Former stripper turned reality TV star puts out a hip-hop EP. On the surface, some might presume it’s doomed to failure, a venture designed for the ‘shallow’ hip-hop fans more preoccupied with industry gossip than the music itself. However, Cardi B’s mixtape Gangsta Bitch Music Vol. 1 feeds her loyal fan base (2.8 million Instagram followers) perfectly and is also, arguably, the best music to come out of the TV show Love And Hip-Hop New York for some time – although Cardi’s music was barely ever featured on the programme.

This is typical of Cardi B’s story. Often dismissed and under- estimated, she somehow manages to pull herself up to the top. It is for this reason, more than anything else, that will make you want to like this project.

Her famous catchphrases ‘WASHPOPPIN’ and ‘FOREVA’ inform the titles of the project’s two stand out tracks, racking up – at the time of writing – a total of 231k and 328k plays respectively on Soundcloud. Swift on Demand shines as the more prominent producer, with his efforts being the more catchy and memorable. Other producers on the project include Lamshaft, Josh Xantus and BMC Beats, who bring us sounds ranging from trap to garish EDM.

Historically, many of the best rappers hail from New York and Gangsta Bitch Music Vol. 1 is dotted with references to such. On WASHPOPPIN Lil Kim’s ‘you wanna be my main squeeze, baby. Dontcha?/You want get between my knees, baby’ is converted into, ‘you hit the club with 20 Gs, baby/And spend it all on Cardi B, baby’. Notorious B.I.G’s Ten Crack Commandments is reworked into Ten Trick Commandments – a song about using men for money. Even the project’s artwork, which depicts Cardi B recieving oral sex, is very similar to a Remy Ma scene from the Terror Squad video for Lean Back. Because of this, you can’t help but form comparisons, which only makes you see this EP for what it really is.

Cardi B the underdog, big mouth and comedian, is great. However, Cardi B the rapper, definitely needs work.

Trina John-Charles