Every once in a while in the rap community you’ll get certain artists that for the most part have a persona or dramatic element that seems to exceed their actual talent in the game; those types are typically written off by the time their albums actually release. In my experience, these rappers drop a dope song, do some touring for a bit and then fade to black of relevancy.

That isn’t the case with Cardi B. Within the time her album was released it quickly reached gold status based on the success of her singles from the EP which have all topped the Billboard charts. Face it, even if you wanted to dislike her music, the new album makes it almost impossible to reject her come up.

Between her hit features and singles:  Bodak Yellow – Bartier Cardi (With 21 Savage) – No Limit (with G-Eazy) – Be Careful – Finnesse (with Bruno Mars) – Motorsport (with Migos and Nicki Minaj) you’d have to like at least one of those songs and that concept is whats so showing about her overall appeal to the industry.

She can make you a believer of her work even if you really weren’t trying to acknowledge her in the first place.

Anyhow, this new album SLAPS(Millennial Translation: It’s really good). Here’s my five favorite tracks with added commentary.

• The first track is called “Get Up 10” which starts with an infectious intro feel that’ll give you the same vibes as if its Meek Meek’s “Dreams vs Nightmares”. Its one of those tracks that will pull in the rap heads that appreciate rap bars over gimmicks.  A great starter track for the album and a well rounded track for anyone that appreciates a dope flow and production. A great song for gym or any amped up mood at the time.
• “Drip” has the formula for another rap radio single with its southern trap feel mixed up with Cardi’s bars. Its one of those songs you’d play with the windows down on a Friday after you just got paid and you’re heading out for the weekend. Drip is anther club banger for the new era of hip hop that Migo’s has popularized for sure. Get ready to hear this track outside of every club that likely has 10 different variations of Hennesey.
• “Bickenhead” brings you that Three Six Mafia  feels for another nostalgia based production track. The bars weren’t as good as “Get Up 10”, but for the quality of the production you really don’t need to spit a hot 16. ” Bickenhead”gets heavy rotation with extra kudos for the correlation to the original “Chicken Head” production and i totally am here for it. 
• “I Like It” shows Cardi’s artistic versatility and gets to put off some of her Dominican vibes as she fuses her flow with another Latin music superstar, J Baldwin. I’m a little upset she isn’t rapping in Spanish on the track, but crossover rap/latin tracks usually have that bilingual vibe. This will be the track that i’ll bump when i’m in my festive Afro-Latino feels. Also see:  the hood approved “Despacito”.
• “Thru Your Phone” is another track that seems to be a little bit more personal than the aforementioned ones. Amidst some rumors about her relationship with Offset, this song looks like it confronts some of the rumors of infidelity on his end and how she’s handling it. Shes carrying the raw, sporadic vibes we all know and love, but also showing some vulnerability within herself that we don’t always get to hear. Prepare to see the quotes all over Facebook and IG from women subliminally dissing whoever it is they’ve had bad experiences with.

Overall, i’m thoroughly impressed. I’m something of a non-conformist in hip-hop, mostly, as I rock with Wu Tang, Tribe Called Quest and Run the Jewels on a daily basis with some variations of trap music lamented here and there as needed. Cardi has earned some respect from the culture with such a solid album and proved that her presence in the rap game is more than that of ten minutes of fame. Solidity in the form of a well rounded project that caters to multiple hip hip tastes.

Invasion of Privacy gets 4/5 stars from Play Your Way Network.

The Good: Great album, excellent production value and plenty of single worthy tracks that’ll stretch this album out on the Billboard charts and streaming numbers for quite a while.

The Bad: Some of the tracks lack features where they should like “Bickenhead” would’ve been a great opportunity to call in Juicy J or Project Pat. Other songs like “She Bad” just sound like Cardi versions of the same song we’ve heard all over hip hop radio already.

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