Cardi B's Tiny Desk: eight songs, two rewritten lines and a nine-piece band

Cardi B's Tiny Desk concert premiered on 19 October, and NPR says the crowd was one of the biggest the office has ever had. “It's rare that we have to turn people away,” the broadcaster reported.

She performed eight songs in around 18 minutes, dressed in black like the nine musicians around her. She opened with “Hello” and “ErrTime” from last year's Am I the Drama? and closed with “Bodak Yellow” and “I Like It” from Invasion of Privacy, the 2018 album that won her the Grammy for Best Rap Album.

Before “Man of Your Word”, she paused for a drink. “Let me get some water, you know I have been smoking cigarettes,” she said, and went straight into the song. Later, she complained about finding celery and carrots backstage when what she really wanted was Maryland blue crab.

Two lines she changed

On “ErrTime”, Cardi replaced a lyric that previously referenced Latto with one naming Kelly. Kelly Rowland shared the clip, writing “Get it Cardi!!!”, and Cardi replied “I love youuuu!!!”

The change attracted attention because of Cardi's public disagreement with Latto, which followed the circulation of leaked audio in which Cardi criticised her. Cardi later apologised. She hasn't publicly explained the Tiny Desk lyric change.

On “Be Careful”, a line about karma became one about her exes.

The band behind her

“ErrTime”, “Up” and “Bodak Yellow” came back with rock guitar, live drums and brass, with Kenneth Whalum on saxophone and Melvin Jones on trumpet. “I Like It” leaned further into its Latin boogaloo.

The band was led by Adam Blackstone on bass and keys. He has spent more than two decades doing the same job for Jay-Z, Kanye West, Rihanna and Janet Jackson, and won an Emmy for the music direction of the 2022 Super Bowl halftime show.

At Tiny Desk, that matters. Songs built around programmed beats, samples and hooks have to work with musicians playing together in the same room, with the audience standing a few metres away.

She finished with “I Like It”, swinging her hips with the crowd, then handed out hugs to a few people in the audience.