“My heart is beating like it’s bleeding out,” Cardi B sings on “Thru Your Phone,” the penultimate track on her debut album, Invasion of Privacy.
It would be easy to dismiss the 25-year-old star, currently #1 on the Billboard 200 chart, as all show and no substance. And while it’s absolutely true that in some of her interviews she comes across as an airhead, one listen to her album reveals her to be just the opposite: An extraordinarily self-possessed young woman. I can practically hear the gears turning in her brain as she explores who she is and what she stands for. She’s definitely not afraid to hype herself up! It’s hard to believe she’s only a few years older than my friends and I.
Tracing her rise from stripper to Instagram celebrity to rapper in the new “Get Up 10,” as well as the long-time favorite “Bodak Yellow” – which launched her to fame last year – she turns an intense and frank gaze on sex. We think of Cardi as emotionally invulnerable, but in songs such as “Be Careful,” “Ring,” and “Thru Your Phone” she reveals a more tender side as she sings about heartbreak and doubt.
And in songs like “I Like It” – an irresistible homage to her Afro-Latina heritage – she exudes just as much carefree playfulness as we would expect of someone her age. It’s my favorite song on the album… a true bop and a half that I can see myself listening to all summer long. She’s not an airhead. She’s just determined to make the most of her youth and have fun. Aren’t we all, in one way or another?
Now that her first album is out, I looking forward to hearing a wider range of her songs on the radio and blaring from dorm rooms or apartments across campus. “Bodak Yellow” is a catchy song, for sure, but I also think it’s been overplayed. Time for something new!
Far from being an invasion of privacy, this album welcomes us into Cardi B’s world, allowing us to revel in it right along with her.