This month, Gay City News reviews the latest albums from bi rapper Cardi B and genderfluid singer Neko Case.
Cardi B | “Am I The Drama?” | Atlantic
Since the summer of 2020, drama around Cardi B has come from her social media instead of music. Even as “Bodak Yellow” and “Get Up 10” celebrated her rise from poverty, she seemed more preoccupied with her private life once she’d achieved her goals of wealth and fame. “Bodak Yellow” promised something great, delivering pounds of charisma. Within 10 seconds of rapping, she left no doubt about how badass she is. While her single, “WAP” — appended to her new album, “Am I The Drama?” — made a massive impact, it took her seven years (and countless loose singles) to follow up her 2018 debut, “Invasion of Privacy.”
“Am I The Drama?” finds Cardi besieged by trouble. The album starts with a collage of news soundbites about her. Beginning with “Dead,” “Am I the Drama?” takes aims at numerous rivals and imitators: “if you get money and you cute, you basically my twin.” Her fury is directed at female rappers, with shots at Ice Spice, JT and Nicki Minaj. “Pretty & Petty” lives up to its name, attacking BIA for an entire song even though she’s not exactly relevant in 2025. Without a constant stream of humor to leaven them, these dis songs would come off as unpleasantly bitter. Even with the jokes, Cardi doesn’t care much for other women: “Killin You Hoes” sets the tone.
“Man Of Your Word” and “What’s Goin’ On” turn her anger in a different direction: her ex-husband Offset, who repeatedly cheated on her. “Man Of Your Word” strikes a newly mature, heartfelt note for Cardi, stepping out beyond her tough persona. The extremely austere backing track, graced with steel drums, props up its emotions. She bids a gracious goodbye to Offset, yet her sentiments are tinged with acid. “What’s Goin’ On” develops them even further, but Lizzo’s sappy chorus, which interpolates Four Non Blondes’ “What’s Up,” wrecks the mood.
As for her other favorite subject, “On My Back” enthuses over a new lover, getting very blunt about sex but not limiting its lyrics to it. Singer Lourdiz’s breathy chorus adds to the mood. “ErrTime” picks things up for a wild night at a strip club, with Cardi ogling the female dancers: “for a bad bitch, I’m a whole dyke.” The speedy “Bodega Baddie” offers a major change of pace. Cardi responds to criticisms of her rapping skill by stepping it up over uptempo accordion and percussion, saluting her Latinx roots with a sample of Dominican-American rapper Magic Juan.
Cardi’s pissed-off sentiments are frequently set to soft, spare production with sung vocals and R&B leanings. This leads to a lot of incongruity. When she’s determined to hit as hard as she can, the beats let her down. Except for sexy drill pioneer Cash Cobain, the features come outside hip-hop. Cardi seems more comfortable with female singers, including queer R&B artist Kehlani, than rappers.
“Invasion of Privacy” hit every possible angle, from street rap (“Bartier Cardi”) to Latin trap (“I Like It”) to ballads (“Ring.”) “Am I The Drama?” repeats the same pattern, but it succumbs to Spotify-bait bloat. Its 71 minutes call for trimming: “Better Than You,” “What’s Goin’ On” and “Imaginary Playerz” are especially underwhelming. Still, there’s an exciting 35-minute playlist within the album, a triumph of the attitude that made her a star in the first place.
Neko Case | “Neon Grey Midnight Green” | Anti- | September 25
The lush orchestration of Neko Case’s latest album, “Neon Grey Midnight Green,” is a soothing balm. Re-introducing Case after seven years between solo albums, “Destination” is a manifesto for her desire to keep making music gracefully and avoid the traps society lays out for people who present as women. It salutes a friend’s independence: “you fill me with envy and wonder/somehow you live free of men’s eyes.”. For nearly six minutes, it explores the full implications of a credo as simple as ‘I want to live a real life.”
While she’s one of the power pop band New Pornographers’ two lead singers, Case’s solo music has long been associated with folk and country. This identification is only accurate up to a point. While it held true for hear early albums, where she covered Patsy Cline and Hank Williams songs, “Neon Grey Midnight Green” rejects easy genre classifications. Instead of mere decoration, strings, supplied by the PlainsSong Chamber Orchestra, contribute to a deconstructed take on soft rock, lending Case’s songs a large spoonful of Hollywood melodrama. Her stories may not be larger-than-life, but her music often is.
Case approaches her lyrics with great care for phrasing. Take the way she extends certain words to sustain their impact on “Winchester Mansion of Sound,” amidst bright piano that never quite settles down. It mingles the seductions of music and romance so closely they can’t be separated. “Louise” is a stripped-down torch song professing love to the woman of its title. Drums aren’t introduced till the song’s final 90 seconds. “Little Gears” threads her words over a snappy piano, with a shifting rhythm. The oddest song, “Tomboy Gold,” suggests ‘70s Tom Waits, as Case sings over saxophones sans percussion.
Throughout “Neon Grey Midnight Green,” Case rejects assumptions about life as a musician in her 50s. For these musings, the album sticks to a distinctive sound, light on guitar and treating piano and strings as the lead instruments. She builds upon ‘70s singer/songwriters without copying any particular artist. She proves over and over that she’s far from devoid of creative energy, insisting that she’s not “a has-been, a housewife or somebody’s lover.”
