Draped in a sparkly long-sleeved, floor-length red dress, rap raven Cardi B had kicked off her designer shoes and was leaning back hard during Offset’s private album listening party in Atlanta. And that’s when she and the audience got the surprise of the night.
Offset, 27, had secretly recorded a song in honor of his wife of about a year and some change. The audience audibly fawned over the dedication, and Cardi’s angelic face beamed as if it were lit from within.
“I ain’t never let my girl hear this song because I made it for her,” Offset said before rapping, “Don’t Lose Me.”
His wife smiled throughout the song like he just proposed to her all over again.
This is just one of the highlights of the party to trumpet the release of Offset’s new album, “Father of 4.”
Offset, born Kiari Kendrell Cephus, is the last of the hit rap group Migos to release his solo album.
Besides Cardi, Offset was flanked by Migos members Quavo and Takeoff, as well as singer Jacquees, rapper Young Dolph and his family members.
Saying very little in between each song, the laid back Offset instead let the deep adult subject matter contained within the album speak for him as it touches on Offset’s struggle to cope with relationship troubles, the death of loved ones, legal woes and the demands of fame all while parenting his four children.
The Atlanta venue that hosted the listening party was decorated liberally with personal mementos, most conspicuously the replica of the lime green Dodge Challenger that the rapper totaled in a near-fatal car crash in 2018.
While “Father of 4” is a more personal account than his previous projects, Offset said he didn’t want to “overdose” his fans with tracks about his on-again, off-again romance with Cardi B or being a father to Kulture, 7 months, Kody, 3, Jordan and Kalea.
“You can get too personal in the music, but n—-s know not to do that,” Offset told Esquire magazine. “You have to put it on a platter where people understand because people go through it. I’m just trying to make relatable music at the end of the day.”
As if to reiterate his point, Offset added, “I want it to be strong, I don’t want to overdose you. F— all that stream s— because I don’t do music for money. It’s my heart. This is what I believe in. It’s my creativity, and I do it for the people.”
Later in the evening, Cardi B electrified the crowd just as she did when during her red carpet-like arrival inside the cramped quarters just after midnight. The “Bodak Yellow” rap empress sizzled with her signature animated rap-a-long to her verse on “Clout.”
Fans seemed to enjoy the evening, the experience and the music, which gives hope that Offset’s solo effort will match the group’s chart-topping album, “Culture and Culture II,” or the string of hits they’ve cranked out together since their club banger, “Bad & Boujee,” torpedoed to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2016.
