At this point, Cardi B needs little introduction and, as she makes clear in her latest single, she damn-sure needs no validation.
"Press, press, press, press, press / Cardi don't need more press / Kill 'em all, put them hoes to rest / Walk in, bulletproof vest / Please tell me who she goin' check? / Murder scene, Cardi made a mess," Cardi raps on her hard-hitting "Press."
Like the genesis of her rap stardom, the inspiration for this track came from social media. Last December, the Bronx rapper was battling rumors that she and her husband, fellow rapper Offset, were staging a break-up (a divorce, in fact) in order to get more press and fuel the roll out of Offset's album.
At the time, Cardi's quickest way to respond to rumors was to hop on Instagram Live: "I be telling blogs not to even f****** post about me, so why would you even f****** think that I would put my f****** family in some bulls***?" She even previewed a snippet of this song from the studio late in the same month. But now, fans get to hear the full fury.
A disgruntled Belcalis Almánzar goes off on the haters, the blogs and the social media peanut gallery over a combative Key Wane and Slade Da Monsta -produced beat: "Everyone drop on the floor / She was talkin' but not anymore / MAC to your face like contour (Brr) / This chopper come straight from Dior."
It's a hilariously ruthless diatribe that still manages to ride the beat and make you root for Cardi as the underdog, not the bully.
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