【搬运】【译】SLANT评Cardi B 2018年出道专辑《Invasion of Privacy》（四星）

搬运自：微信公众号【评论搬一堆】（在原文基础上添加了英语原文与排版调整） 

翻译：BigFudge

校正：Ryan-Chopin

The rags-to-riches narrative has long been a common trope in hip-hop. Since the genre’s inception, rappers have boasted of their ascent from the streets to the top of the charts, perhaps best embodied by the origin story of Jay-Z, who famously transformed himself from a drug dealer to a multi-platinum mogul. So, Bronx rapper Cardi B’s story beats might sound familiar: Born into poverty to a Dominican father and Trinidadian mother, she became an Instagram celebrity and, finally, an acclaimed rapper whose breakout single, “Bodak Yellow,” established her as an ubiquitous pop-culture presence.

“白手起家”的情节一直是嘻哈音乐中常有的故事线。在这个流派诞生之初，说唱歌手们便夸耀自己从街头混混到榜首霸王的成功经历，其中最具代表性的便是Jay-Z：他从毒贩子向多白金唱片天王的转变，可谓典范。因此，这位来自布朗克斯区的说唱歌手Cardi B，带来的故事听起来有些似曾相识：她出身于贫困家庭，父亲是多米尼加人，母亲是特立尼达人；她是Instagram上的网红，随后又跻身说唱领域，以“Bodak Yellow”一炮成名，成为了当今流行文化中不可或缺的重要人物之一。

Indeed, Cardi’s debut album, Invasion of Privacy, is drenched in autobiographical detail, repeatedly drawing a line from her humble beginnings to her current role as an in-demand rapper. But the album also makes a seemingly recognizable arc feel fresh, in part because of her uniquely female perspective and experience: “Look, they gave a bitch two options, strippin’ or lose,” she declares on the album’s opening track, “Get Up 10.”

的确，Cardi B的首张专辑《Invasion of Privacy》充满自传性，不断地强调自己从不为人知的小卒向当红说唱歌手的转变。但是这张专辑也有独特的新元素，这大概是因为她融入了自己作为女性独特的看法与经历：她在本张专辑首支歌曲“Get Up 10”中表示，“你看，他们扔给女孩两个选择，要么乖乖脱掉衣服，要么无路可走（Look, they gave a bitch two options, strippin’ or lose）”。

Throughout, Cardi invokes familiar hip-hop imagery of money as a symbol of dominance and against-the-odds ascendency. On “Money Bag,” she flaunts her wealth in a series of luxury name-drops, from Versace to Bentley. Such boasts have been a part of her lyrical style since her earliest mixtape, but Invasion of Privacy contextualizes these references with greater self-awareness, specifically of the conflicts that can arise from success: “I been broke my whole life, I have no clue what to do with these racks,” she admits.

在整张专辑中，Cardi抓住了一种耳熟能详的嘻哈形象——金钱。她用金钱象征权利与克服万难后的成功。在“Money Bag”中，她甩出范思哲、宾利等一连串名牌，来炫耀自己的财富。从她发布第一张混音带开始，这种夸耀的语气就贯穿于她的歌词当中，但是在《Invasion of Privacy》中，这些夸耀多了一份自知自明，并凸显了成功可能带来的矛盾冲突：“从前我一贫如洗，现在我拿着一捆一捆的钞票，却不知所措（I been broke my whole life, I have no clue what to do with these racks）”她这样承认道。

The album lays out Cardi’s personal narrative while also proving her to be a deeper, more diverse talent than she’s previously let on. Alongside aggressive club bangers like “Bodak Yellow” and “Bartier Cardi,” Invasion of Privacy leaves space for scene-setting epics (“Get Up 10”) and R&B jams (“Ring”). Lyrically, Cardi’s tough swagger is deepened by moments of introspection: “Money Bag” reckons with the side effects of success, while “Best Life,” where Chance the Rapper shows up with his characteristic moral gravitas and down-to-earth spiritualism, interrogates the glamour of extreme wealth.

这张专辑讲述了Cardi的个人故事，同时展现了比以前更有深度、更加多元的形象。除了像“Bodak Yellow” 和“Bartier Cardi”这样的酒吧热曲，《Invasion of Privacy》也有铺垫造势、调动气氛的“Get Up 10”和R&B风格歌曲“Ring”。一些歌曲中自省反思的歌词为Cardi强硬的女王人格也拓展了人格深度：“Money Bag”探讨了成功的黑暗面，而“Best Life”中，Chance The Rapper展示了他独特的道德标准与朴素的唯心论，他与Cardi携手，共同对极端敛财的现象进行了批判。

The standout “Be Careful” has a bubbly, playful lilt that’s totally removed from the aggressive shit-talking on display throughout much of the rest of the album. With its Latin groove, the effervescent “I Like It” is deeply connected to Cardi’s roots; it feels both of a piece with the album and totally different than her career-making singles. Taken together, these songs present Cardi as an artist confident enough to expand her sound but smart—and some might say calculated—enough not to drift too far from her wheelhouse.

“Be Careful”有趣轻快的调子在这张专辑中显得非常独特，甩掉了专辑其他歌曲中贯穿的强侵略性、常爆粗口的形象。洋溢着热情的“I Like It”带有浓重的拉丁色彩，这深深根植于Cardi的家庭背景中，这首歌既和整张专辑融为一体，又和她的那些成名曲完全不同。我们在这些歌里能看到一位具有强大自信心的艺术家。她扩展了自己的曲风，但是仍然很聪明（有些人也会说“深熟算计”）地没有过远偏离说唱风格的大本营。

Hip-hop’s rags-to-riches stories resonate because they allow listeners to imagine themselves as scrappers, fighters, and winners. Cardi knows this, and for as much as this album is about her own celebrity, it also seeks to empower her audience, especially women. “’Fore I fixed my teeth, man, those comments used to kill me/But never did I change, never been ashamed,” she raps. In a single line, she expresses a particularly feminine vulnerability, acknowledges her own insecurities, and doubles down on her uncompromising tenacity. Cardi climbed her way up from the bottom, and Invasion of Privacy is a soundtrack for anyone who dreams of doing the same.

嘻哈领域白手起家的故事常常使人产生共鸣，因为他们可以增强代入感，使听众们仿佛自身体验从乞丐的位置奋斗，最终变为人生赢家的这一切。Cardi也很好的采用了这一点。虽然这张专辑的主题是她出名的经历，但她也想激励自己的听众们，尤其是她的女性粉丝。“那些我要修改的言论，曾几度让我毁灭，改变有多么重要，我已心知肚明。(Fore I fixed my teeth, man, those comments used to kill me/But never did I change, never been ashamed)”她这样唱到。就这一句短短的词，她展现了很女性化的脆弱一面，流露出她的不安全感，同时也突出了她从不妥协的倔强。Cardi从社会底层爬到行业巅峰，她创作出的《Invasion of Privacy》也会一直激励着那些以此为梦想的灵魂。