"Jay Z cleared the sample for THIS?"- Internet divided as Cardi B drops the music video of her new single 'Imaginary Playerz'

Cardi B teased her new single Imaginary Playerz on August 14 and released it with a music video on August 15. The song samples Jay-Z’s iconic track Imaginary Players from his second album In My Lifetime, Vol. 1.

Earlier this week, Cardi revealed that the track was approved by Jay-Z himself. In an X Spaces, the rapper said,

"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,' But I'm glad that I came hard and he loved it."

Many netizens had expressed their take on Hov approving the sample for the track as well as on the latest release. Here are some popular reactions found on social media platforms like X on the matter.

Several netizens liked the track and shared the same on X.

According to reports by Billboard, the Bodak Yellow rapper first announced this single on Monday, August 11, 2025. A cover art for the same was released in which she could be seen wearing a white fur coat and sitting on the front of a Rolls-Royce of the same color. While announcing the album, the rapper wrote on Instagram,

"Just a lil taste of the drama. IMAGINARY PLAYERZ THIS FRIDAY."

Imaginary Playerz is the second single from Cardi B's upcoming studio album, which was a newly released track

Cardi B is all set to release her upcoming album, which will also be her sophomore album, Am I the Drama?, on September 19, 2025. She had previously revealed that three tracks, Outside, WAP, and Up, were included in the album.

Amongst these three, both WAP and Up were released long before she even announced the sophomore album. Outside, meanwhile, was released in June 2025 and is the lead single of the album. Imaginary Playerz has become the second song to be dropped by the rapper, particularly for the upcoming album.

It is unclear if she will drop any more singles from the upcoming album before its release date. Outside became quite popular with reaching its place at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and also topping the Rhythmic Airplay and Rap Airplay charts. Cardi B's sophomore album is set to have 23 tracks, out of which four are currently known.

In June 2025, Cardi B defended her decision to include her pre-released tracks in her upcoming album. She wrote in a tweet,

"This will be the last and only time I’m gonna address this. 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.”

Meanwhile, fans had shown excitement about the new album. A lot of fans seemed to have enjoyed Cardi B's latest release as well. As of now, the music video has gained more than 85K views since it was posted about an hour ago on streaming platforms.

About the author

Aaratrika is a celebrity trends writer at Sportskeeda, and she has also covered US Crime at for more than 1 year since 2022. She is a BA.LLB graduate and cites that it was her legal background that developed her interest in researching cases and ultimately becoming a news writer.

Aaratrika holds a strong 4-year writing experience in crime reporting and legal writing and believes in doing deep research through reliable sources on the web and social media platforms such as X and Facebook, to ensure complete accuracy in her articles. Her work has also led her to interview Mr. Nandan Kamath, the famous sports lawyer.

Aaratrika admires musician Lewis Capaldi and feels his groundedness is the most appealing thing about his music. When not researching crime stories, Aaratrika loves reading or watching anything related to the thriller genre, and listening to music.

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Edited by Divya Singh