Cardi B, Please Don't Delay the Album Again

Good things come to those who wait, so that has to mean Cardi B's upcoming sophomore album will be a certified slapper, right? Judging by the new music she's dropped over the last few weeks, all signs point to yes. But when will the album actually arrive? It's been a long six years since she first teased a follow-up project to her 2018 lauded debut, Invasion of Privacy. She's shared her own reservations about dropping several times, however, this year seems like Cardi is serious. With fresh singles taking over, fans of the Bronx rapper are likely all thinking the same thing: please don't delay the album again, Cardi B.

Since 2018, she's been teasing a new project of some kind. Now, it's understandable with the immediate success she had with her hit song "Bodak Yellow" and her Invasion of Privacy album that she would feel a lot of pressure with a forthcoming effort to meet expectations that fans and critics have put on her. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, moving 255,000 album-equivalent units—103,000 came from pure album sales in its first week.

Invasion of Privacy earned Cardi a Grammy award for Best Rap Album in 2019. Between 2017 and 2019, she won countless other awards in various categories at different awards shows for her music and album: Billboard Music Awards (Top Rap Female Artist), BET Awards (Best Female Hip-Hop Artist, Album of the Year for Invasion of Privacy), BET Hip Hop Awards (Single of the Year for "Bodak Yellow," MVP of the Year, Hustler of the Year, Made-You-Look Award), MTV Video Music Awards (Best New Artist) and many more. With big wins like that, the pressure is on.

Cardi B's Sophomore Album Has Been Delayed Many Times

For the last six years, Cardi has said she was dropping a new project every year. Yet she never did. That's more than six times since 2018 fans have expected an album and have been let down. However, the 31-year-old rhymer certainly has not left her supporters high and dry. She's dropped plenty of bangers: "Press" and "Please Me" with Bruno Mars in 2019, "WAP" featuring Megan Thee Stallion in 2020, "Up" in 2021, and "Hot S**t" featuring Kanye West and Lil Durk in 2022. And don't forget the guest appearances on GLoRilla's "Tomorrow 2" in 2022, Latto's "Put It on Da Floor" and FendiDaRappa's "Point Me 2" and Offset's "Jealousy" in 2023. Even without a new album, Cardi's bars have never been disappointing.

So, what's taking her so long when it comes to releasing her own solo LP? In a talk with Mariah Carey for Interview magazine in 2021, Cardi B felt like she was being rushed to drop the album. Plus, she didn't like how the music industry was forced to chit-chat through Zoom during the Covid-19 pandemic. That meant she was restricted in truly showcasing the magnetic personality that fans and media have grown to love.

"I feel like I’m missing some songs," Cardi told Mariah. "Everybody’s rushing me to put it out, but I don’t know if it’s the right time. When I do interviews, I like to be in people’s faces. I hate Zoom meetings. They’re just so weird. I like to do listening parties. You can’t even tour. That s**t’s wack as f**k."

A year later, she admitted she was the reason for the album delays, but that it would arrive in 2023. "I have like a couple of songs that are definites," she shared on The Breakfast Club. "I don't know what's going on with me. I need to just make up my mind and just put it out."

Cardi was overthinking. "I think I'm too much in my head about it," she said. "I feel like I'm just missing something."

Looks Like Cardi B's Album Is Finally Dropping This Year

In 2023, the rhymer revealed she wanted her sophomore album to be perfect, which would further explain why it hadn't come out yet. She confirmed in an interview with Ebro in the Morning that she would release the effort in 2024. "Then on top of that, everything just has to be like perfect from everything because I feel like people are expecting so much," Cardi expressed. "For my first album, I didn’t get to do not even half the things I wanted to do because I was super super duper pregnant. I missed out on a lot of videos I wanted to do, I missed out on touring—I just missed out on a lot of things, so I just gotta make sure that everything is just planned out."

2024 is here, and it looks like there won't be any more album delays. Her husband Offset encouraged her to drop the project this year and "stop being scary." He also insisted the LP "goes crazy." On the inside, Cardi may still feel some of that same pressure from the fans and isn't oblivious to the internet trolls, but on the outside she seems more confident than ever.

"I promise y’all this year, I'm not letting my anxiety, I'm not letting what haters say, I'm not letting what fans say… If I do a song, I'ma just f**kin' drop it," she promised in a post on her Instagram Story in March.

Cardi B's new songs "Like What (Freestyle)" and "Enough (Miami)," in addition to her verse on the remix to Flo Milli's "Never Lose Me," which also features SZA, can only mean that a sophomore album rollout is finally here. While Cardi goes hard with the rhymes on her solo releases, she showcases her softer side with her feature for Flo. "Like What (Freestyle)" finds her clapping back at her imitators over Missy Elliott's classic beat for "She's a B***h." She applies pressure on "Enough (Miami)" and keeps it sweet and sexy on the "Never Lose Me" remix.

Rappers pride themselves on staying true to their rhymes, so if Cardi B's lyrics on "Enough (Miami)" are to be taken seriously—"God gave it to me, so I gotta pop it/I'm standing on business, I'm really about it"—she's a woman of her word. Will there be another album delay? Let's hope not. While she continues to cook up her highly anticipated sophomore album for release this year, the good thing is there's new music to listen to as the wait continues.