Cop a gander at Cardi B!

The chart-topping femcee blazes the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine in a striking ensemble.

Arriving on the heels of the rapper’s latest top 10 hit ‘Enough (Miami),’ the feature spread – lensed by Adrienne Raquel – is paired with a rivetting interview. One, in which, the superstar waxes candid about her long-awaited sophomore album, its delay, the status of her recording process, haters, her relationship with Offset, and so much more.

Head below for pics and quotes…

Excerpt on Her New Album:

“[Cardi tweeted: “Anyway NO album this year I don’t care I’m relaxing.” Soon after, however, she’ll delete the tweet, with her rep confirming to Rolling Stone that an album in 2024 is still the plan.

When we meet this March night in Los Angeles, Cardi is, in fact, working earnestly toward completing it, but there’s a lot left to do: It needs an intro and at least three more songs. It needs a title, it needs features, and it needs a rollout plan. “Being out here is my punishment,” she says. “Until I have the album ready, I’m not going home.”

On the Challenges of Her Recording Process:

“I’m a different person every single day. When I’m in a good mood and I’m with my friends, [I’m] like, ‘Damn, I want my sh*t to be played in this club.’ But then I might be mad with my man, so it’s like now I want to do this song. But then I want to do a Pop record. I want to do my sing-y sh*t.”

Excerpt on New Songs (Titles of Which Are Not Final):

“Better Than You” reminds me of UGK and OutKast’s “Int’l Players Anthem (I Choose You),” with a pitched-up vocal sample, rich, violin-like synths, and rolling Southern drums. Cardi notes that its sound — courtesy of the producer Vinylz, whom she’s known since her days as a dancer — is brand-new for her.

“I feel like the beat is not a beat you could get rowdy on,” she says. “It’s a real calm beat. And I had two choices, I could do more of an inspirational type of record — ‘I used to grind all my life’ — but then I decided to be like, ‘No, I’m going to sh*t on you b*tches.’ ”

When they play another beat, this one for a song called “Pick It Up,” Cardi’s face brightens. She hums with her eyes closed, throwing her head back, starbursting her fingers. It’s one of her pop-radio songs, she says, sugary with high-femme twinkles and chimes and keys that are distorted like a fun-house mirror. Cardi rounds out the preview with a sexy drill production from her regular collaborator SwanQo, who produced “Like What (Freestyle),” “Up,” and more. It’s called “Don’t Do Too Much,” and it’s glittery and animated, with a playful whistle as its through line. Cardi says she gets some jokes off on it. “If it was up to me,” she says, “my whole album would sound like drill.”

Reflecting on Her Impact:

“These labels was not believing in repping new rap artists. People from every single label have f*cking told me this sh*t in my face. They started signing new female rappers after I got signed. Whether some b*tches could be the greatest rappers [or] they just make good music — at the end of the f*cking day, guess what? They’re in your playlist right now.”

On Navigating Critique:

“Like yesterday, I was scrolling through TikTok and a bitch made me cry.

She was just like, ‘She has got to give it up. She’s better off being an influencer. You was cosplaying being a rapper. Because you don’t take it seriously. That’s why you don’t put out your music.’ And it’s like, I take my music so f*cking seriously that that’s why I don’t put it out. Because if it’s not perfect to my ear, if every f*cking word doesn’t sound like it’s pronounced right, if the beat is overpowering the words or the words is overpowering the beat, I don’t want to put it out.

When you give so much and somebody just drags it down, like you’re just playing with your p*ssy all day, just watching Netflix all f*cking day long, it’s very hurtful.”

On Her Relationship with Offset:

“The part I love is that we really like each other, like a support system. We’re really both each other’s cheerleader. I don’t really like talking to people. I’m not as social. If I want something from somebody, he’ll be the one that will talk. Because I don’t like asking.”

On Her Current Approach & Drive”

“If I was doing things for money, I would put out music every month because nothing pays me more than shows. I’m turning down these concerts because I don’t got no new music.

 But I care about how my music sound. I care about my quality. I care about giving something special every single time.”

Your thoughts?

[Photo Credit: Rolling Stone / Adrienne Raquel]