My Cardi B Confession
DISCLAIMER: This is a not an album review.
The day finally came, Belcalis Almanzar better known to all as Cardi B released her debut album today. There were two female artists that had shining years in 2017 and they were SZA and Cardi B. The latter obtained a massive amount of mainstream success when her single, "Bodak Yellow," shot straight to the top 10 of the Billboard charts and eventually becoming the #1 single for three weeks in a row. The last time this feat was accomplished was by Lauryn Hill, in 1998, for "Doo Wop (That Thing)." That was September 2017...
Shortly after that Cardi made the announcement that her debut album would arrive the following month, in October. I was ready for it and did not think it was rush releasing the album. Look, at that point Cardi B was no longer just an artist making music, she was an artist who reached true star status and in this crazy game of fame and entertainment you must strike while the iron is still hot. This is especially true when you have just arrived to a certain level of stardom and are trying to solidify yourself.
Both October and November went by and still, no album. Now, it was only two months but that felt like forever and honestly the steam was beginning to dissipate. Finally, December rolled around and Cardi was readying the release of the follow-up to "Bodak Yellow." "Bartier Cardi," featuring 21 Savage, was a taste of what was to come. The single was preceded by an interview on "The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon" which went viral because of her entertaining personality. Ok so the ball was rolling again, I assumed her team was waiting for the top of the year to release the album.
January 2018 came and went with no video for her latest single nor signs of a new album. What was her team doing at this point? There was industry gossip that Atlantic wanted to wait until Nicki Minaj released her album then they would rush release Cardi's album and manipulate the numbers to make it look as if Cardi was the clear winner in a competition that neither of these women really care about. It was four months since "... Yellow" went number one and with no signs of an album things were beginning to look bleak.
February brought a threefold blessing in the form of Bruno Mars for Cardi: a feature on the remix of his single "Finesse," a performance with him at the Grammy Awards and the announcement of a joint tour. The steam seemed to be building up again but then the rumors of a pregnancy started. Oh lord, say what now... February came and went and still, no album.
I remember last month, in March, when a friend and I agreed that if Atlantic does not release this Cardi album by June 2018 then she's pretty much finished; all of what "Bodak Yellow" garnered for Bardi would have been in vain. I believe it was the following week at the iHeartMusic Awards when she announced her album was arriving in April during her acceptance speech. Instead of sharing the news, with joy, on social media I said, "Cheapes' I don't hold my breath."
Well it turned out I could've held my breath because the final week of March delivered the official album art and a release date of April 6. I liked the album art but after such a long wait I would be lying if I said I was still excited. To help build up the momentum she released "Be Careful." On first listen, I said, "What the fuck is this?" Not every song needs to be a banger but even as an album cut I did not appreciate this song; it was a B-side in my humble opinion. At this point I had just about given up on Cardi because I honestly lost the faith.
Earlier this week she released another song. This time it was the uptempo "Drip" featuring Migos. The song title lacked creativity and Migos featuring on the song was so predictable. On top of that, the official tracklist was released with the typo "avaliable." I was convinced there was a plot to sabotage Cardi B. Thursday night arrives and I'm finally on my way home from work. The clock hits 12am, I open my Spotify, locate the album and press play.
All of what I just typed above, all of that doubt flew out of the window after listening to this album. My emotional ass was crying listening to some of these songs because I was so relieved, so happy that an artist, a person, a persona that I rooted for delivered a body of work that gave the public no choice but to solidify her position in the music industry.
As for the album and probably because of the rush of listening to the album there was not one song I skipped. Even "Be Careful" was tolerable this time around. It is still not a song that I care for but it has its place. Remember how I said SZA and Cardi were... the two of them are one track; "I Do" is the album's closer and what a tune it is. There are features from YG, Bad Bunny, J. Balvin, Kehlani and Chance The Rapper. The album pleases both in the lyrics and production department. I've listened to all of Cardi's mixtapes as they were released but after listening to this debut album I now have a good sense of exactly who Cardi is as an artist.
I am honestly happy for this lady and this month proves to be a busy one for her as she will make her SNL debut this weekend, she will be the first co-host with Jimmy Fallon on "The Tonight Show" and she will be performing at Coachella. Bardi is going to be just alright.
Oh yea, there's the pregnancy that still has not been confirmed...