After seven years, Cardi B has made her long-awaited return to the Billboard 200 with Am I the Drama?
Bardi’s sophomore studio album opened atop the all-format ranking with 200,000 first-week units, making her the first female rapper in history to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with her first two albums. Housing the Hot 100-charting singles “Outside” (No. 10) and “Imaginary Playerz” (No. 70), Cardi’s 23-song new set also includes the No. 1 hits “Up” and “WAP” (with Megan Thee Stallion). Over the weekend, Cardi graced NYC’s Global Citizen Festival alongside Shakira, Rosé, Tyla and Ayra Starr.
“Thank you sooo much everybody that supported my album!! Two weeks ago the album was projected to do 115k off of [“Outside”] and [“Imaginary Playerz”],” Cardi wrote on X (Sept. 28). “I didn’t know what the outcome was gonna be. I didn’t put out [an] album in 7 years, and haven’t put out as much music in the last year, but we just surpassed all [those] expectations. Thank you to everyone who gave the album a listen, did a video to the songs and everything!! You don’t know the confidence and boost you gave me in my music to keep pushing. I can’t wait to see you guys on tour. Tonight we celebrate!!! I can’t pop no champagne… but maybe I can open up some cranberry juice or something!”
Outside of Cardi’s Billboard 200 return, this weekend also boasted a slew of new albums, including releases from Mariah Carey (Here for It All), Doja Cat (Vie) and Young Thug (UY Scuti). From ’80s tributes to whiteface album artwork, September certainly went out with a bang. Of course, the biggest news of the month arrived Sunday night (Sept. 28), with the official announcement of Bad Bunny as the headliner for next year’s Apple Music-sponsored Super Bowl LX halftime show in California (Feb. 8, 2026).
With Fresh Picks, Billboard aims to highlight some of the best and most interesting new sounds across R&B and hip-hop — from a new Syd joint to Toosii and YoungBoy Never Broke Again’s new collaboration. Be sure to check out this week’s Fresh Picks in our Spotify playlist below.
