Cardi B returned to Washington Heights for a shock bodega pop-up to advertise her upcoming album “Am I the Drama.”

Cardi B turned heads and packed sidewalks Saturday afternoon as she returned to her outdated stomping grounds in Washington Heights for a shock pop-up at an area bodega.

The look got here. simply days forward of her new album, Am I the Drama, dropping on Friday, Sept. 19.

The Grammy-winning rapper touched down at Cloud Deli on West 159th Street round 1 p.m., drawing a 1000’s of individuals to the Manhattan neighborhood the place she spent a part of her childhood residing together with her paternal grandmother.

The occasion, introduced by way of her Instagram, doubled as a grassroots promo push for her upcoming second studio album.

Born Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar in 1992, the music/cardi-b.html”>Bronx-born artist has lengthy credited Washington Heights for influencing her voice and persona.

Her accent, humor and uncooked supply—now signature traits—had been formed within the very streets she revisited over the weekend.

The bodega pop-up wasn’t only a nostalgic pit cease. It was a calculated transfer in a broader technique to reconnect with supporters in particular person as she ramps up for her first full-length launch since 2018’s Invasion of Privacy.

That album earned her a Grammy for Best Rap Album, making her the primary solo feminine rapper to take dwelling that honor.

Cardi B’s rise started on VH1’s Love & hip hop: New York in 2015. By 2017, she left actuality TV behind to concentrate on music full-time.

Since then, she’s turn into one in every of Hip-Hop’s most bankable stars, with chart-topping singles and viral moments that dominate social media and headlines alike.

The determination to host the occasion at a bodega wasn’t random. In New York City, nook shops like Cloud Deli are extra than simply locations to seize snacks—they’re neighborhood staples. For Cardi, it was a nod to her roots and a solution to preserve issues private.

According to CBS News, the pop-up is a component of a bigger rollout plan that features a potential multi-city meet-and-greet tour, giving her viewers extra possibilities to have interaction together with her straight.

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