Cardi B’s journey is an unconventional example of the “American Dream”.  From rags to riches, stripper poles to stadiums, Cardi has achieved her own American dream and made money moves in the process. Cardi’s rapid rise from an Instagram personality, to reality television star to a worldwide rapper could not be foreseen and has still been considered a fluke. This album is Cardi’s assertion of her rap talent and a buoyant jab at all those who didn’t believe in her. (I’m sure DJ Self is somewhere reflecting on what could have been). 

Get Up sets the tone of the album and bears thematic and sonic resemblances to Meek Mill’s – Dreams and Nightmares. This can be largely attributed to the structure of the song, the opening being subdued and timid, the latter half being an explosion of tenacity, and both songs being based on the tragedy-to-triumph narrative. Cardi’s flow was previously less refined than her peers and often sounded somewhat disjointed and clumsy, particularly on her GBM mixtapes. On this album, Cardi has developed her sound and it works as a powerful instrument on punchy, in-your-face tracks like Get Up,  Money Bag and Bartier Cardi. 

If you have ever seen a 1-minute Instagram rant from Cardi, you would be aware that she does not hold her tongue, and her album is an extension of that candidness.  Throughout the album, Cardi force feeds her doubters unrelenting taunts and copious amounts of sneers. On Money Bag she brags by saying “I am everything your n*gga want, I’m like a walking wish list” and on Bodak Yellow she spits “You in the club just to party, I’m there I get paid a fee”. Cardi is not renowned for her lyrical flair nor witty wordplay but on this album she sticks to her strengths by offering her usual comical lyricism.

Production is diverse and electric on this project. Cardi offers her typical trap-like sound on Get Up,  Money Bag, Drip and Bartier Cardi but also teams up with Kehlani  and offers us the 90s R&B-inspired paranoid romantic track, Ring. On Best Life ft Chance the Rapper, she is reflective and grateful. The feature from Chance automatically gives the song a gospel like undertone, thus adding to the positivity of the track. On Best Life, Cardi is seemingly bemused by the trajectory her life has taken “I took pictures with Beyonce, I met Mamma Knowles” she raps in disbelief. With the help of J Balvin and Bad Bunny, Cardi turns Pete Rodriquez’ Spanish classic, “I Like It Like That” into a zestful latin-trap rendition.

The album is collection of juxtapositions, it is showy, brazen and ferocious whilst simultaneously being vulnerable, emotional and anxious. One moment we are screaming with her on Bodak Yellow how quick we are to cut n*ggas off but on Be Careful we are emotionally belching out how we are now looking in the mirror different. In countless interviews, Cardi has described how difficult she has found adjusting to fame, particularly in the realms of trying to keep a very public relationship, private.  Amid a slew of cheating rumours from her fiancé Offset, songs like Be Careful and Thru Your Phone raise even more questions regarding their hood-love romance.

There was much pressure on Cardi’s shoulders, particularly amidst the ghostwriter rumours which surfaced in the lead up to the album’s release.  It is indeed a good album, and when put into the context of Cardi’s infant career, it can be appreciated even more. From poles to podiums, Cardi’s ascension is mind-boggling and is best described in her own words as “Real life, Binderella  sh*t’. Invasion of Privacy is a response to those sceptics who thought her 15 minutes of fame would run out after the storm that was Bodak Yellow calmed. But Cardi brags on the final track I Do by saying “My little 15 minutes lasting long as hell, huh?”. And after her debut album went gold, Cardi’s success clock will continue ticking.