Despite not dropping an album in 2019, Cardi B’s 2018 debut album Invasion of Privacy has continued to stream all 2019, making IOP Spotify’s most-streamed female rap album in company history.
On Sunday, Dec 29, Chart Data reported that the album had surpassed 2.8 billion streams. Nicki Minaj’s The Pinkprint formerly held that title with 1.8 billion streams. The numbers for IOP were heavily driven by the hit single “I Like It” featuring Bad Bunny and J Balvin, which has amassed almost a billion streams.
Not putting out an album this past year allowed Bardi to go on tour to promote her Grammy-winning debut album. She also believes that her success has helped other female rappers.
“I feel like after me it’s easier for a lot of female rappers,” she said in a recent interview. “Before me, there was no female rapper that was signed to a label. Well, you know, the ones that had been established. Nobody was signing them. Now, everybody’s just signing them, if you can rap and you got a couple of followers.”
After some backlash, she clarified her comments on Twitter. “I didn’t say I pave the way for female rappers but I deff gave the hood and women hope. Nikkas wasn’t collabing with females rappers. Labels where signing female rappers and putting them in a shelf and not focusing on them. Not giving them proper attention,” she posted.
Cardi plans to drop her sophomore album in 2020
