Detroit — It was a night of baddies, butt cheeks and Billboard hits Sunday night as record-breaking rapper Cardi B brought her “Little Miss Drama” tour to Little Caesars Arena.
One of the best-selling female rappers of this century thus far, Cardi B rolled into town with a 30-something song setlist, several costume changes, more than a dozen dancers and a sincere appreciation for her fans.
“I’m a little nervous tonight. I don’t know what it is. Something about Detroit,” she said. “We’re going to have a good (expletive) time. I’m going to give you all I got.”
Born Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar in New York City, the 33-year-old superstar crafted several acts for the evening, each with its own bedazzled, backside-bearing bodysuit. Each vignette had a mood, a look and a cluster of songs from either her Grammy Award-winning 2018 debut “Invasion of Privacy,” her sophomore follow-up “Am I the Drama?” which was released in September, or one of many singles that came out between the two.
Cardi — who had no opening acts aside from a DJ that hyped up the crowd before she took the stage around 9 p.m. — kicked off her 2-hour show with a Goth vibe right out of the Matrix or “The Crow.” Three songs from “Drama” started the first of about half a dozen acts. As she rapped along with the tracks “Hello,” “Magnet” and “Salute,” Cardi transitioned from a full-length black and red glitter gown fit for a Disney villain to a sexy butt-less number in the same color scheme with thigh-high boots to match.
The highlight of the night was the section of the setlist that featured Cardi’s Latin-inspired songs. Dancing on an arched staircase, with colorful Latin costumes and imagery on two big screens, the rapper fired off a quartet of hits including her verse in DJ Snake’s 2018 song “Taki Taki,” her 2023 single with Meaghan Thee Stallion “Bongo,” and two song songs from each of her albums, “Bodega Baddie” and “I Like It Like That.”
The production played to Cardi B’s strengths, giving her plenty of room to strut, shake and be sassy, and between acts she seemed to delight in dipping under the stage via a trap door in the floor. She was up in the air, writhing on the floor, swinging around silver poles surrounded by pyrotechnics and never seemed out of breath. The heavy lifting was on the visuals, of course, and she rapped along to her own vocals.
When one costume malfunction threatened to trip her up, she was irritated but didn’t stop the show or let it hinder the choreography. The crowd had her back all the way.
There was one notable special guest, too. Detroit rapper Kash Doll joined Cardi on stage about halfway through the set to perform some of her song “Here I Go,” as both women donned floor-length fur coats.
The sold-out crowd dressed the part, with plenty of fur coats of their own, plus plaid mini skirts, leather hot pants, sparkly tights, and thigh-high boots. (Shout out to the fan dressed as “Where’s Waldo” in a signature striped sweater and glasses.) During one break, members of the crowd got their turn on stage in a twerk-off, where the winner was awarded $2,000 courtesy of Ms. B.
This is the first arena tour for Cardi, who gave birth to her fourth child in November and made a cameo at Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show in February before kicking off the tour in California days later. The “Little Miss Drama Tour” wraps up April 18 in Atlanta.
mbaetens@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Cardi B brings the hits and a little drama to Little Caesars Arena
Reporting by Melody Baetens, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
