Cardi B’s announcement of her upcoming single “Imaginary Players” has ignited a storm of online speculation, drawing her into the orbit of Nicki Minaj’s ongoing feud with Jay-Z and his Roc Nation empire The Bronx rapper revealed the track on Monday, August 11, confirming it will drop on Thursday, August 15, as the second single from her highly anticipated sophomore album Am I the Drama?, set for release on September 19 While the news excited her fanbase, the title immediately caught the attention of the hip-hop community “Imaginary Players” is also the name of a 1997 Jay-Z track from his album In My Lifetime, Vol 1 Though Cardi has not confirmed whether her version samples or pays homage to the original, the overlap was enough to spark theories about deeper industry manoeuvring The timing added fuel to the fire Minaj has spent recent months publicly criticising Jay-Z and Roc Nation, and some fans believe the clearance of a Jay-Z song title—or sample—for Cardi could be a deliberate countermeasure “So after months of Nicki Minaj dragging Jay-Z online, he clears a song for Cardi B out of spite and y’all still think Nicki is crazy?” one social media user wrote Another speculated, “Nicki ran her mouth so much Jay-Z cleared a sample for Cardi.” Some theorists went even further, suggesting the move might explain recent tensions in the Roc Nation orbit “The whole influx of Roc Nation crash outs over the last month or two was REALLY because Nicki found out Cardi has a Jay-Z record and it’s eating her up inside,” one post read Cardi has not directly addressed the speculation but hinted there is more to the story “If only y’all knew the story for what I had to go through with this single and to do something else,” she told fans “When the song comes out, I’m going to tell y’all more about the story because then I’m going to give y’all more of the surprises.” Whether “Imaginary Players” is a nod to Jay-Z’s classic, a subtle industry statement, or simply a creative coincidence remains to be seen—but it has already positioned Cardi B at the centre of one of hip-hop’s most talked-about rivalries Source: The Zimbabwe Mail All Zim News is a central hub for all things Zimbabwean, curating news from across the country so no story is missed Alongside aggregation, our team of nationwide reporters provides real-time, on-the-ground coverage Stay informed and connected — reach us at admin@allzimnews.com. Source: Thezimbabwemail
Image from Cardi Bs New Single Imaginary Players Sparks Speculation Over Nicki MinajJay-Z Rift The Zimbabwe Ma 