Cardi B shot to fame in 2015 after appearing on the VH1 reality show Love & Hip Hop: New York.
Having already gained prominence on social media, she went on to release mixtapes and guest on other rappers’ hits before releasing her own debut album.
Robin Murray of Clash awarded, external her second album 7/10, writing: “Turning the focus back to music, Am I The Drama? attempts to pin down the chaos of her life, and – in the most part – succeeds.
“This is a record that feels like an exhalation, a long-awaited memoir that refuses to blot out the truth. [It] doesn’t flinch from the explicit, and embraces discomfort.”
Awarding four stars, the Guardian’s Alexis Petridis wrote:, external Throughout it all, Cardi B offers sharp, impressively witty lyrics delivered with brutal vigour: she never sounds like someone going through the motions, or doing what’s expected of her.
But he also took issue with the album’s length. “At 70 minutes, Am I the Drama? cleaves to an era when rappers felt impelled to pack CDs to the limit of their capacity,” he said. “It’s a questionable choice, particularly given a couple of duds.”
Cardi B, whose real name is Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar, has remained in the headlines in the years since her first album.
Earlier this month, she was cleared of assault by a Los Angeles jury after a security guard sued her for $24m (£18m).
Emani Ellis had alleged that the US rapper cut her cheek with a 3in (7.5cm) fingernail and spat on her outside an obstetrician’s office in 2018.
Cardi B has had three babies since the release of her debut album and has just announced she is pregnant with her fourth.
Her new album will be seen as a strong statement that she has returned to reclaim her throne.
And, as Petridis concluded in his review, the album “serves ample notice that getting on the wrong side of Cardi B is a course of action best avoided”.