On Friday, Cardi released her debut album, and she had all the people buzzing. Me personally….I was worried. Earlier in the week, she dropped her third single, Be Careful, and the people were underwhelmed. Rightfully so, the song sounded under produced and not properly mixed or mastered. A week prior, Cardi took to her instagram, @IAmCardiB, to let people know she was finishing up her album. Left many people wondering, would her album be mixed, mastered and ready in time for the April 6 deadline?

Answer: IT WAS!

Cardi B released her album to rave reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received a score of 84. That’s one of the highest scores a female rap album has received. Only female rappers to have studio albums score higher are Missy Elliott and Rapsody. Publications rave at the versatility of her raps, and the fact that the album is just banger after banger. Flat out, the album rides! You know when people like Oprah takes to Instagram to congratulate you on your album, you must be doing something right!

As if that wasn’t enough, the early sales predictions for the album are 160,000 – 210,000, which would place Cardi B at #1 on the Billboard Hot 200 Albums chart. Those are solid numbers for anyone in this climate of album sales….and not selling for some.

Could the weekend get any better? Of course it does! Cardi launched the Season 43 of Saturday Night Live with a live performance of her 3 singles from her album. ‘Bodak Yellow‘ and ‘Bartier Cardi‘ performance was a bit dull, she kinda just stood there….but we later figured out why, as she sported a baby bump on “Be Careful“. Watch the performances below!