Alright, settle down, because the moment we’ve all been… well, not exactly waiting seven years for, but certainly aware of, has finally arrived! Cardi B has unleashed her second album, “Am I The Drama?”, and let me tell you, it’s a bit like finding an old, slightly bruised, but still sparkly tiara at the back of a drawer. This isn’t just an album review, it’s an archaeological dig into the mind of rap’s most boisterous persona.
Now, for those of you who’ve been living under a rock (or perhaps just blissfully enjoying some peace and quiet), “Am I The Drama?” drops a blistering collection of tracks, referencing her recent divorce from Offset and her ongoing lyrical fisticuffs with fellow rapper, Bia. A title, by the way, inspired by a RuPaul’s Drag Race meme. Because of course it is. This is her first full length effort since her blockbuster 2018 debut, Invasion of Privacy, and the general consensus seems to be that the queen of chaos is back. Did she ever really leave, though? One could argue she’s been a constant, glitter bombed presence in our lives, just, you know, without the actual music.
She’s got a long list of scores to settle, enemies to crush, crowns to claim, according to Rolling Stone‘s Rob Sheffield. And frankly, you can hear it. Right from the off, with the opener ‘Dead,’ she’s not messing about. Never smart to beef with me, “what can I say? These hoes be dumb, bitches die young,” she spits. And then, she’s off, tearing strips off everyone from Nicki Minaj (invoking a hotly denied rumour about tax woes, bless her) to Ice Spice and JT. It’s pure, unadulterated, gloves off rivalry, and you almost wonder if she’ll run out of bile before she even gets to her ex husband. But fear not, she makes a pit stop there too, serving up some fabulously passive aggressive lines on “Man of Your Word,” essentially saying, “fault on both sides, but considerably more on yours than mine.” Classic.
The lyrics are, as Alexis Petridis of The Guardian put it, “sharp, impressively witty… delivered with brutal vigour.” She’s not “going through the motions,” he says, and you believe him. You really do. She reflects on her marriage breakdown, even admitting, “As a wife I should have realised when you were hurt / But instead I put my music first.” But also, “Last time you fcuked up, I said I was done / Messed up again, I took you back, I was dumb.” Oh, the honesty! She’s also doing Bia a favour, apparently, by giving her Epic record label some publicity. Because nothing says “I’m above it all” like a direct diss track, does it?
Musically, it’s a bit of a mixed bag, which is perhaps to be expected after a seven year gap. There’s a decent spread, from the bright pop of “What’s Goin’ On” (featuring Lizzo, whose Barbie brightness sometimes struggles to mesh with the trap beat) to the warp speed salsa of “Bodega Baddie”. The Janet Jackson feature on “Principle” is, let’s be honest, probably just there for the bragging rights, as her actual contribution is understated and nothing special. And then there are the old singles, “WAP” and “Up,” tacked on. While they hold up, they do feel a bit like a grab for streaming numbers, don’t they? “WAP” is still a banger, mind, but it’s doing a lot of heavy lifting here.
The big sticking point, it seems, is the sheer length. At 23 tracks and 70 minutes, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. As Will Hodgkinson of The Times dryly noted, “At 23 tracks, it is far too long… and there are only so many times you can hear playground taunts set against drill and trap beats.” And he’s got a point. Even with streaming allowing us to fillet out the bits you don’t like, it’s a hefty listen. Robin Murray of Clash gave it a respectable 7/10, noting it “doesn’t flinch from the explicit, and embraces discomfort.”
So, after all the pregnancies (three since her debut!) and court appearances (she was cleared of assault, calling a security guard a “bitch” not “fat,” for the record), is she back to reclaim her throne? Young Thug certainly thinks so, moving his album release date to avoid clashing. That’s a bold move in the cutthroat world of hip-hop. “Am I The Drama?” starts with a skit about a “murder spree” leading to “one of the darkest chapters in music history.” It promises a rampage that, in the end, feels a bit like a “false alarm.”
But for all its flaws and meandering moments, one thing is clear: “getting on the wrong side of Cardi B is a course of action best avoided.” She might be showing signs of musical fatigue in parts, but when she’s on, she’s still a force of nature. It’s a statement album, even if it’s a bit of a long winded one. So, grab a brew, put your feet up, and delve into the glorious, chaotic world of Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar. Just be prepared for a long haul.
