I said we gon’ win
Knock me down nine times but I get up ten
Look at myself in the mirror, say we gon’ win
Knock me down nine times, I get up ten
Cardi B dropped her album into a market ready for her to be the next big thing. She’d had enough successful singles for her major label debut (she’d put out a couple of mixtapes already) to hit like a ton of bricks and it did exactly that. I’m basically okay with that because, even though the album is flawed and somewhat inconsistent, it’s still a startling debut and boasts enough genuine greatness to satisfy me that she’ll be more than a flash in the pan. Cardi B is front and center the star of this album, though she gets some great guest spots from, most notably, Kehlani, Bad Bunny, J Balvin & SZA, all of whom do stellar work. But it’s Cardi’s unstoppable attitude that gives this album the bite it needs to overcome its weaker moments. I like her voice and I mean the physical attributes of it, like the raspy tone and the solid, if sometimes not particularly remarkable, flow. But I also mean the ineffable qualities, the aggressiveness and arrogance and confidence. The strut, I suppose, I mean. I was surprised really at the amount of menace Cardi is able to muster here; I was most familiar prior to listening to this record with I Like It, the Cuban flavored banger anthem, and so I was expecting a lot of party music on this album. But really I Like It, which smartly comes at the half-point of the album and thus varies the tone at just the right time, is the outlier here; there’s a lot of darkly threatening trap music here and even when she’s being vulnerable, as on the quieter ballad Thru Your Phone or the excellent Be Careful, she’s still manages to be scary. But really I would say the first five tracks are the best and they get the album off to a riveting, compelling start. There are highlights after that, like the two R&B duets Ring with Kehlani and the boastful I Do with a masterful guest spot from SZA. But the album has a fair amount of weak material on it. Best Life is maybe the first bad Chance the Rapper track I’ve ever had and She Bad is incredibly annoying. Bartier Cardi was a huge hit, but I didn’t really care for it either. I quite like 21 Savage’s voice; it’s got a nice fry to it and he has a laid back style. But why is he perpetually spitting the worst lyrics ever? But, even if a third of the songs here range from pretty bad to forgettable, the album as a whole is under fifteen minutes, so it breezes by quickly. And when the album is good, it’s great. This isn’t the masterpiece some people have been calling it, but it’s a sharp, often brilliant calling card and here’s hoping Cardi B stays around and continues to improve as she does. 3 stars.
tl;dr – with several great songs and charisma to burn, Cardi B lays down a sharp, impressive calling card for her debut album; a few missteps aside, this album almost lives up to the swagger. 3 stars.