Will Cardi B Bring the ‘Drama’ to the Top of the Billboard 200 Next Week?

The Contenders is simply a midweek file that looks astatine artists aiming for the apical of the Billboard charts, and the strategies down their efforts. This week, for the upcoming Billboard 200 dated Oct. 4, we look astatine the long-awaited sophomore medium from rap superstar Cardi B, and what its chances are of debuting atop the chart.  

Cardi B, Am I the Drama? (Atlantic Group): It’s been a long, agelong hold for Cardi B fans, but the rap large has yet returned with her 2nd album. Am I the Drama? dropped past Friday (Sept. 19), astir seven-and-a-half years aft Cardi archetypal bowed with Invasion of Privacy backmost successful April 2018. That acceptable debuted atop the Billboard 200, spawned a Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 deed successful the Bad Bunny and J Balvin team-up “I Like It” (joining her archetypal leader, 2017’s “Bodak Yellow [Money Moves],” besides included connected the album), drew rave reviews and adjacent won a Grammy for champion rap medium — understandably making it a situation for Cardi to travel up successful the years since. 

But now, the sophomore LP is out, and besides receiving mostly beardown reviews. The 23-songs-on-DSPs acceptable swarmed the Apple Music real-time charts upon its Friday release, occupying the large bulk of the apical 10 adjacent though, arsenic of posting, HUNTR/X’s “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters has since taken backmost implicit from Cardi’s caller Kehlani collab “Safe” (which besides received its ain euphony video) atop the listing. Response to the medium has been overmuch much muted connected Spotify, wherever “Safe” is the lone way from it inactive residing successful the apical 100 of the Daily Top Songs USA chart.  

Beyond its wide streaming returns, which should inactive beryllium reasonably robust for its afloat archetypal week, Drama is besides expected to merchantability well. Those numbers volition beryllium helped greatly by a wide assortment of disposable CD and vinyl variants, galore with antithetic varieties of medium cover, including the already-infamous “courtroom edition” taken from much-memed images of Cardi connected the basal during her battle trial successful August, for which she was yet acquitted connected each charges. Those carnal releases besides see 8 deluxe CD boxed sets, containing merch and a transcript of the CD — and determination are besides a assortment of integer releases, including a Bonus Edition with an exclusive 24th track, “Don’t Do To...