Cardi B’s “Am I the Drama” had a digital roll out that had us all on pins and needles in anticipation of her new album. Would it be good, live up to the hype, would it have WAP on it? While I can attest that the album definitely lived up to the build-up, today I want to talk about the remarkable digital campaign that preceded the album’s release this past Friday.
The most notable piece of Cardi’s marketing pie was the way she made analog moments go viral. Her guerilla marketing moments chaotically splashed across social media were the heart and soul of her campaign. And while she absolutely held it down on more traditional channels like radio and television interviews and ad spots, the lifeblood of her campaign were those viral moments. In America today young consumers are constantly threatening to go analogue due to rising threats of fascism and surveillance, knowingly or not Cardi B managed to tap into a yearning for a time when ICE wasn’t literally knocking on people’s doors like the modern-day Gestapo.
Somewhat related is that Cardi’s album was also a bit of an FU to Atlantic Records. According to a recent Rolling Stone article, Cardi likened the record label to a corrections facility. If the speculation is true, I think many people would love to see her shake some things independently, not unlike what her hip hop predecessors (and Chicagoans) Lupe Fiasco and Chance the Rapper are doing. The former having his own struggles with Atlantic before leaving the label. The idea isn’t too unrealistic considering Cardi was a viral sensation before signing on to Love and Hip Hop and was an influencer in her own right before having corporate backing. Her personality, charisma and unabashed creativity would certainly lend themselves to her success if she were to go independent.
Her recent campaign reinforces her ability to not take herself too seriously on her mission to promote a project. From pretending to be a door-dash worker, a street corner hustler, and a cool mom just trying to feed her kids, Cardi played with various personas in a way that was endearing for her audience. In an era where most millennials would rather die than wipe their Instagram feeds, Cardi didn’t hesitate to go dark before the release in a move that kept us waiting in anticipation for what was yet to come.
Cardi made TikTok her playground during this campaign. She dropped a 15-second snippet of “Outside”with a slick choreo challenge, tagging a few key creators (including a couple of rising Black femme dancers who snapped). Within 48 hours, it was everywhere — fashion girlies, gym baddies, astrology heads (hello Libra season), even the skincare girlies were using it.
Each major track got its own mini visual — shot in vertical format, optimized for mobile. Cardi knew this wasn’t the MTV era. She was feeding the Instagram Reels and TikTok For You pages on purpose.
She also dropped interactive Instagram Story filters themed after “Are YOU the Drama?”, with results like:
- “Certified Main Character”
- “Emotional Terrorist (Cute Tho)”
- “Lowkey Villain, Highkey Icon”
People shared them. People dragged themselves. Cardi reposted them all. It was chaotic, hilarious, and brilliant brand integration.
She also slid into comment sections herself, hyping fans, reposting edits, and making it feel personal. Cardi doesn’t just go viral — she builds a digital ecosystem. However, the question still remains could she do it without the major label push?
