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Cardi B Unleashes Jay-Z Approved ‘Imaginary Playerz’ Single: Stream It Now

Am I the Drama? arrives on Sept. 19.

Cardi B Unleashes Jay-Z Approved ‘Imaginary Playerz’ Single: Stream It Now

Cardi B

Brian Ziff

With just over a month out until Cardi B’s anticipated sophomore album arrives, the Bronx native follows up “Outside” with the release of her “Imaginary Playerz” single, which hit streaming services on Friday (Aug. 15).

The track samples Jay-Z’s legendary “Imaginary Players” from his 1997 In My Lifetime, Vol. 1. Earlier this week, Cardi revealed she received a stamp of approval from Hov.


“If he didn’t approve it, I probably wouldn’t even feel a certain type of way neither, because it’s like, ‘OK, maybe I just had to come a little bit harder,'” she said in an X Spaces. “But I’m glad that I came hard and he loved it.”

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Cardi announced the single on Monday (Aug. 11) while revealing the opulent cover art, which finds her in a white fur coat and sitting on the front of a matching Rolls-Royce. “Just a lil taste of the drama. IMAGINARY PLAYERZ THIS FRIDAY,” she wrote on Instagram.

It remains to be seen if Cardi will be releasing a third single before the timer expires on Am I the Drama? release date. “Outside” debuted at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Rhythmic Airplay and Rap Airplay charts.

Cardi’s sophomore LP boasts 23 tracks, including previously released singles “Up” and “WAP.” The Grammy-winning rapper defended her decision to keep the pair of years-old songs on the album. “This will be the last and only time I’m gonna address this,” she wrote 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, and people search for them on IOP all the time… they deserve a home.”

Listen to “Imaginary Playerz” below.

This article was first published on Billboard U.S.

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Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams attend the premiere of "Heated Rivalry" at TIFF Lightbox on November 24, 2025 in Toronto, Ontario.
Harold Feng/Getty Images

Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams attend the premiere of "Heated Rivalry" at TIFF Lightbox on November 24, 2025 in Toronto, Ontario.

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‘Heated Rivalry’ Is Getting an Official Soundtrack — and It’s Coming Sooner Than You Think

There's no stopping Hollanov's momentum.

Heated Rivalry, the wildly popular queer hockey drama starring Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams, has taken the world by storm since its premiere in November. The Jacob Tierney-helmed Crave original (which airs on HBO Max in the States) has garnered hundreds of thousands of fans who have fallen in love with the show’s synchs and score, and they’ll soon be able to stream its official soundtrack, Billboard can exclusively confirm.

The Heated Rivalry original series soundtrack, crafted by show composer Peter Peter, will arrive on all platforms via Milan Records on Friday (Jan. 16). Fans can stream the set’s first two singles — the high-octane “Rivalry” and the tender “It’s You” — everywhere right now. Billboard can also confirm that a vinyl edition is in the works.

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