Cardi B Announces ‘AM I THE DRAMA?’ Single “Imaginary Players”

Key Takeaways:

• “Imaginary Players” is the second pre-release offering from Cardi B’s forthcoming album AM I THE DRAMA?, dropping on Sept. 19.
• It will be Cardi B’s first full-length project since 2018’s Invasion of Privacy.
• The single’s title may reference JAY-Z’s “Imaginary Players,” sparking fan theories about a possible sample.

Cardi B’s AM I THE DRAMA? rollout is the gift that keeps giving. On Monday (Aug. 11), the rapper announced the next pre-release single from her sophomore album will be “Imaginary Players.”

Ahead of the track’s Friday (Aug. 15) release, the Grammy Award-winning artist unveiled its cover art, which sees her posing in front of a white Rolls-Royce in a matching-colored fur coat. “Just a lil’ taste of the drama,” she teased in the caption.

As many fans have already pointed out, the song’s title is identical to one of JAY-Z’s In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 cuts. Whether Cardi B sampled the record or just borrowed its name is still a mystery, but the answer is only days away. Scroll down to see the artwork.

AM I THE DRAMA? has been seven years in the making. Cardi B dropped the first trailer back in June. “I’m not back, I’m beyond. I’m not your villain, I’m your karma. The time is here. The time is now,” she said in the clip. That very next day, she revealed the album’s title and cover. So far, she’s teased the full-length release with “Outside” and another song previewed at WWE SummerSlam.

“I’m turnt up at the party / I’m geeking out my body / She shake and clap it for me / These b**ches love some Cardi,” she rapped in the snippet.

She’s also packing the 23-track project with earlier hits like “WAP” and “Up.” In June, the rapper explained why: “My fans have been asking me to put them on an album, and people search for them on [Invasion of Privacy] all the time.” Noting that they’re two of her “biggest songs,” she added, “They deserve a home.”

AM I THE DRAMA? is expected to make its way to streaming services on Sept. 19. While we may be waiting a while to see the full feature list, SZA might have already volunteered herself. The singer popped up in Cardi B’s Instagram comments to say, “Lemme send this verse, chile.”