Just over a month before the release of her anticipated sophomore album, Cardi B has released her new single, “Imaginary Playerz.” The track, which arrived on streaming services Friday (Aug. 15), is the second preview of the upcoming project, following her previous single, “Outside.”
The new song samples Jay-Z’s classic 1997 track “Imaginary Players” from his album In My Lifetime, Vol. 1. Speaking on X Spaces earlier in the week, Cardi revealed that she had secured Jay-Z’s approval for the sample. “If he didn’t approve it, I probably wouldn’t even feel a certain type of way,” she said, adding, “But I’m glad that I came hard and he loved it.”
Cardi first announced the single on Monday (Aug. 11) with opulent cover art showing her in a white fur coat perched on a matching Rolls-Royce. “Just a lil taste of the drama. IMAGINARY PLAYERZ THIS FRIDAY,” she captioned the post on Instagram.
The single comes ahead of her album Am I the Drama?, which is expected to feature 23 tracks. The project’s lead single, “Outside,” debuted at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached the top of both the Rhythmic Airplay and Rap Airplay charts.
Cardi also confirmed that her sophomore LP will include her past hits “Up” and “WAP.” The Grammy-winning rapper defended the decision to include the older songs, writing on X in June: “WAP and Up are two of my biggest songs, my fans have been asking me to put them on an album… they deserve a home.”
