Bodak Yellow shot Cardi B to another realm altogether.You could tell her follow up single would go platinum before it even dropped.It did just that and this album had long had that path charted for it too irrespective of quality.That is the realm i am talking about.
We live in times where sales don't necessarily reflect the quality of an album.Pleasantly for the enthusiast,an album offers the entire sides to an artiste's game and there can be no running from the stuff they are truly made of.While Invasion of Privacy is a guaranteed chart blazer,it more than anything affords us an opportunity to finally put to rest the issues of genuineness of talent and staying power.Whether to accept she will be around for a long time or to expect a descent when the hype dies down.
The tracks.
1.GET UP 10
Hard to not respect that she opens the album talking about strength.The intention is good but she does at best, an average job.The keys playing for the first minute in consonance with the theme,really deserved more intense soul baring.The bulk of it gets lost in the delivery and delivery is the difference between beasting and a street corner rap battle.Cardi really did come across as spitting straight out of her rhyme book with little or no regard for how she sounded.
2.BICKENHEAD
A song for the fan base and they are bound to love it.The catchiness works perfectly.This sound oozes a heavy Nicki Minaj influence.
3.DRIP feat MIGOS
A decent trappy tune that appears an obvious attempt to pull off another 'Motor Sport'.The 'Drip' chorus is too loose to stick and the beat won't go down as one of Cassius Jay's best work.When the horn loop at the hook ceases for a verse,it leaves a very pale feel for some very good verses to go to waste.
4.BODAK YELLOW
Well,Bodak Yellow is Bodak Yellow; one of the greatest rap songs made in recent memory.Tight beat,mad lines.Epic.
5.BE CAREFUL
If you followed Cardi from Bodak Yellow and started this album from the jump,then you'll observe this is the first time she ventures outside her comfort zone-the jewels,the clothes,the cars,b****in on other b****s and Offset.Well,you can't safely say she wasn't talking about Offset.
She plays vulnerable Cardi telling the scum lover story and she does it quite well.A combination of Frank Dukes,Boi-1da and Vinylz ought to produce a better beat though.
6.I LIKE IT LIKE THAT feat Bad Bunny and J Balvin
She taps into her latino roots beautifully to create this great song.She had the 'i like it like that' chant replace the spanish in that all too familiar rhythmic background vocals while she thumps-Diamond district in the jag/Certified u know i'm gang gang/Drop the top and blow the brains/Oh he's handsome,whats his name?.
It had a good vibe to it but 2 latino verses after Cardi's isn't quite the perfect plot.
7.BEST LIFE feat Chance the rapper
A pleasant feel good vibe to this joint.She gets the delivery spot on a summer beat telling the bottom-up story.Mad credit must go to Chance for a killer hook and dope verse-"Hey y'all know good and damn well i don't want no champagne/But please can we get some more champagne/Please no Andre,G like 'venchy/Reach like 'Bron James/Pep talk from 'Yonce/Remember my hands had ash like pompeii/Now they hold cash/Won't peak like Dante".Chance really did come through.
8.RING feat Kehlani
Its a slow jam like they make them in the '90's and on a jam this slow,Cardi and Kehlani are oil and water.They don't mix.Cardi packs perhaps too much energy to tone down a notch lower and this leads to a loss of synergy between her tight verses and Kehlani's beautiful singing.
9.MONEY BAG
Super super jam.In one word,Money Bag is magic.She re-enacts Bodak Yellow with the same winning formula-classy display of unabashed bossiness and crass sensuality."I do the maybach monday and ferrari friday/This is sweet p***y saturday/Thats just what Plies say/I said bae 'its a snack'/He said 'its a entree/With them pretty a** twins/You look like Beyonce".Whats more?.She had J.white produce this too.For emphasis,magic.
10.BARTIER CARDI feat 21 Savage
Her 2nd single earned her more respect from the skeptics.They had every right to stay on the other side.Nicki Minaj had trademarked the big bad bossy b***h game and no one could tell how she'll play.But on Bartier Cardi,she stamps down her style-Cardi loves to rap and she does so harder than a Nicki ever will.The mean b***h game.
11.SHE BAD feat YG
YG lays a really infectious chorus and Cardi was on A-game rap.Dope song.
12.THRU THE PHONE
We were going to see all sides of Cardi B on here and her artistic brilliance is most amplified by this track.The steely delivery powers some 'hell hath no fury' venting in great style-"Beyonce on my stereo/'Resentment' on repeat/I'ma make a bowl of cereal with a teaspoon of bleach/Serve it to you like here you go/N***a bon appetit/".
Ali Tomposi nails the hook with some really captivating singing.Be Careful might be too blurry but thru your phone raises some valid questions about the state of her relationship with Offset.She references Beyonce's 'Resentment' and a leaked video of a naked girl purportedly made after she had sex with Offset in a hotel comes to mind first when she raps-"And you can tell your little b***h/I screenshotted all of her naked pics/Oh,you wanna send nudes to my man/Wake up and see your boobs on the gram".
13.I DO IT feat SZA
Its breath-taking how she thumps through the laid back beat with her hot lines.From the moment SZA comes on with the bomb hook,you are in it at same intensity to the end.Fabulous song.
There you have it folks,Cardi B won't be going anywhere anytime soon.