Cardi B

Invasion of Privacy

While Cardi B's own relationship with Migos's Offset has been thrown into the spotlight, Invasion of Privacy feels like her Lemonade moment, one that magnifies her insecurities for public consumption.

With the success that “Bodak Yellow” brought her, this album could have been filled with 13 carbon copies. But it isn’t; instead, Invasion of Privacy is filled with carefully crafted tracks which ably show her many sides. Cardi B knows who she is and where she came from and she isn’t trying to hide it from anyone.

While it’s hardly the kind of earth-shifting, politically-charged record music snobs demand but shouldn’t command from an artist of her caliber, it makes for a riveting and wildly listenable debut LP.

The cathartic vulnerability, twerk-team feminism, and free-wheeling trash talk she practiced with earlier releases is perfected on Invasion of Privacy. The project eschews the mega-tracklisting trend by delivering a solid thirteen songs fortified by carefully chosen features that compliment Cardi’s bombast and versatility.

On Invasion of Privacy, she breezes past the challenge of a highly anticipated debut by making one of the most exciting rap albums in years.

Invasion of Privacy flaunts so many different aspects of Cardi's game, it comes on like a greatest hits album, as undeniable as the excellent New Wave suit she rocks in the cover art. It's already tough to remember what it was like not having Cardi B around. Invasion proves she's here to stay.

This balance between over-the-top party starters and thoughtful reflection makes Invasion of Privacy an impressive debut for a rising star who can back up her outspokenness with raw talent.

Her debut album Invasion of Privacy isn’t so much an introduction as her final word: she is here to stay.