One of JAY-Z’s classic songs saw a surge in its streaming numbers this past week, thanks in large part to it being sampled for the latest single from fellow New York rapper Cardi B. The new single, “Imaginary Playerz,” samples the original beat (René & Angela’s “Imaginary Playmates”) from the Hip-Hop icon’s song “Imaginary Players” from his second studio album, In My Lifetime Vol.1, released in 1997. Cardi B debuted the single along with an official music video last Friday (Aug. 15)
According to Spotify, the streaming numbers for Jay-Z’s song went up 305% in two days from Aug. 15 to Aug. 17. The Bronx native spoke about getting Jay-Z’s permission on an Instagram Live the day before, adding an interesting factoid that underscored the significance of the agreement. “When he texted back my manager [that] the record was clear[ed], it was at 4:44 p.m.,” she shared, referencing his last album with No I.D. as producer.
“Imaginary Playerz” is the lead single for her upcoming sophomore album, Am I The Drama? and Cardi B’s lyrics evoke the same energy of Jay-Z’s track, showing her perched on a private jet and in the back of a luxury automobile as she rhymes: “My flop and your flop is not the same/ If you did my numbers, y’all would pop champagne/ If I did your numbers, I would hop out a plane.”
“I was so happy because you guys understand, the song is kinda long…The song is kind of long and I took my time with [it] because this song is like a staple for me and I was like, ‘Oh my god, I got to make sure that this song is good because I have to f*cking to get it approved by the one and only [Jay-Z],” Cardi B said. “It’s a very Hip-Hop record and I hope you guys enjoy it.”
Am I The Drama? is slated to be 23 songs in length and will include her 2020 collaboration with Megan Thee Stallion “WAP” at the end along with another hit single “Up” released the following year. “If he didn’t approve it, I probably wouldn’t even feel a certain type of way neither, because it would have been like, ‘Okay, maybe I just had to come a little bit harder.’ But I’m glad that I came hard and he loved it and everybody else love it,” Cardi B continued. “Somebody came up to me and they said, ‘Uh, I’m not even going to lie. When you announced that you was doing ‘Imaginary Players,’ I was a little nervous, but you ate that.’”
JAY-Z’s “Imaginary Players” Gets Streaming Lift Via Cardi B
was originally published on
hiphopwired.com
