The album debuted atop the USBillboard 200 earning 255,000album-equivalent units in its first week, with 103,000 coming frompure album sales. It earned the second biggest first-week sales of 2018 at the time, while Cardi B became the first female artist to chart thirteen songs simultaneously on theBillboard Hot 100. The album set multiplestreaming records upon release, including the largest female rap album streaming week of all time, with 202.6 million on-demand streams in its first week. It was supported by five singles–"Bodak Yellow", "Bartier Cardi" (featuring 21 Savage), "Be Careful", "I Like It" (with Bad Bunny and J Balvin), and "Ring" (featuring Kehlani). BothDiamond-certified singles "Bodak Yellow" and "I Like It" reached number one on theBillboard Hot 100, making Cardi B the first female rapper to top the chart more than once, and making the album the female rap album with the most Hot 100 number-one songs—a record later tied by her own second album,Am I The Drama?, in 2025 (two each).
With over seven million units sold in the US to date,Invasion of Privacy is best-selling female rap album of the 21st century, according toLuminate. It broke the record for longest-charting album by a female rapper on theBillboard 200, surpassingThe Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, and has spent three full years on the chart. In December 2019, it became the most-streamed female rap album onSpotify and Apple Music, and the most-viewed female rap album onYouTube. It has been certified6× Platinum by theRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA), becoming the highest-certified female rap album of the 21st century, while further becoming the first album in music history to have all its tracks certified platinum or higher by the RIAA.
Invasion of Privacy was met with critical acclaim. A number of music publications included it among their lists of best albums of the year, withRolling Stone andTime listing it at number one. Several publications ranked it among the best albums of the 2010s as well, withRolling Stone placing it at number thirty-four. Among its accolades, it wonBest Rap Album at the61st Annual Grammy Awards, with Cardi B becoming the first female rapper to win the award as a solo artist. It also became the first female rap albumin fifteen years to be nominated forAlbum of the Year, with "I Like It" being nominated forRecord of the Year and "Be Careful" forBest Rap Performance. "Bodak Yellow" was nominated forBest Rap Song and Best Rap Performance at theprevious ceremony. At the2019 BET Awards,Invasion of Privacy won theBET Award for Album of the Year.
The album was made available forstreaming on April 5, 2018, but was not available on any physical format upon its initial release. It would later be released fordigital download worldwide, a day later, on April 6. The album was eventually released onvinyl on December 7, 2018, and on CD on February 22, 2019. A deluxe edition was intended to be released on January 25, 2019 and include "Money", "Press", and potentially three other tracks, but was scrapped for unknown reasons.
Prior to the release of the album, "Bodak Yellow" reached number one on the USBillboard Hot 100, while several collaborations also reached the top 10.[1] Those singles set multiple chart records,[2] including making her the first female rapper to land her first three entries in the top 10 of the Hot 100,[3] and the first female artist to achieve the same on theHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.[4] With her collaboration withBruno Mars, "Finesse (Remix)", she became the first woman to have five top 10 singles simultaneously on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.[5] In March 2018, Cardi announced at theiHeartRadio Music Awards that the album will be released in April.[6] She announced the release date and the title posting the album artwork in her social media pages on March 27, 2018.[7]
Primarily ahip hop album,Invasion of Privacy also comprisestrap,Latin music andR&B,[9][10] while its lyrical themes include fame, success, wealth, sex, and feminism, as well as Cardi B's past. The album opens with "Get Up 10", which speaks about Cardi B's rise to fame.[8] It is followed by a trap song "Drip", which features a guest appearance byMigos, and speaks about jewelry, wealth, and Cardi B and Migos' status.[11] The third track "Bickenhead" has a feminist theme; its title refers to women who work hard for money.[12]
A hip hop and trap song "Bodak Yellow" follows, on which Cardi B confronts her enemies and makes statements such as "I don't dance now, I make money moves", referring to her past, as she used to work as astripper before rising to fame.[13] On the fifth track "Be Careful", Cardi B performs thehook using a softly sung vocal style over a "laidback" beat. The song also comprises "flickering"hi-hats and "slick" synths.[14] Lyrically, "Be Careful" is a song aboutinfidelity, where the protagonist warns her cheating partner and asks him to treat her better.[15][16] During an interview, Cardi B stated that she drew inspiration from past relationships, while denying that the song was directed at her fiancéOffset.[8]
"Ring" is followed by three hip hop and trap songs: "Money Bag", "Bartier Cardi" (featuring21 Savage), and "She Bad" (withYG). On "Bartier Cardi", Cardi B raps about her attraction todiamonds,sports cars and sex, while 21 Savage raps about a similar theme from a male perspective.[18]
While accepting heriHeartRadio Music Award for Best New Artist at the2018 iHeartRadio Music Awards on March 11, 2018, Cardi B revealed thatInvasion of Privacy would be released in April 2018.[25] On March 27, 2018, she revealed both the official artwork and title for the album. The album was made available forstreaming on April 5, 2018, throughAtlantic Records,[26] and was released fordigital download worldwide the following day.[27]
On April 7, 2018, Cardi B performed the first three singles onSaturday Night Live.[28] On April 9, she co-hostedThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, becoming the first person to co-host the show.[29] Cardi B also performed during theCoachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 15[30] and April 20, 2018.[31] She also performed at the Broccoli City Festival 2018 on April 28, 2018;[32] she was also supposed to perform at theWireless Festival in July, however, the performance was cancelled due to her pregnancy.[33] Her summer tour in support of the album, which would run from May 4 until July 29, 2018, in the United States, Norway and Ireland, and all performances until September were also cancelled.[34]
Cardi B was also originally scheduled to be the opening act onBruno Mars's24K Magic World Tour in North America during September and October 2018, however, she withdrew as she just had her daughter, Kulture.[35][36] A deluxe edition including "Money", "Press", and potentially three other tracks was intended to be released on January 25, 2019 but was scrapped for unknown reasons.[37][38]
The album's lead single, "Bodak Yellow", was released on June 16, 2017.[39] It topped the USBillboard Hot 100 chart for three weeks. Cardi B became the first female rapper to have a songcertified Diamond by theRIAA when "Bodak Yellow" received the certification in March 2021.[40]
"Bartier Cardi" was released on December 22, 2017, as the second single and features rapper21 Savage.[41] It peaked at number 14 on the USBillboard Hot 100 and was certified triple platinum by the RIAA.[42]
"Be Careful" was released as the third single on March 30, 2018.[43] It peaked at number 11 on the USBillboard Hot 100 and was certified triple platinum by the RIAA.[42]
"Drip" featuringMigos was released as a promotional single on April 4, 2018, despite being released to Australian radio on April 6, 2018.[44][45] It peaked at number 21 on the USBillboard Hot 100.[46] The song has been certified platinum by the RIAA.[42]
"I Like It", with Bad Bunny and J Balvin, debuted at number eight on the Hot 100 following the album's release. It was distributed tourban contemporary andcontemporary hit radio as the album's fourth single on May 25, 2018,[47][48] and several days later, the song's music video premiered on Cardi B'sYouTube channel.[49] After being released as a single, it topped theBillboard Hot 100 chart, making Cardi the first female rapper with multiple number one singles on the chart's history.[50] The single has been certified Diamond by the RIAA, becoming the second song from the album to receive this certification, following "Bodak Yellow, and making Cardi B the first female rapper with three Diamond songs.[42] "I Like It" and "Bodak Yellow" made Cardi B the only female rapper to have two videos on her YouTube channel with more than 1 billion views.[51]
"Ring", featuring Kehlani, impacted USurban contemporary radio on August 28, 2018, as the fifth single.[52] Previously, it had entered at number 28 on the Hot 100 as an album track following the album's release.[46] The single has been certified double platinum by the RIAA.[42]
Invasion of Privacy received widespread acclaim frommusic critics.[64][65][66] AtMetacritic, which assigns anormalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received anaverage score of 84, based on 24 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[54] Ben Beaumont-Thomas ofThe Guardian gaveInvasion of Privacy four out of five stars, and called it "a magnificent debut that fuses vulnerability, sexual voraciousness, paranoia, and party music" and wrote that the album "shows the rapper is capable of far more than punchy put-downs".[16] ForExclaim!, Erin Lowers scored the album a 9 out of 10, noting that her softer singles add "a new dimension" to her artistry, and adding that the release "feels like her 'Lemonade' moment, one that magnifies her insecurities for public consumption."[58]
Maeve McDermott ofUSA Today gave the album another positive review, stating that "at 13 tracks,Invasion of Privacy isn't overstuffed with endless filler tracks like many releases by Cardi's rap peers. Leave it to Cardi, marketing queen, to know that fans get exhausted when performers overstay their welcome in attempts to rack up streaming numbers. The hip hop star likely doesn't have to worry about that, considering her album seems destined for charts success, if "Bodak Yellow"'s record-breaking last year was any indication."[67] Jem Aswad ofVariety called it "one of the most powerful debuts of this millennium" and praised its opening number "Get Up 10" as an "empowering opening autobiographical testimonial," though he also felt "in a couple of cases the featured artists run off with the song so completely that it feels like Cardi is a guest on her own album."[68] Eleanor Halls ofGQ wrote: "Invasion of Privacy proves "Bodak Yellow" was far from a summer one-hit wonder. These money moves are played for the long game."[69]
Rob Sheffield ofRolling Stone described the album as "lavishly emotional, intimately personal, wildly funny," and concluded "Invasion proves she's here to stay."[62] ForPitchfork, Sheldon Pearce awarded the album "Best New Music", writing that "Cardi B's remarkable debut places her, without a doubt, in the pantheon of great rappers. It is both brazen and vulnerable, filled with wild amounts of personality, style, and craft".[61]Jon Caramanica ofThe New York Times noted, "she is more versatile than most rappers or pop stars of any stripe," adding, "[it] is also, notably, a hip-hop album that doesn't sound like any of its temporal peers."[9]
Chris Richards ofThe Washington Post commented: "She seems to be telling one long story here — about self-empowerment, beating the odds, transcendence — but the force of Cardi's narrative resides in the sound of her voice as much as it does in her words. You can hear it during the album's grand finale, "I Do," when she asks, "My little 15 minutes lasted long as hell, huh?" What a victory speech. Close your eyes and you might feel the confetti falling on your shoulders, too."[70] Carrie Battan ofThe New Yorker complimentedInvasion of Privacy by saying "[it] is as studious as it is bombastic."[71]
Time magazine namedInvasion of Privacy the best album of 2018, stating, "Cardi's debut doesn't just earn her a seat at hip-hop's table—it marks her as a singular voice."[72]
A number of music publications includedInvasion of Privacy among their top 10 albums of the year lists, withRolling Stone andTime listing it at number one. In 2019,Rolling Stone andPitchfork listed the album as one of the greatest albums of the decade, placing it at number 34 and 73, respectively. In 2022,Rolling Stone ranked the album at number 20 on its list of "100 Best Debut Albums of All Time".[73]
Invasion of Privacy was certifiedgold by theRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on the day of its release due to the track-equivalent units moved by its previously released singles "Bodak Yellow" and "Bartier Cardi".[189] It was certified double platinum on October 3, 2018, and triple platinum on April 3, 2019, following its physical release on CD.[42] On December 20, 2018, all thirteen tracks were certified gold or higher by the RIAA, making her the first female artist to achieve such feat, and third overall.[42][190] On March 24, 2022,Invasion of Privacy became the first album to have all of its tracks certified platinum or higher by the RIAA.[191]At6× Platinum, as of September, 2025, it is the highest-certified female rap album of the 21st century.[42]
On April 13, 2018,Apple Music announced thatInvasion of Privacy set a new record for the moststreamed album by a female artist in a single week with over a hundred million streams.[192] The album debuted at number one on the USBillboard 200 chart, moving 255,000 album-equivalent units with 103,000 coming from pure album sales in its first week. It achieved the largest on-demand audio streaming week ever for an album by a woman and for a female rap album, with 202.6 million streams. At the time of its release, it became the second biggest first-week sales of 2018. Cardi B became the fifth female rapper to top the chart.[193] On the USBillboard Hot 100 chart dated April 21, Cardi B listed 13 songs, with 12 of them being songs fromInvasion of Privacy, thus surpassingBeyoncé for the most simultaneous songs on the chart by a solo female artist.[46] The record was later broken byBillie Eilish in 2019 when 12 tracks from her albumWhen We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? and two additional singles charted on the Hot 100 in a single week.[194]
In its second week, the album fell to number two on the chart, earning an additional 129,000 units, dropping forty-nine percent from the first week.[195] In its third week, the album remained at number two with over 91,000 units, dropping thirty percent from the previous week.[196] It has spent twenty one consecutive weeks within the top ten on the chart, which is the most weeks for a female rap album—[197] including eight non-consecutive weeks within the top five.[198] It also spent twenty two consecutive weeks within the top ten on the Top R&B/Hip Hop chart. As of July 6, 2018,Invasion of Privacy is the best-performing female album of 2018 and the third overall in the United States.[199] The album remained the largest female debut of 2018 in the country until September 2018, with the release ofCarrie Underwood'sCry Pretty.[200][199] In the US,Invasion of Privacy was the fourth best selling album of 2018 with 2,060,000 album-equivalent units, the best selling for a female artist that year.[201] In December 2019, it became the most-streamed female rap album onSpotify.[202]
Invasion of Privacy is one of the best-selling female rap albums of the 2010s according to theRecording Academy[203] and theBillboard 200 decade-end chart.[204] In January 2020, it became the longest-charting debut album by a female rapper on theBillboard 200, surpassingLauryn Hill'sThe Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998).[205] In August 2020, it became the longest-charting album by a female rapper, surpassing 124 weeks.[206] It surpassed 150 weeks in the chart in February 2021.[207] As of August 2025, the album has earned 7.1 million equivalent album units, being the best-selling female rap album of the 21st century in the US, according toLuminate.[208]Invasion of Privacy also debuted atop theCanadian Albums Chart, moving 12,000 album-equivalent units.[209] It was certified Platinum byMusic Canada for shipments of 80,000 copies.[210] The album was a commercial success internationally as well, peaking within the top ten on charts in Australia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Flanders, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.[211][212][213]
Spin staff credited the album for opening "the table to a new generation of pop artists remaking American music in their own image and accents. And Cardi will remain front-and-center." The magazine further added thatInvasion of Privacy is an "invitation into [her] world of blood, sweat, and tears... it's a rebuke to much of what passes for chart-focused rap, where the artist's persona is crafted for maximum exposure. Instead, Cardi B recognized thatartists of color no longer need to pander or soften themselves in order to become household names."[167] In 2019,Consequence of Sound editors wrote "her authenticity and charisma are constants that reinforce her standing as one of the most formidable hip-hop artists of the decade,"[176] andNME stated that the album secured "her crown as the new Queen of Rap."[170] In a book excerpt published inJezebel ofThe Motherlode (2021) byClover Hope, the author wrote thatInvasion of Privacy was "the best rap debut in years and belongs in the canon along withLil' Kim'sHard Core andLauryn Hill'sThe Miseducation of Lauryn Hill," and stated that the album "jump-started a new era for women rappers in which success felt much more tangible" as Cardi B "multiplied the wealth of talent and resurrected the idea that numerous women who controlled their own stories could dominate rap at once... Never again would there only be one."[214]
"Get Up 10" contains an interpolation of "Dreams and Nightmares", performed byMeek Mill and written by Maurice Jordan, Jermaine Preyan,Robert Williams andAnthony Tucker.
^Jon Dolan; Brittany Spanos; Simon Vozick-Levinson; Rob Sheffield; Charles Holmes; Christian Hoard; Joseph Hudak; Elias Leight; Suzy Exposito; Will Hermes; Angie Martoccio; David Browne; Hank Shteamer; Jon Freeman; Claire Shaffer; Brenna Ehrlich; Jonathan Bernstein; Jon Blistein; Nick Catucci; Brendan Klinkenberg; Danny Schwartz; Kory Grow; Jerry Portwood (December 3, 2019)."The 100 Best Albums of the 2010s".Rolling Stone.
^"Slovak Albums – Top 100" (in Slovak).ČNS IFPI. RetrievedApril 17, 2018.Note: On the chart page, select "SK – Albums – Top 100" and then 201815 in the boxes at the top, and then click the word "Zobrazit" to retrieve the correct chart data
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