Key Takeaways:

• Cardi B’s “Imaginary Playerz” samples JAY-Z’s 1997 basic, including a generational twist to her lyrical flex.
• The tune’s layered bars reference trend, fame and Cardi’s place in hip hop’s evolving narrative.
• Cardi seemingly hinted that JAY-Z permitted the pattern, signaling a co-sign from hip hop royalty.

Cardi B is giving followers one more reason to rely down the times till AM I THE DRAMA?. On Friday (Aug. 15), the rapper dropped her newest single, “Imaginary Playerz.”

Built round a pattern from JAY-Z’s 1997 basic “Imaginary Players,” the brand new tune serves as a follow-up to “Outside” and arrives simply over a month earlier than her sophomore album. Wednesday (Aug. 13), Cardi hinted that “the one and only” — presumably Hov himself — permitted the report. “I’m glad that I came hard and he loved it,” she advised followers on X Spaces.

Watch the music video for “Imaginary Playerz” beneath, then maintain scrolling for six of our favourite bars.

1. “Now I spit that other s**t / Pretty motherf**ker s**t / Cardi B, every song platinum, I’m not the other b**ch.”

Okay, possibly “every song” is pushing it, however the receipts are there. In 2022, the RIAA confirmed that each observe from her debut album, Invasion of Privacy, went platinum or higher, making her music/rb-hip-hop/cardi-b-invasion-of-privacy-platinum-riaa-record-1235050315/”>the primary feminine artist to drag that off. Since then, songs like “WAP” and “Up” have been added to Cardi’s ever-growing listing of plaques.

2. “And more archive, vintage couture on me / I got more Gaultier than Jean probably.”

Cardi dropped her second classic couture reference simply in case anybody within the again missed it the primary time. Here, she places a intelligent spin on Jean Paul Gaultier, a label she’s worn on repeat through the years.

3. “Whatever you was gon’ pay her / You gotta double it / Gloryhole / B**ches don’t know who they f**kin’ with.”

No rationalization wanted right here. It’s one among, if not probably the most, sexually charged lyric on “Imaginary Playerz.”

4. “Striped like Thom Browne, these b**ches should calm down / Quicker they lift up, the quicker they fall down.”

Cardi is a Thom Browne girlie by means of and thru. She wore the designer to the 2019 Met Gala and has stepped out in his appears to be like for a number of different huge moments, together with Paris Fashion Week. As many followers are speculating, this line is perhaps a dig at Nicki Minaj, who wore a pinstriped Thom Browne gown to the 2025 Met Gala.

5. “Poor thing / Twitter must be gassin’ them heavy / Makin’ them jump in the ring with the Brim before they ready / I seen whole fan pages make avatar changes / All that old love go to new fan bases.”

The “Bodak Yellow” hitmaker’s opps — who shall stay anonymous — get a few viral tweets and all of the sudden suppose they’re in the identical league as her. However, as quickly as issues do not swing their manner, the identical followers who gassed them up swap avatars and disappear. The excellent news is, there’s at all times room in Bardi Gang.

6. “2016, I had Fashion Nova lit / Ask Rich, y’all need your a** whipped.”

She’s actually not exaggerating, although. Cardi was one of many many celebrities and influencers the model tapped in its early years, and she or he launched her first assortment with them in 2018. According to REVOLT, their collaboration introduced in a staggering $1 million in simply 24 hours.