacy had been a perfect storm. Cardi and her team harnessed the momentum of her \u201cBodak Yellow\u201d breakthrough into a succinct 13-song set that introduced a new leading voice in the rap arena, one who prioritized slick-mouthed humor, trademark Bronx bravado and the urgency and drive of a person whose survival instincts evolve with each new chapter of life. Following up a beloved modern classic and a near-flawless rollout<\/a> was always going to be a daunting task, especially seven years later. While Cardi\u2019s position in the rap game was hardly questioned in earnest, questions abounded. Should Cardi pull a Lauryn Hill<\/a> and never drop another studio album? Is her position really secured off of one album? Could a second album actually hurt the legacy that Invasion has accrued?<\/p>\n

\n\tNow, just as the first autumn breezes sweep through her New York City hometown, Cardi has put every question to bed with her behemoth of a sophomore album, Am I the Drama? Housing 23 tracks and clocking in at over 70 minutes, Drama arrived on Sept. 19 after a blitz of an album campaign that truly kicked off in July around Paris Fashion Week. Armed with a half-baked crow aesthetic and stacked with A-list features including Selena Gomez<\/a>, Janet Jackson<\/a> and Summer Walker<\/a>, Drama attempts to synthesize the past seven years of Cardi\u2019s marriage, industry tiffs and emotional maturation into a coherent narrative arc. An overstuffed tracklist and slightly sloppy sequencing prevent the record from fully realizing its potential, but over the course of an hour-plus, Cardi sufficiently reminds us why the crown was hers to return for in the first place.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cDead,\u201d on which Summer Walker delivers a surprisingly solid SZA<\/a> impression, opens Drama with a smattering of fictional, Makaveli-era 2Pac news reports quickly giving way to a single, fiery verse from Cardi. When she spits, \u201cTell a b\u2014h, \u2018You better use your head \u2018fore I come there, put a hole in it\u2019\/ Like, baow, baow, baow, now she can bowl with it,\u201d Cardi spins the ferocious ambition of Invasion of Privacy opener \u201cGet Up 10\u201d into a snarling, more vicious tone. She\u2019s almost annoyed that she has to take time out of just her second album to remind people who exactly she is. If \u201cDead\u201d has one shortcoming, it\u2019s the lack of real news snippets; if we\u2019re going to get into all of Cardi\u2019s Drama, let\u2019s really do it and immediately root the album in that reality.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe ominous feel of \u201cDead\u201d continues on \u201cHello,\u201d whose whirring Halloween-evoking synths and foreboding hook herald the biting JT<\/a>-aimed disses littered throughout \u201cMagnet,\u201d one of Drama\u2019s instant standouts. Confusingly, Cardi gives us three songs to settle into her Drama persona before calling Selena Gomez for a pop number that\u2019s either ridiculously catchy or immediately forgettable, depending on your mood. Perhaps slotting it closer to the other pop girl collabs \u2014 like the atrocious, Lizzo<\/a>-assisted \u201cWhat\u2019s Going On\u201d and the smooth Tyla<\/a>-featuring \u201cNice Guy\u201d \u2014 near the end of the record would have worked better instead of stunting the momentum of the first three songs. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen contextualized with the following two New York-tributing tracks, pre-single \u201cImaginary Playerz\u201d and smash-in-waiting \u201cBodega Baddie,\u201d the placement of \u201cPick It Up\u201d is even more befuddling. Although \u201cPlayerz\u201d arrived to mixed reception and a soft Hot 100<\/a> debut (No. 70), it plays much smoother as an album track, working as a foil to the Cash Cobain<\/a>-assisted \u201cBetter Than You\u201d on the album\u2019s second half. If the Jay-Z<\/a>-sampling \u201cImaginary Playerz\u201d is Cardi nodding to the storied past of New York hip-hop, then \u201cBetter Than You\u201d is her wink at the region\u2019s present and near future. Am I the Drama? may not always play as a traditional New York rap album, but Cardi makes sure to situate herself in both the city\u2019s history and its present hip-hop ecosystem, which she doubles down on with the celebratory, El Prodigio-sampling \u201cBodega Baddie.\u201d Even though its sub-two-minute runtime is frustrating, the inevitable \u201cBodega Baddie\u201d remix is sure to dominate whatever season it arrives in.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe TM88-produced \u201cSalute\u201d brings the Drama from the Uptown clubs and into Cardi\u2019s diary. She enters a stank face-inducing pocket on the track, reminding us that she\u2019s always shone brightest when she\u2019s on a track by herself. As she raps in the first verse, \u201cI am the reference, yeah, I am the vision board\/ I put that shit on these bitches, they can\u2019t ignore.\u201d After making a pit stop to inspect everyone\u2019s salutes, Cardi kicks off a four-track run (\u201cMan of Your Word,\u201d \u201cSafe,\u201d \u201cWhat\u2019s Going On\u201d and \u201cShower Tears\u201d) that serves as the emotional crux of Am I the Drama?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tPlainly put, it\u2019s a shame someone who allegedly treated Cardi as awfully as Offset did<\/a> is the subject of a career-best song like \u201cMan of Your Word,\u201d but that\u2019s what turning pain into power is all about. Built around a somber hook, courtesy of prominent R&B\/hip-hop songwriter Dougie F, \u201cMan of Your Word\u201d finds Cardi taking stock of her tumultuous marriage, its heart-shattering demise and the harsh realities she\u2019s had to confront while rebuilding her life. \u201cBut since I had a ring, I never wanted no Ring cam\/ And now I got a ring on every finger but the one on my ring hand,\u201d she spits over the eerie, drumless Jeff Kleiman-produced beat, offering us a peek into the real-life drama that we consumed as tabloid fodder. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tWith parts of her flow recalling the lovey-dovey warning shot that was \u201cBe Careful,\u201d \u201cMan of Your Word\u201d is another Drama moment that explicitly nods to Invasion of Privacy, ensuring continuity between the two LPs, even if Drama itself isn\u2019t as coherent as it could be. Two R&B-steeped collaborations \u2014 new single \u201cSafe\u201d (with Kehlani<\/a>) and the Summer Walker-assisted \u201cShower Tears\u201d \u2014 bookend \u201cMan of Your Word,\u201d and they both recall the slower, more introspective moments that gave Invasion of Privacy so much range. While \u201cDead\u201d pushed Walker slightly out of her comfort zone vocally, \u201cTears\u201d is a much better m\u00e9lange of the two artists\u2019 energies.<\/p>\n

\n\tLead single \u201cOutside\u201d still feels a bit limp, but solo cuts like \u201cCheck Please,\u201d \u201cTrophies\u201d and the Jeezy-evoking \u201cErrTime\u201d pick up the slack. In that trio of songs lies Cardi\u2019s secret weapon for whatever follows Drama: DJ SwanQo. Between producing \u201cGet Up 10\u201d and most Drama standouts, the Grammy-winning producer-songwriter understands Cardi\u2019s voice better than any of her other current behind-the-boards collaborators. He crafts her deliciously menacing beats that pair perfectly with her ability to flip from a tongue-in-cheek punchline to a searing jab in a single line. The back half of Drama also houses the aforementioned \u201cBetter Than You,\u201d which suffers from a Cash Cobain verse that plays like an afterthought, and the Lourdiz-assisted \u201cOn My Back,\u201d which unavoidably feels like the result of Bardi and Doja Cat<\/a> being unable to sync schedules in time for Drama\u2019s release.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cOn My Back\u201d also features one of two Control-era Janet Jackson samples on Drama, which would be overkill if they weren\u2019t so well-done. The \u201cFunny How Times Flies\u201d flip on \u201cBack\u201d is undeniably sexy, while the \u201cPleasure Principle\u201d sample on \u201cPrincipal\u201d makes for one of the most infectious beats on the album. (Why Cardi decided to title her song \u201cPrincipal\u201d despite exactly zero lyrical nods to any of that word\u2019s definitions, the world may never know \u2014 homophones really can trip up anybody!) Of course, there\u2019s also a post-\u201cNot Like Us\u201d diss called \u201cPretty & Petty,\u201d where Cardi empties several clips on \u201cWhole Lotta Money\u201d rapper BIA<\/a>, while still delivering a hook sticky enough to live outside of its hyper-specific context. And, for what it\u2019s worth, any song with the line, \u201cI hate when a b\u2014h think she cute \u2019cause she lightskin,\u201d is an instant winner.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cKillin You Hoes\u201d is the album\u2019s proper closer \u2014 although the midweek release of bonus track \u201cDoing Too Much\u201d begs to differ \u2014 and it\u2019s a surprisingly laid-back conclusion to Drama. In fact, it almost sounds like a Nothing Was the Same-era Drake<\/a> outro. Cardi sounds truly settled in her status and herself on \u201cKillin\u201d; she no longer feels the need to convince anybody that she deserves what she\u2019s accomplished, and that she\u2019s earned and secured her spot. It\u2019s that calm, collected confidence that allows established modern rap classics \u201cUp\u201d and \u201cWAP\u201d to play like a highlight reel at the album\u2019s end instead of their inclusion remaining a cheap numbers-boosting ploy.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAm I the Drama? is an exhausting listen. There\u2019s a terrific 15-16 track album buried in here, but, at the end of the day, nobody enjoys digging for the jewels \u2014 especially after waiting to see them for seven years.\u00a0Instead of several mini pockets of proper narrative flow, the whole album could have (and should have)\u00a0been more streamlined. But the Drama is also equally thrilling and edifying, much like the experience of witnessing Cardi\u2019s rise and watching her maneuver celebrity, heartbreak and beef at the highest level. A triumphant rebuke of the sophomore slump and a project that genuinely feels like a reflection of Cardi\u2019s life \u2014 and not a hits-chasing collection of tracks \u2014 Am I the Drama? reaffirms that eight years after her initial Invasion, Cardi B remains one of the most vital rappers in the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n


\n \"Billboard
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