On his podcast, Joe Budden expressed strong disapproval of Cardi B sampling one of JAY-Z’s classic tracks, “Imaginary Players,” for her new song “Imaginary Playerz.”
Budden said:
“She shouldn’t do that again. Don’t take any East Coast top three, four rapper beat, classic song, and redo that… That wasn’t enough.”
He pointed out that while the bars are there, Cardi’s delivery lacked the smoothness and aura that made the original a classic:
“Hov, when that dropped, was a much better rapper than that… Cardi is in the same pitch, same tone, sounding choppy, not smooth. Bars are there, but this is not the beat for that.”
Cardi B Defends Including Older Hits on Upcoming Album Am I the Drama?
Cardi recently responded to criticism about including her older hits “WAP” and “Up” on her upcoming album Am I the Drama?
She wrote on X:
“‘WAP’ and ‘Up’ are two of my biggest songs, my fans have been asking me to put them on an album, and people search for them on IOP all the time… they deserve a home.”
Cardi also addressed critics of this decision:
“These two songs don’t even count for first week sales so what are yall even crying about??? … Now let them eat cake. Go cry about it!!!”