“To bet on my downfall is crazy”: Cardi B slams “grown men” taking personal shots at her following new song backlash

Cardi B has responded directly to criticism of her latest single, Imaginary Playerz, which samples Jay-Z’s 1997 track Imaginary Players. Speaking on X (formerly Twitter) Spaces this week, as reported by Complex on August 22, 2025, the Bronx rapper called out “grown-ass men” who she believes are rooting for her to fail, following negative commentary surrounding the release.

“For people to dog pile on me over one song. And when it comes to dog piling, it’s not even just like, ‘Oh well, I don’t like this song,’ because if you don’t like this song, fine, but to come at the way I speak, to make narratives of how I think I am and who the f**k I think I am, to talk about every single piece of me, to bet on my downfall is crazy.”

Cardi B also made clear that she will not let the criticism bring down her career, and that will never make her quit her career.

“If my career ever ends, it’s going to be because I died. It’s never going to be because an opinion or a m*********s got to me. You will never make me quit.”

Joe Budden talks about Cardi B’s Jay-Z sample

The backlash against Cardi B's new track gained traction after Joe Budden critiqued Imaginary Playerz during a recent episode of The Joe Budden Podcast. As reported by Complex, Budden pointed specifically to Cardi’s decision to remake the Jay-Z track, which is also considered part of the East Coast hip-hop canon, saying

“She shouldn’t do that again. Don’t take any East Coast top three, four rapper beat, classic song, and redo that.”

While clarifying that his issue wasn’t with the song’s writing, he said the execution fell short.

“We gonna shout out the writers. The writers killed. This is not about the writers. … The bars are there. That wasn’t enough.”

In her response via X (formerly Twitter) Spaces, Cardi B acknowledged that public reaction to her releases often swings between extremes.

“When I do good, the numbers ain’t real. When I do bad, my career is over. It’s almost ridiculous.”

More about Cardi B's Imaginary Playerz

As reported by Billboard on August 15, 2025, Imaginery Playerz was released on August 15, 2025, as the second single from her upcoming album Am I the Drama? alongside a music video directed by Patientce Foster.

The music video is set in a private airplane runway transformed into a fashion stage, featuring Cardi B in several couture looks, including a red ballroom gown, before boarding a private jet to Paris.

The visual narrative then follows her to luxurious settings, including a yacht outing, a lobster dinner on the beach, and a foot bath at a five-star resort, accompanied by champagne. In the final scenes, Cardi is seen modeling high-fashion ensembles before heading out into a Parisian night.

According to Billboard on August 15, 2025, the rapper also confirmed that Jay-Z himself had approved her reworking of Imaginary Players, in her X Spaces comments, saying,

“If he didn’t approve it, I probably wouldn’t even feel a certain type of way neither… but I’m glad that I came hard and he loved it.”

Imaginary Playerz follows the release of Outside, which performed well earlier this year.

As reported by Billboard on August 15, 2025, the two tracks serve as the opening singles for Cardi B’s long-awaited sophomore album, Am I the Drama?, scheduled for release on September 19, 2025.

About the author

Devangee Halder is a Food and Pop culture writer at Sportskeeda. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics and a Master's Degree in International Studies. A bibliophile and foodie, her academic background, with the intersection of history and cultural studies, has deepened her love for reading and writing.

With over a year of experience, including an internship at Indian Express, which she landed through correspondence with editor Raj Kumar Jha, she transitioned into her current role at this company. As a journalist covering gastronomic trends and other news from the F&B Industry, she veers away from prescriptivism, and instead prioritizes questioning of current narratives, and forwarding relevant news, ensuring they are devoid of sensationalism.

Devangee approaches food with an interdisciplinary lens, locating it vis-à-vis areas such as culture, history, memory, and economics, within which culinary traditions found fruition and subsequently flourished. When not working, she enjoys cooking and reading, alongside her newfound interest in weightlifting. Among her favorite personalities are Sarah Todd and Vikas Khanna, and she admires the late chef Jock Zonfrillo for his work on indigenous food habits and ingredients.

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Edited by Bharath S