Cardi B, Outside | Song Review 🎵

Grammy-winning rapper Cardi B drops her first single of 2025, the entertaining, hard-nosed, and malicious-sounding banger, “Outside.”

According to the gospel of Cardi B, “Outside niggas love a outside bitch / But be mad when they – get some outside…” Ponder those lyrics (*cough, cough – Offset shade). Once more, the Grammy-winning rapper drops a new single, “Outside”, yet we still wait for her sophomore album to arrive – it’s been seven years since the release of Invasion of Privacy. Is “Outside” the next step forward in an eventual second album? Perhaps. As we have heard throughout her post-Invasion of Privacy singles, Cardi remains aggressive, hard-nosed, and tough-minded. She gives us a well-rounded cadence and flow. Does she sound fresh or innovative? No, but there is some spark. 

Cardi B gets a lift from the malicious-sounding, minor-key instrumental.  There are lots of cooks in the kitchen, aka songwriters, in the kitchen.  HeyMicki, Charlie Heat, and DJ SwanQo, all credited as writers, produced “Outside.” The beat makes you nod your head.  The looped synths are sort of been there, done that, but still effective. The spare brass moments are one of the highlights of the backdrop. Cardi B is unapologetic, asserting in the pre-chorus, “Next time you see your mama, tell her how she raised a bitch.” Oh, shit! The chorus that follows is fun, where the rapper is liberated, you might say:

“(I’m goin’ out), on the pop-out (Side), ‘cause it’s hot out

(I’m goin’ out), You was playin’ gamеs (Side), now you on timeout

(I’m goin’ out), Wherе the fine niggas? (Side), I’m tryna find niggas

(Out), I been cuffed up too long (Side), let me remind niggas (Yeah).”

Woo! The verses yield some memorable lines whether its, “I like my niggas black and countyr, that’s just what it is / I can tell that he excited ‘cause he go from small to big,” or, “Booty cheeks gotta shake, flirty niggas got some pape’ / Let me know the time and place, I’m just tryna ride his face.” Da-yum, Cardi! All in all, “Outside” is an entertaining rap banger.  Is it on the level of the bops Cardi delivered during her Invasion of Privacy days? No, but it’s respectable.