Raw. Gritty. Unfiltered. Vulgar. Just what one would expect from hip-hop's newest female juggernaut.
Hip-Hop is still a male dominated genre with Nicki Minaj the only female flying the flag of the opposite gender; commercially speaking. That's until IOP's lead single Bodak Yellow burst onto the airwaves. A debut with this much hype was never going to deliver all that's expected of it, but it does deliver more than enough to justify Cardi's place in hip-hop and casts aside the "one hit wonder" tag.
The tracks are sure to have dance floors packed as they are hard hitting courtesy of trap royalty in terms of producers. The features also don't overshadow Cardi at all, they're evenly spread out across the board. That leaves Cardi with more than enough room to showcase her ability to carry the album. The runtime is kept at a little over 45 minutes, meaning easy listening pleasure.
When looking deeper than the surface of hard hitting 808's there's an underlying, almost ominous, tone of paranoia and vulnerability. She places all her flaws up on display, speaking without a filter that most rappers wouldn't dare do on a debut, proving that her 15 minutes is going to a mighty long time (something she alludes to on the album itself). She knows her fanbase and in sticking to the formula that brought her to the dance, I don't see her suffering a sophomore slump.
I know a plethora of people weren't expecting much from her after Bodak Yellows record breaking success, but this release puts her in the upper echelons of hip-hop.