Review: "Invasion of Privacy" by Cardi B
Cardi B’s "Invasion of Privacy" was a partial success, but the tracks were all over the place and the album as a whole didn’t seem that cohesive. There were some top notch tracks with impressive production, lyrical finesse and flow that effectively represented the New York’s rappers roots, shameless gang pride and no-fucks mentality. Tracks like “Get up 10”, “Money Bag”, and “Bickenhead” all killed it and made sure we knew that Cardi hasn’t forgotten where she came from, in the face of fame. The catchiest track that earned the most consecutive replays on this album would be “Drip”, since “Bodak” and “Bartier Cardi” are both stars but have been over-played on the radio and become tired quickly over the past few months.
And while “Drip” was a viral hit, her dazzling rendition of “I Like” that paid homage to her Latin roots by re-working the fire hook by Pete Rodriguez and featuring Latin reggaeton artists Bad Bunny and J. Balvin on the track. This song is easily going to be a bass-busting mainstay of the summer, and we look forward to it.
Apart from that, collaborations were mostly like a miss, and sounded more like Cardi was being featured on her own guest artist’s tracks, rather than the other way around. “Best Life” with Chance the Rapper was decidedly Chance in style, and he overshadowed her entirely in the track. The two artist’s have totally different brands and in this case, they didn’t mesh harmoniously. “I Do” with SZA was the only other collaborative track that worked well, and that’s mostly thanks to SZA’s adaptability and the track’s production.
The R&B/sing-song style that Cardi went for was a bit of a disastrous attempt, as seen in “Be Careful” and “Ring” featuring Kehlani. Here, she tried to soften her crass, tough girl identity and reveal a more emotionally vulnerable side, but we wish she had just stuck to expressing those feelings through her raps, or even in music videos, because with more mellow production and emotional content, Cardi’s flow comes off as way too harsh. We appreciate her venture into all things experimental, but think Cardi might be better off sticking with what she does best: snatching weaves and and holding onto her raw hood bravado.