Cardi B to Drop New Single on Friday

By Jem Aswad

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Cardi B. will drop a new single on Friday called “Press,” presumably the first song from the follow-up to her debut full-length album “Invasion of Privacy,” which won Best Rap Album at the Grammy Awards in February.

“PRESS SINGLE AND OFFICIAL ART WORK DROPS THIS WEEK ON 5/31!!!” she posted on Instagram Monday night, with a photo of herself in a courtroom wearing handcuffs and a tight faux leopard-skin outfit.

As Vibe points out, the photo appears to reference a similar shot of serial killer Aileen Wuornos, a former sex worker who was sentenced to death after being convicted for the murders of seven men between 1989 and 1990; she claimed the killings were in self-defense, after the men raped or attempted to rape her. She was executed by lethal injection on 2002; her trial was depicted in the 2003 film “Monster,” in which she was portrayed by Charlize Theron, who won an Academy Award for the role.

Cardi included the photo of Wuornos in her Twitter post announcing the single; a rep for the rapper did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment.

Cardi teased the song in December with an Instagram post, although the lyrics don’t shed much light on a Wuornos connection (“Press, press, press, press, press/ Cardi don’t need more press,” etc.).

The rapper s aid early in January that she hoped to release an album in the sprin g, around the same time that her debut dropped, although that date (April 6) has long since passed.

“Of course it’s gonna be an album in 2019,” she said. “Hopefully, I could get my album done around the same time that ‘Invasion of Privacy’ came out, but I don’t know how possible that’s gonna be because I feel like I’m going to be extremely, extremely busy.”

She has dropped songs and guest appearances in recent months, including “Please Me,” a single with Bruno Mars, in February and “Wish Wish” on DJ Khaled’s just-released album “Son of Asahd.”