Top Ten Songs from Cardi B'S "Gangsta Bitch Music Vol. 2"
“Gangsta Bitch Music, Vol. 2” is the second mixtape by American rapper Cardi B, released in 2017.The mixtape peaked at number 25 on the American Independent Charts, but didn’t appear on any regular charts. Due to its little success the project received no critical reception from the mainstream music press. Her breakthrough song, “Bodak Yellow”, released later that year, is not included on the record.
The mixtape consists of 9 full songs and one skit containing spoken dialogue. The songs portray Cardi B in a very confident, independent and tough fashion, showing her as a woman who claims respect, credit and reputation for what she does, musically and as a person, and won’t give in before she reaches it, often with radical or at least very direct methods. These traits are used in different contexts throughout the mixtape, among them contracts, relationships, success, payment, what her surroundings expect of her, and sexual activity. Unlike other female rappers who often use her body to appeal to many people, Cardi B uses a very feminist approach of openly addressing that she uses it dominantly to get what she wants out of a man - or for her own pleasure. She also occasionally demonstrates what happens if you try to fool her, the mixtape’s skit most notably explores this theme.
Musically, all songs are in the hip hop genre. Most of them, but not all, have trap beats. There are also hardcore hip hop and pop rap elements found on the record.
Guest artists on the mixtape are Offset, DJ Hardwerk, Justvlad (on the skit), Konshens, Hoodcelebrityy, Josh X and Casanova.
And may I say that this (admittedly relatively short) record is absolutely mind blowing. So for anyone who also kind of feels that most of the recent American hip hop that gets high praise feels a bit pretentious, and instead rather wants something that’s clever yet still straightforward and immediately hard hitting, this one’s for you.
This song is one of my favorite songs of this fine year, and pretty much my favorite English language hip hop track. The anthemic, dramatic beatwork highlights Cardi B's rampage as she takes revenge on the man who betrayed her trust. She's not frustrated or sad - she is furious and mad, and every line is rapped with perfect fire. This is top notch delivery. Also: the song's toned down chorus is one of the most pleasant earworms to have this year.
The poppiest song on the album, but it also stands out for its unusual topic of encouraging you to not give in to peer pressure, which is rarely heard in hip hop. It of course also fits into the album's theme of strength and independence, but in a whole different way.
She ends the mixtape with a true banger. The hardcore hip hop songs sounds completely different than the rest of the trap inspired work, but still so perfectly fits the dominant tone she set the nine tracks before.
This is probably the single best skit ever recorded on a hip hop album. I am usually not a fan of skits, they are sure fun to record for the artists, some might even have the purpose of connecting individual songs, but you usually skip them. But not on here. This is great voice acting, and like the rest of the record it's another puzzle piece needed to build the strong female persona that is Cardi B, showing very drastically what happens if you try to play with her feelings.
