The Bronx MC isn’t the first artist to gain an advantage from clever album maneuvers, but are they worth it?
On June 23, Cardi B announced that her long-anticipated sophomore album, Am I The Drama?, would be arriving in September. That same day, it was confirmed that the album was already certified Platinum with 1.5 million album units. While Cardi’s a generationally popular artist, it’s hard to fathom that this is due to pre-orders alone. Yes, the “Bodak Yellow” star is offering limited box sets and pre-saves on traditional streaming services, but it appears that Cardi has secured this stature for her new album with a clever tracklisting move.
Her 2020 Megan Thee Stallion-assisted single “WAP” and her 2021 track “Up” are both featured on the 23-song album. What Cardi may lose financially by not debuting 23 brand new tracks, she more than makes up for with the inclusion of these time-tested hits.
Both tracks debuted at No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100. “WAP” was certified 8x Platinum on Sept. 8, 2023, and “Up” was certified 2x Platinum on July 14, 2021. Chart figures have been adjusted in the streaming era, and since neither song was previously included on an album, their success as standalone singles will contribute (and have already contributed) to Am I The Drama?’s success.
This will be the last and only time I’m gonna address this.. WAP and Up are two of my biggest songs, my fans have been asking me to put them on an album, and people search for them on IOP all the time… they deserve a home.. I let haters make me not submit WAP for the Grammy’s…
— Cardi B (@iamcardib) June 25, 2025
This strategy begs a pretty obvious question: Why does Cardi B need to do this? The album will surely be a commercial success. Her debut, Invasion of Privacy, was 4x Platinum as of April 6, 2023. She is a hit-making machine, and, if anything, singles like “WAP” and “Up” prove that she’s still able to cook up chart-toppers years after her debut took the world by storm. Is she hedging her bets?
Cardi is far from the first artist to boost album sales in less than straightforward ways. Streaming has made this process easier than ever, and when compared to some other superstars, including massive singles (though they are a few years old) is a relatively benign act.
Way back in 2018, Nicki Minaj and Travis Scott found themselves in a highly contested battle for the top of the Billboard charts with Queen and Astroworld, respectively. Scott ultimately clinched the top spot, but Nicki was quick to point out that he had perhaps manipulated the way his album sales were counted.
Nicki cried foul, citing Travis’ “Season Passes” available for sale, which offered fans pre-sale access to his concerts if they purchased the album.
Nicki wrote on Twitter (now X): “Travis sold over 50K of these. With no requirement of redeeming the album! With no dates for a tour, etc. I spoke to him. He knows he doesn’t have the #1 album this week. I love my fans for the #1 album in AMERICA!”
She doubled down, apparently, with NME reporting that she said on her “Queen Radio” show: “What we’re not gonna do is have that Auto-Tune man selling fucking sweaters telling you he sold half a million albums, because he fucking didn’t. You stupid fuck. You got your fucking homeboy talking for you and you got your girlfriend selling tour passes. Stop it. Knock it the fuck off.” It’s safe to assume she wouldn’t be thrilled with Cardi’s inclusion of previous hits on her new album.
Scott was then at the center of more accusations of chart manipulation drama in 2024, drawing the ire of Sabrina Carpenter, whose Short n’ Sweet was battling the re-release of Days Before Rodeo for the top spot.
He unveiled a number of bonus packages, including Days Before Rodeo – Live from Atlanta: Chopped & Screwed – Vault 1 & 2, which featured snippets from the project’s recording sessions and a live anniversary performance from a Scott show in Atlanta. He also included three deluxe versions of the mixtape, each featuring two new songs and all available exclusively through his website. Carpenter wrote on X: “this one’s for nicki.”
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The issue has been most prevalent in the world of K-pop, where acts are notorious for loading up pre-orders with all sorts of bonus collectibles, ticket packages, and slight variations in release structures, incentivizing their fans to purchase multiple copies. Former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin went after HYBE in 2024, releasing a statement that bluntly accused the massive conglomerate of pushing their acts to engage in chart manipulation. In a statement, she said: “NewJeans was urged by HYBE to engage in album pushing during the release of their Get Up album to break aespa’s first-week sales record. HYBE’s encouragement for groups like NewJeans, who already have high sales without manipulation, shows a significant lack of ethical awareness.”
Album pushing is a practice in which labels or distributors purchase massive quantities of albums and offset the costs by promoting fan events, signings, meet-and-greets, and more. It’s arguably unethical, but it’s the nature of the game these days.
While Cardi B hasn’t technically done anything egregious with her tracklisting for Am I The Drama?, if she goes head to head with another star for the top of the charts, the opposition might get pretty noisy. For what it’s worth, Cardi has already heard the criticism, taking to X on June 25 and writing, “This will be the last and only time I’m gonna address this.. WAP and Up are two of my biggest songs, my fans have been asking me to put them on an album, and people search for them on IOP all the time… they deserve a home.. I let haters make me not submit WAP for the Grammys, and at this point, I’m giving my fans what they want! These two songs don’t even count for first week sales so what are yall even crying about??? Do ya say anything when all these artist pull out all their little tricks and ponies to sell out??? Exactly….Now let them eat cake. Go cry about it!!!”
We’ll see if anyone’s crying after Am I The Drama?’s first week of sales.
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