After seven lengthy years, three kids, one historic Grammy win, and numerous headlines, Cardi B is formally stepping again into the highlight. The Bronx-born rapper has introduced her long-awaited sophomore album, Am I the Drama?, set to launch on September 19 by way of Atlantic Information.
The follow-up to her 2018 blockbuster debut Invasion of Privateness—which went quadruple platinum and made her the primary solo feminine rapper to win the Grammy for Finest Rap Album—has been eagerly anticipated for years. Cardi B has continuously teased the brand new challenge, hinting at delays, near-completions, and shifting timelines. However this time, it’s official: the album cowl, launch date, and preorder hyperlink are all reside.
Cardi B revealed the album with a theatrical teaser video posted to her social media on June 23. Within the brief clip, she seems in a flowing black robe, surrounded by swirling (faux) ravens, as she delivers a strong voiceover asserting the arrival of her subsequent period. The monologue, delivered with attribute depth, units the tone for transformation and retribution, and hints on the themes that may possible form the upcoming report:
“Seven years and the time has come. Seven years of affection, life and loss. Seven years I gave them grace, however now, I give them hell. I discovered energy is just not given, it’s taken. I’m shedding feathers and no extra tears. I’m not again, I’m past. I’m not your villain, I’m your tyrant. The time is right here. The time is now.”
Whereas the teaser laid the groundwork, the quilt artwork confirmed the imaginative and prescient with hanging readability. The official album art work options Cardi B draped in a hanging blood-red bodysuit and towering platform heels, with a raven perched on her foot as extra swirl above. The recurring motifs of black feathers and crows anchor the album’s visible id, evoking themes of vengeance, reinvention, uncooked energy and ascension. Collectively, the visuals recommend an artist not merely returning — however re-emerging, unapologetic and elevated, stepping right into a darker, extra commanding chapter of her profession.
Am I the Drama? will function 23 tracks, together with fan favorites like “Up,” the viral smash “WAP” that includes Megan Thee Stallion, and her latest single “Exterior,” which Cardi premiered on the Cannes Lions Pageant final week. The fiery observe, produced by Charlie Warmth and DJ SwanQo, has already sparked headlines for its sharp lyrics referencing her ex-husband Offset and name-dropping her present accomplice, NFL huge receiver Stefon Diggs.
Whereas Cardi B has remained musically energetic in recent times, collaborating with artists like Lizzo, Bruno Mars, Rosalía, and Kanye West—followers have lengthy awaited a full-length follow-up as hype round a second album started as early as 2020’s “WAP,” however a full challenge by no means materialized—till now.
In a 2024 Rolling Stone cowl story, Cardi B revealed she was aiming for a launch that yr, nonetheless finalizing the intro, a couple of extra songs, and the rollout technique. “I’m a unique particular person each single day,” she admitted on the time. “I need to make membership data, pop data, songs to cry to, songs to yell to.” That emotional spectrum—formed by motherhood, heartbreak, fame, and the stress of surpassing her profitable debut report, clearly informs her new physique of labor.
Now 32, Cardi B enters this subsequent period not simply as a chart-topping artist, however as a mom of three, a cultural lightning rod, and a lady who, by her personal declaration, is completed enjoying good. As she concludes in her teaser: “I’m not your villain, I’m your karma. I’m not again—I’m past.”
Am I the Drama? is now obtainable for preorder and formally drops on September 19. If Cardi’s message is any indication, this isn’t only a comeback—it’s a reckoning.
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