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Pierre Suu / Contributor by way of Getty Photographs and Kevin Mazur / Contributor by way of Getty Photographs
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Cardi B attends the Ashi Studio Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2025/2026 present and JAY-Z at 2023 Grammy Awards
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Key Takeaways:
- Cardi B presumably teases that JAY-Z personally accepted her use of “Imaginary Gamers” for her new single of the identical identify.
- The music’s launch marks a pivotal second in Cardi’s artistic evolution and pays homage to Hip Hop roots.
- Cardi revealed she fought to launch the monitor regardless of pushback, calling it a “staple” in her new period.
Cardi B’s forthcoming single, “Imaginary Gamers,” ought to please quite a lot of rap lovers when it drops on Friday (Aug. 15). Forward of its launch, she jumped on social media to tease that she bought the monitor cleared by “the one and solely,” which followers can solely assume means JAY-Z.
“There [were] quite a lot of Hip Hop heads within the constructing … they usually heard ‘Imaginary Gamers,’ they usually completely like it,” Cardi instructed followers throughout an X Areas session within the early hours of Wednesday (Aug. 13) morning. “This music is sort of a staple for me … I’ve to get it accepted by the one and solely.”
The “Bodak Yellow” rapper additionally admitted she would’ve been tremendous if the reply had been no. “If he didn’t approve it, I most likely wouldn’t [have] even [felt] a sure sort of manner [either], as a result of it’s like, ‘OK, perhaps I simply needed to come a bit bit tougher,’” she defined. “However I’m glad that I got here laborious and he cherished it.”
For anybody unfamiliar, “Imaginary Gamers” takes its identify from JAY-Z’s In My Lifetime, Vol.1 monitor of the identical identify. Whereas Cardi hasn’t stated precisely how she could have sampled the ’90s traditional, she apparently went by quite a bit simply to get it out.
“If solely y’all knew the story of what I needed to undergo with this single,” the Invasion of Privateness artist instructed her followers on an earlier Instagram Stay. Earlier within the chat, she acknowledged, “I fought actually laborious to place this music out as a result of some individuals wished a special route, nevertheless it’s like, I would like my subsequent single to be extra of a Hip Hop route.”
“Imaginary Gamers” would be the second pre-release single from Cardi’s sophomore album, AM I THE DRAMA? At first of the summer season, she graced followers with “Outdoors.” The 23-song effort will even home the hit information “WAP” that includes Megan Thee Stallion and “Up” as bonus tracks.