A lot has changed since Cardi B released her last full-length album, Invasion Of Privacy, in 2018. There’s the small matter of the global pandemic, of course, but even more unnervingly, we had no idea what WAP stood for back then. It could be argued that the “Bodak Yellow” rapper was a relatively small source of the hullabaloo of the past few years, but she might say otherwise. Her new album, Am I The Drama?, officially drops September 19.
It’s been literally half a decade since it first made its way to our (and Ben Shapiro’s) ears, but “WAP” will be among the album’s 23 tracks, Pitchfork reports. Other familiar titles include 2021’s “Up” and “Outside,” which she released just last week.
“Seven years, and the time has come,” Cardi B said in an Instagram video teasing the announcement yesterday. “Seven years of love, life, and loss. Seven years I gave them grace, but now, I give them hell. I learned power is not given, it’s taken. I’m shedding feathers and no more tears. I’m not back; I’m beyond. I’m not your villain, I’m your karma. The time is here. The time is now.”
Fans previously thought the time would be about four years ago, when Cardi B’s team decided against submitting WAP for Grammy consideration, instead choosing to save it for a campaign they were allegedly mounting for a new album that year, Pitchfork reports. That project obviously never came to fruition, though the rapper did release a short snippet of new material in 2022 in response to an ultimately fake album “leak.” Since Invasion Of Privacy, she’s also released numerous collabs with Megan Thee Stallion, Latto, Glorilla, Rosalía, Lizzo, and more. At least she’s been keeping busy in the long hiatus.
