While the wider worlds of pop and hip-hop may not have realized it when it was announced earlier this week, the name of Cardi B’s long awaited sophomore album, Am I the Drama?, is suspiciously close to a viral quote from Scarlet Envy’s time on RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars season six.
But for the predominantly (if not close to exclusively) LGBTQ revelers at Brooklyn’s annual LadyLand Festival, “am I the drama?” is queer meme canon. So when Scarlet Envy emerged onstage at 1:35 a.m. on Friday night (technically Saturday morning, but who’s counting) to introduce Cardi’s headlining set, absolutely everyone knew why she was there.
“Happy Pride, New York City!” Scarlet shouted, prowling the stage in a shimmering red outfit and gigantic wig. “I’m here every single year — it’s good to be on the stage this year, bitch. My name is Scarlet Envy: I’m the drama,” she said to cheers and finger snaps. “I’m blessed to introduce this performer to you. She’s an icon, she a legend and she’s a hometown hero.”
“Who’s tucking today?” Cardi B yelled at the LadyLand crowd as she rolled up on stage in a black-and-white horizontal-striped jumper. “I’m an old bitch,” she joked. “I have like 100 kids, I’m ready for bed.”
What happened next was not the handiwork of someone with one foot in slumberland: Cardi led the eager crowd through a breathless tour of her biggest hits, despite the growing rain. “Let’s get sexy y’all!” Cardi shouted at the top of her set, perhaps needlessly – the LadyLand attendees, who had been gathering, gyrating, kiki-ing and flirting for hours, were way ahead of her, singing along and shaking ass the moment her tiny frame emerged on the fest’s Fist Stage. (For those interested, “Fist and Resist” keychains were available at the merch table.)
Flanked by two giant inflatable fists with nails even longer than hers, Cardi B delivered hits like “She Bad,” “Money” and her new single, the Offset-eviscerating “Outside,” with the effortless fervor and personality-drenched flow that catapulted her to fame.
“Imma spill some tea, get ready for the tour,” the five-time Billboard Hot 100 topper promised the audience of what was to come. Four of those five chart toppers (“WAP,” “Bodak Yellow,” “I Like It,” “Up”) were accounted for during her show. Despite the persistent rain that gathered strength throughout Cardi’s set, the audience remained undaunted and rapt; after all, it’s not every day you get to see a hip-hop superstar perform under the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (LadyLand has called Greenpoint’s Under the K Bridge Park home since 2023).
Prior to Cardi B’s headlining set, Ladyfag, the LadyLand founder and a driving force in NYC nightlife, told the crowd about her history with the Bronx-raised rapper. “It’s a full circle moment for me and Cardi,” she explained: back in 2017, before Cardi ascended to mainstream success with “Bodak Yellow,” she performed up at Holy Mountain, LadyFag’s legendary NYC monthly throwdown.
“She got very excited about being with the gays,” Ladyfag recently told Billboard of that February 2017 party. “She was only supposed to do a few songs, but she wouldn’t stop. Within a few months, she became one of the biggest stars in the world — and she always remembered it.” That connection and warmth was obvious on Friday night, with Cardi blowing past her bedtime to give the gays, the dolls and everyone else an experience beyond what any other NYC festival provides.
Saturday (June 28) is the second and last night of LadyLand 2025, with FKA Twigs headlining and performances from Pabllo Vittar, Boris, Eartheater, VTSS, Isabella Lovestory and Kevin Aviance.