Cardi B Sells New Album on NY Streets After Assault Trial Win

Cardi B may be a Grammy Award-winning rapper with a $101million net worth but she isn’t ashamed to take a grassroots approach to promoting her new music.

Over the weekend, the WAP hitmaker — who recently came out victorious in court — took to the ‘streets’ of New York, where she was born and raised, to sell copies of her upcoming album, Am I The Drama?.

Cardi shared footage of herself standing on a busy sidewalk with a large black blanket laid out on the ground in front of her with various CD and vinyl variants of Am I The Drama? on display.

‘My label said I gotta get out in these streets and sell this album,’ the mother-of-three captioned the post.

The video, which was uploaded to X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram on Saturday, showed Cardi shouting out the album’s $9.99 price tag at passersby while waving around a bundle of burning incense. 

‘What up y’all! We outside. We got the exclusive Cardi B new album. We selling them right now,’ the star said as her cameraman slowly panned over the items. ‘We got the vinyls, we got the CDs, we got the court edition [of the album].’

Instead of her typical runway-worthy outfits and wild wigs, Cardi was noticeably dressed down for her sidewalk sale.

The A-list musician rocked a black hooded sweatshirt featuring the image of singer Kehlani, black sweatpants and her hair was tucked into a crochet rasta hat.

However, Cardi couldn’t help but style her low-key street vendor look with a pair of brown Gucci loafers — which retail for upwards of $800.

Fans of the Bodak Yellow hitmaker flocked to the comments section to react to Cardi’s hilarious promo, with many calling her a ‘marketing genius.’ 

‘Best promo video ever’ penned on Instagram user under Cardi’s post. Another added: ‘old fashion promo, love to see it.’

Some fans pointed out that Cardi’s sidewalk sale was a throwback to the way up-and-coming rappers would get the word out about their mixtapes in the early 2000s.

One fan received nearly 800 ‘likes’ on an Instagram comment declaring Cardi B the ‘most relatable celebrity.’ 

‘This is exactly why she has the fan base she does! She is the most relatable celebrity I have ever seen!!’ 

Last week, the star also set the internet ablaze when she announced a ‘courtroom edition’ of her upcoming album.

The decision came after she went viral for her antics on the stand during her recent civil assault trial.

The 32-year-old rapper was cleared last Tuesday after a Los Angeles jury sided with her in a high-stakes $24 million lawsuit stemming from an alleged 2018 altercation. 

Cardi had been accused of spitting on security guard Emani Ellis, striking her, and even slashing her face with a fingernail after Ellis allegedly followed and filmed her at a doctor’s office. 

Ellis sued in 2020, but this week Cardi walked away victorious – the culmination of a rollicking trial in which she hit the headlines for making sardonic faces, modeling extravagant outfits and wearing different color wigs from one court date to the next.

Now she is cashing in on the fracas, unveiling limited edition CDs of Am I The Drama? with a selection of new covers made up of photos showing her at the trial.

Three different covers of the ‘courthouse’ CD are available to pre-order on Cardi’s website, ahead of the album’s official release September 19.

While the CD retails for $10, she has also made a vinyl version of the ‘courtroom edition’ available online for $39.98, with the original Am I The Drama? album cover but an image of her on the stand as the label in the middle of the actual disc.

Announcing the stunt on Instagram, she wrote: ‘I mean look!… BY POPULAR DEMAND, the court room edition of AM I THE DRAMA? is available NOW.’

Fans were left shrieking with hilarity in the comments, where one wrote: ‘go to hell cardi fr,’ followed by a string of crying laughing emojis.

Others exclaimed: ‘Your marketing team needs a raise,’ ‘LEGENDARY!’ ‘You play to much,’ and: ‘LMAOO CARDI PLEASEEE!! Now I have to buy another one bro.’

Cardi was hailed for having pulled the ‘Smartest move,’ as one fan gushed: ‘Oh, she’s eating this rollout UP!!’ and another wrote: ‘This one I got to have. I love her mannnn’.

The trial itself was pure chaos — at one point, Cardi hurled a pen at a reporter who dared to ask if she was pregnant.

She celebrated beating the case against her in signature Cardi fashion: by twerking for millions on Instagram last Wednesday.

Wearing a polka dot blazer, the rapper stripped down to a thong mid-video, shaking it for the camera while teasing her upcoming single Bodega Baddie.

She ended the clip with her trademark flair — slapping her famous backside and flipping the bird with a huge smile plastered across her face.

While speaking to reporters after the verdict was announced the day before, Cardi said it had been ‘really tough’ to have attend to the case even as she was trying to promote Am I the Drama?.

She also gave a glimpse into how the trial cost her important time with her children, as Tuesday marked their first day of school.

‘The next person to try to do a frivolous lawsuit against me, I’m going to counter sue and I’m going to make you pay, because this is not OK,’ she said.

‘People have this misinterpretation of celebrities, like, “Oh, well, we can ask for this, and they’re going to settle…” Don’t you ever think that you’re going to sue me and I’m just going to settle and just give you my money. It’s not going to happen,’ she added defiantly.

Cardi also again claimed that she was innocent despite the claim against her.

‘I’m not even playing around. Even if I’m at my death bed, I swear to God, I will say it at my death bed — I did not touch that woman,’ she said.

Ellis also spoke with reporters after losing her lawsuit.

‘I don’t think that it reflects the truth, but I’m not disappointed,’ she said of the verdict. ‘We know that the justice system is sometimes flawed, and unfortunately that was the case for me.’

She said that the case had been ‘about accountability,’ and Ellis added, ‘I had my day in court, I showed up, I held my head high.’