Cardi B’s Long-Awaited Album, ‘Am I The Drama’: A Review

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From New York City train stations to Harlem 125th Street, Cardi B has rolled out her new album with a marketing campaign that is nothing short of brilliant. On Friday, Sept. 19th Cardi officially dropped her highly anticipated album, “Am I the Drama?” It’s been eight years since Cardi’s last album, “Invasion of Privacy.” It’s only right that we expect the best from her. 

The album features 23 tracks and opens with her song “Dead,” featuring Summer Walker. Starting off the album with “Dead,” Walker’s feature functions as narrating Cardi’s goal of letting her rivals know that she’s standing back. Layered with a piano, Walker’s vocals are a soothing methodical tone that applies a confident demeanor to how Cardi seeks to stand on business. 

While she has been releasing music in the past few years like “WAP,” featuring Megan Thee Stallion, Cardi B hasn’t released a full body of work. Beginning the album as a notice that nobody can compete with her is ballsy. The rest of the album is left to prove this. 

“Bodega Baddie” is a tribute to Cardi’s Afro-Caribbean roots. Merengue and Spanish are mixed together with guira, a percussion instrument widely used in Latin American music. This production was different from the heavy drill-rap beats Cardi usually raps over.

While some of her older albums like, “Invasion of Privacy,” may have played on creative lyricism, Cardi comes right out in this album speaking on her real-life experiences. She’s well-known for her outright (and sometimes brutal) honesty, refusing to hold back on this album. “Pretty and Petty” ties into this theme, displaying blunt dismals of her naysayers. Fans believe that throughout the album, she throws shots at Ice Spice and former City Girls member, JT. But in “Pretty and Petty” in this song, rapper BIA gets a clear hit with the lyric: “Name five BIA songs, gun pointin' to your head/Bow, I'm dead.”

However, it’s an interesting decision to go from being “Pretty and Petty,” to “WAP,” closing out the album. Some felt that “WAP” was included on the album to increase sales for debut week sales. Cardi quickly fired back, saying “WAP,” as one of her biggest songs,“deserve[d] a home.” 

Her features include Lizzo, Kehlani, Summer Walker, Janet Jackson and Tyla. Of the collaborations, the songs with Summer Walker and Kehlani stand out as the most notable. Summer Walker’s feature opening Cardi’s album is a reverence to a Cardi B feature opening Walker’s 2021 album, “Still Over It.” The song, “Bitter,” explores standing up to a partner who’s using your relationship problems as public drama and other women who seek to exploit this. Though Cardi’s verse is a voicemail, she advises Walker to be the bigger person and create beauty of out the drama through music. A theme reminiscent of what Walker’s verse does on “Am I the Drama.” The two seem to work well together in processing their public romantic disputes and facing the people, heightening their private matters.

Walker appears again on “Shower Tears,” exploring confusion about the bad direction a relationship has gone in. Expressing anger at being cheated on and facing emotional abuse. Walker sings the inner thoughts Cardi is going through as Cardi herself describes the motions she’s going through. This second feature from Walker displays how Cardi knows how to use R&B as a backdrop chorus to expand the frame of her rap verses. This also comes through on “Safe,” featuring Kehlani.

Kehlani was also on Cardi’s debut album, featuring on “Ring.” “Ring” focused more on heartbreak at realizing that a partner will no longer be present in your life. On “Safe,” Kehlani shifts to a more celebratory mood. Delivering strong hooks that become earworms are what Kehlani brings to both her features with Cardi B. Her verse delivered the tone of emotional vulnerability and functioned as the emotional center that’s most present on the album. 

Now, although the album is long-awaited, the one thing that was missing from this album was a storyline. The album itself explores various sounds, but was this album more of a venting session or a cohesive work with a focus on a certain message? Many of the songs throw shade at other artists but there may have been a lack of theme in this album. 

Is there drama? Is Cardi the drama? Absolutely, and this is valid because drama sells. Cardi’s debut album “Invasion of Privacy” was a great introduction of Cardi B to the music industry, solidifying Cardi’s artistry. Given that it’s been eight years, we may be lacking a sense of who Cardi B is now. How has she grown over her hiatus? “Invasion of Privacy” let us know what we should be expecting from Cardi B, but shouldn’t the release of a sophomore album show the artist's growth? Maybe in this case not so much.

Despite this opinion, Cardi B’s album is currently certified platinum, meaning her fans are loving this new release.