On Sunday night (Sept. 28), Cardi B landed her second No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with Am I The Drama?, moving 200,000 equivalent album units. After a seven-year gap — marred by delays and high-profile marital drama — Cardi’s sophomore rollout became a masterclass in execution, turning chaos into fuel and proving how rewarding it can be for her to lean fully into her own drama.
Following June’s announcement of a September release, Cardi handled the controversy with Jeter-like precision. She stood firm, brazenly defending her decision to slot 2020 smashes “WAP” and “Up” onto the project five years later, using Spaces on X as her battleground and firing back at anyone questioning her motives. And while her second single, “Imaginary Playaz,” fizzled on the Hot 100 with a No. 70 debut, Cardi stuck to her blueprint, stepping “Outside” this summer to rally her base and keep the rollout momentum alive.
She hosted WWE SummerSlam at MetLife Stadium in August, bridging her love for wrestling with a mainstream audience and brilliantly teasing “Hello” as her entrance theme. Then came her assault trial — a must-see spectacle where Cardi’s comedic wit and reactions stumped attorneys and flooded social media timelines. Within days, her hairstyles and jaw-dropping one-liners became viral gold. That wave became the spark her campaign needed: after being found not guilty, she announced “The Courtroom Edition” of Drama, doubling down by hawking CDs on the streets of L.A. and the subways of New York with her trademark charisma. Cardi turned memes into marketing plans and became the topic of conversation this latter half of the summer with her epic rollout to release week.
Her push carried over to the media circuit. Following her viral Billboard cover, Cardi hit radio, TV, and podcasts including The Breakfast Club, The Jennifer Hudson Show, and Call Her Daddy. She did in-store signings and meet-and-greets — while pregnant — a grassroots move virtually unheard of for someone at her level. Every play she made was an instant reminder to fans why she’s the People’s Champ. She mobilized her fanbase, and tapped into their allegiance more than ever by interacting with them in-person and online. While today’s artists largely lean on the internet, Cardi literally took it back to the streets, shaking hands, kissing babies and jumping on car roofs like we’re back in the ‘90s and ‘00s.
Could she have landed another No. 1 without this extra grind and motivation? Probably. But instead of a routine 115–125K debut, her surprise performances with Apple Music, A+ street-level hustle and perfectly timed pregnancy reveal with NFL star Stefon Diggs, pushed Drama into a full-fledged cultural moment. It echoed her 2018 Invasion rollout playbook, but with even more savvy and grit.
Most importantly, the music delivered. That’s what made this album cycle more than theatrics. She wasn’t overly reliant on features: Megan Thee Stallion on “WAP” is a legacy holdover, Janet Jackson’s appearance via sample on “Principal” plays as homage and Summer Walker’s appearances on “Dead” and “Shower Tears” are legitimately additive to those songs, but Cardi clearly shoulders the load throughout the 23-track expedition. If Invasion solidified Cardi’s superstardom, Drama proves she’s currently hip-hop’s rarest breed: an A-lister still hustling like the rent’s due.