Cardi B Releases ‘Imaginary Playerz’: This Is Not Hip Hop

We think back to the good old days when Hip Hop was poetry rapped over an instrumental and gave hope to the masses—not just to bop our heads, but to listen and decipher the true meaning behind the words, to root for the artist, to explore, to educate. Songs like Stan by Eminem, If I Ruled the World by Nas, Warning by The Notorious B.I.G., and even No Time by Lil’ Kim. Slippin’ by DMX. I mean… what happened? How did we veer so far off course?

Cardi B released her highly anticipated lead single off her sophomore album, Imaginary Playerz, which heavily samples Jay-Z’s 1997 song of the same name. Let me just go ahead and get this out of the way: Cardi B is not Hip Hop, and she is not a lyricist. To be a lyricist, you first need to be a writer—that’s step one. Second, you need to have a story to tell and be educated enough to produce that story into something worth listening to. Something that not only has a good cadence and flow, but can be considered timeless. Her version of Imaginary Playerz is forgettable, as it does nothing to separate itself from what is already being tossed to the masses: consumerism. Where’s the story? The impact? The hardship? The lyrics! No metaphors, no punchlines—nothing to make the listener go, “Wait, rewind that… what did she say?”

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Cardi B does not make music for thinkers; she makes music for people who just want to vibe, and that’s okay. We need to recognize our strengths and stick to them—especially musicians. This will always be the case unless they push themselves to achieve more. To grow and train to become students of the very thing they wish to embody. Cardi B is not a student of Hip Hop; she is the product of a borough she believes is enough to seamlessly ingrain herself into the culture, sneaking in it somehow and hoping no one will notice.

It’s a heavy tongue and PBS bars disguised as honorary storytelling—it’s disrespectful. And the only people who have the power to change it are the listeners. The real Hip Hop fans. The ones who listened to mixtapes before Hip Hop was bought by tech guys from Silicon Valley, when mixtapes were sold from the trunks of cars and men stood on street corners rapping from their dome—no pen in hand, just lyrics off the top, spitting with passion, dedication, hunger!

Cardi B is too coddled to be considered a True Hip-Hop Artist, and she cannot really rap. Is she good commercially? Yes. But can she ride a beat and rap for her life? No.

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Also, it appears that she can essentially do and say anything to offend just about anyone and then gaslight her fans into thinking her music is legendary because she has a likable personality. She’ll earn the co-sign of her peers due to pure kindness, not because they believe in her as an artist. Additionally, stan culture has become so insidious that a critique of someone’s craft is often taken as a personal jab, when in truth, that was never the case. Cardi B can have the best laugh, the best personality, and be one of the sweetest humans to walk this earth, but she isn’t selling us her personality—she is selling us her music.

And so, we have to critique it and come to terms with the fact that it is not good. It is not Hip Hop and should never be in the same conversation. Cardi B lacks growth and the intelligence needed to recite lyrics that tell a story. Not only that, but this new album is already proving she lacks the ability to showcase continuity when it comes to music. “Outside” and “Imaginary Playerz” are two very different songs—and she’s added both “WAP” and “UP” to the album as well. So it makes us wonder: will the album even have a story to tell?

“Am I the Drama?” But you include songs about beef being up and stuck, your pussy being the best and the wettest, how much money you have and can spend, and that you’ll be outside because men are cheaters. Oh my goodness…where is this album taking us?

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As a fan of music and a lover of Hip Hop, if Cardi B really wanted to earn the respect of music lovers, she would showcase her growth as an artist. There is none. An album is a body of work with a story to tell, not a bunch of songs mashed together for the sake of doing so. What did we expect? Well, the singles should have been points in the album that take us through the story—the lead single being the struggles in the marriage and what led to the breakdown of it.

“Of course sometimes shit go down when it's a billion dollars on an elevator,” to that respect. We would have been seated. Tell us about how you’re raising his kids and dropping $50k a month while he’s not helping. Tell us how y’all got together. Then drop another single talking your ish about how he’ll never find another like you. Where is your Lemonade? We don’t care that you can buy male watches and have links taken out. We don’t care!

Everyone’s hate toward the Queen of Rap will be the downfall of female rap if they don’t start to refocus and start loving Hip Hop more than they hate her.

by Lisa K. Stephenson