Cardi B, Imaginary Playerz | Song Review 🎵

Grammy-winning rapper Cardi B brings the heat on “Imaginary Playerz,” which samples a 1990s Jay-Z joint. 

“It’s the motherfuckin’ Brimcess, you heard?” Oh, shit! Grammy-winning rapper Cardi B continues flexing in the intro of “Imaginary Playerz”: “The shit these bitches be braggin’ about is like / Shit I was doin’ in like 2016, type shit.” Woo!  “Imaginary Playerz” is the fifth track from the rapper’s long-awaited (an understatement) sophomore album, AM I THE DRAMA?. DJ SwanQo, Sean Island, and OctaneThisThatGas produced it. Notably, “Imaginary Playerz” samples multiple elements from the 1997 Jay-Z song, “Imaginary Player”.

Cardi B brings a compelling cadence and flow over the chill backdrop.  Fierce and unapologetic as fuck, she has her fair share of memorable lines.  After bragging about her platinum status, she delivers the savage gem of a line, “Gloryhole, bitches don’t know who they fuckin’ with.” Gah-day-um! Confident, still taking victory laps in the first verse, Cardi asserts, “Bitches say I think I’m the shit, and do (And do), and did.” Word.  Her confidence only ascends in the second verse where she continues to eradicate bitches, stating, “I’m a star, but I’ll smack you, don’t get starstruck.” Concluding the verse, she bites, “I’m a legend, they gon’ hang my heels from the power lines.” Interludes separate the three verses, so there is no chorus.  No worries, as Cardi has plenty of firepower throughout those verses, including “My flop and your flop is not the same / If you did my numbers, y’all would pop champagne / If I did your numbers, I would hop out a plane / Suicide, if I fall from the distance ‘tween you and I.” Damn!  Ultimately, “Imaginary Playerz” is enjoyable from start to finish. Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar shows more range than usual on this one.