LOS ANGELES: Seven years after her landmark debut “Invasion of Privacy,” Cardi B has returned. And, in typical fashion, she’s doing it with plenty of spectacle.
The Grammy winner made her long-awaited sophomore album “Am I the Drama?,” released Friday, feel like prime-time theater. Friday’s release arrived days after she revealed she revealed her fourth pregnancy — her first child with New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs — and barely two weeks after she emerged victorious from a Los Angeles courtroom.
With a title that nods to the scrutiny that has trailed her career, Cardi B channels the swirl of headlines into music that doubles down on her strengths: blunt confidence, playful wit and sharp-edged bravado. The 23-track project features collaborations with Janet Jackson, Lizzo, Selena Gomez, Megan Thee Stallion, Cash Cobain, Kehlani, Summer Walker and Tyla.
Cardi B threads in past hits like “Up” and “WAP” with Megan Thee Stallion. That choice sparked criticism online for padding the album with older material.
However, Cardi B, never one to duck an argument, clapped back on X in June:
“This will be the last and only time I’m gonna address this…‘WAP’ and ‘Up’ are two of my biggest songs…they deserve a home.” She added, “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!!!”
Alongside those chart-toppers, Cardi unleashed fresh tracks too. The chest-thumping “Outside” and the breezier “Imaginary Playerz” showcase her range between hard-hitting anthems and smoother, radio-ready flows.
Cardi’s personal life has only amplified the spotlight. Her relationship with Diggs — who joined the Patriots this season after years as one of the NFL’s top receivers — has drawn as much attention off the field as on it. The couple kept a low profile until this week’s pregnancy reveal, marking their first child together.
The announcement capped a turbulent stretch for Cardi B, who also prevailed this month in a lawsuit filed by a security guard alleging assault during a doctor’s visit while she was secretly pregnant years ago. The courtroom win and public reveal only sharpen the backdrop for “Am I the Drama?”, an album that leans into the very question that has hovered over her career.
The rap star has three children from her previous marriage with rapper Offset: daughters Blossom, 1, and Kulture, 7, and son Wave, 4. Diggs also has a daughter from a previous relationship, Nova, who was born in 2016.
Cardi B will now take all of her momentum into the Little Miss Drama Tour, her first arena tour. The 30-plus date trek begins Feb. 11 in Palm Desert, California, and wraps in Atlanta in April, with stops in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and Toronto.
Cardi releases highly anticipated ‘Am I the Drama?’ album
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Cardi releases highly anticipated ‘Am I the Drama?’ album
- The 23-track project features collaborations with artists like Janet Jackson and Megan Thee Stallion
- Cardi B includes past hits like “Up” and “WAP,” sparking some online criticism
Second doctor in Matthew Perry overdose case sentenced to home confinement
- Dr. Mark Chavez, 55, a onetime San Diego-based physician, pleaded guilty in federal court in October
- Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett also sentenced Chavez to 300 hours of community service
LOS ANGELES: A second California doctor was sentenced on Tuesday to eight months of home confinement for illegally supplying “Friends” star Matthew Perry with ketamine, the powerful sedative that caused the actor’s fatal drug overdose in a hot tub in 2023.
Dr. Mark Chavez, 55, a onetime San Diego-based physician, pleaded guilty in federal court in October to a single felony count of conspiracy to distribute the prescription anesthetic and surrendered his medical license in November.
Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett also sentenced Chavez to 300 hours of community service. As part of his plea agreement, Chavez admitted to selling ketamine to another physician Dr. Salvador Plasencia, 44, who in turn supplied the drug to Perry, though not the dose that ultimately killed the performer. Plasencia, who pleaded guilty to four counts of unlawful drug distribution, was sentenced earlier this month to 2 1/2 years behind bars.
He and Chavez were the first two of five people convicted in connection with Perry’s ketamine-induced death to be sent off to prison.
The three others scheduled to be sentenced in the coming weeks — Jasveen Sangha, 42, a drug dealer known as the “Ketamine Queen;” a go-between dealer Erik Fleming, 56; and Perry’s former personal assistant, Iwamasa, 60.
Sangha admitted to supplying the ketamine dose that killed Perry, and Iwamasa acknowledged injecting Perry with it. It was Iwamasa who later found Perry, aged 54, face down and lifeless, in the jacuzzi of his Los Angeles home on October 28, 2023.
An autopsy report concluded the actor died from the acute effects of ketamine,” which combined with other factors in causing him to lose consciousness and drown.
Perry had publicly acknowledged decades of substance abuse, including the years he starred as Chandler Bing on the hit 1990s NBC television series “Friends.”
According to federal law enforcement officials, Perry had been receiving ketamine infusions for treatment of depression and anxiety at a clinic where he became addicted to the drug.
When doctors there refused to increase his dosage, he turned to unscrupulous providers elsewhere willing to exploit Perry’s drug dependency as a way to make quick money, authorities said. Ketamine is a short-acting anesthetic with hallucinogenic properties that is sometimes prescribed to treat depression and other psychiatric disorders. It also has seen widespread abuse as an illicit party drug.
