Cardi B waited years between her first two albums. She has no intention of doing that again.

Just one year after releasing her sophomore album Am I the Drama?, Cardi revealed that work has already begun on her third studio album and said she intends to step away from the spotlight later this year to focus almost entirely on recording.

Speaking backstage with The Breakfast Club before her performance at the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas on Friday, September 18, Cardi said she plans to essentially disappear into the studio after celebrating her birthday.

“After my birthday, in November, I’m shipping myself away just to record,” Cardi said.

The Bronx rapper acknowledged that the project is nowhere close to finished. At the moment, she said she has approximately two songs she likes enough to potentially become part of the album.

But Cardi is already setting herself a deadline: 2027.

When Charlamagne Tha God asked whether fans were about to endure another years-long wait for an album, Cardi immediately shut down the idea.

“Nope,” she responded.

Cardi said she still has considerable work ahead of her, but quickly corrected herself after describing it as a “long way” to go.

“I’m not even playing around,” she said. “I just got this confidence.”

Cardi Doesn't Want Another Massive Album Gap

The announcement is particularly significant because of Cardi’s unusual album timeline.

Her debut studio album, Invasion of Privacy, arrived in 2018 and turned Cardi from an already explosive breakout star into one of the biggest rappers in the world.

The project included “Bodak Yellow” and “I Like It” and eventually won Best Rap Album at the Grammys.

But despite releasing numerous singles and collaborations in the years that followed, Cardi did not immediately follow it with another full-length studio project.

Fans waited seven years for Am I the Drama?, which finally arrived in September 2025. Cardi has repeatedly acknowledged how long that gap became, and her latest comments suggest she is determined not to repeat the experience.

This time, she is already thinking about album No. 3 only a year after the second.

The speed of that turnaround would represent a major change in Cardi's recording cycle.

Instead of spending years discussing when an album might eventually arrive, Cardi appears to be approaching the next project with a more defined window: finish her current commitments, celebrate her birthday, retreat to record and aim to have the finished project ready sometime in 2027.

Only Two Songs Are Done So Far

Cardi was also unusually transparent about how early she is in the process.

Asked how far along the third album is, she admitted she is “not done at all” and said she currently has only about two songs she likes.

That means fans probably shouldn't treat the 2027 target as evidence that a nearly completed album is already sitting on a hard drive.

Cardi still has to build most of the project.

There is no publicly announced title, track list or release date, and Cardi did not reveal whether either of the two existing songs will definitely make the final cut.

But her comments show that the creative process has begun.

More importantly, Cardi appears to believe she has found the mindset she needs to finish it considerably faster than Am I the Drama?.

When asked why things feel different this time, she pointed to a new sense of confidence, even breaking into Patti LaBelle’s “New Attitude” while explaining her current state of mind.

She's Planning to Step Away to Record

Cardi's plan to “ship” herself away after her birthday suggests she wants to remove some of the distractions that have accompanied her career over the past several years.

Recording an album at Cardi's level is only one part of an unusually crowded professional schedule. There are performances, endorsements, fashion appearances, videos, features, promotional obligations and the constant demands of maintaining one of hip-hop's largest public profiles.

Her personal life has also unfolded under intense public scrutiny.

Cardi's solution appears straightforward: once November arrives, she wants to deliberately create a period where recording becomes the priority.

Exactly where she plans to go or how long she intends to remain there wasn't disclosed.

What she did make clear is the purpose.

She wants album No. 3 finished.

Cardi Is Already Building Her Next Era

The third album isn't the only major project Cardi is plotting for 2027.

Days before the iHeartRadio Music Festival, she also revealed that discussions are underway for another major tour, including plans to take her live show to Europe.

“I have been in talks with a couple of people that are helping me with what I got going on,” Cardi said while discussing her future plans. “I have so many ideas and so many things are being written.”

That raises the possibility that Cardi is planning the next album and tour as pieces of the same larger era.

Her previous Little Miss Drama Tour ran for 35 dates earlier this year, and Cardi has already indicated she wants the next run to expand internationally.

If the album arrives in 2027 alongside another major tour, Cardi would be entering one of the busiest stretches of her career — particularly compared with the lengthy period between her first and second studio albums.

She Hasn't Stopped Releasing Music

Cardi also isn't approaching album No. 3 after disappearing musically.

In July, she released “AH HA,” giving fans new material while she began laying the groundwork for what comes next. The song reached No. 3 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, according to Complex.

She brought “AH HA” to the iHeartRadio Music Festival stage Friday alongside a set filled with records spanning her career.

Cardi performed “Bodak Yellow,” “Up,” “WAP,” “I Like It,” “Taki Taki,” “ErrTime,” “Hello,” “Bodega Baddie” and other songs during her T-Mobile Arena appearance.

The performance provided a reminder of just how much music Cardi has accumulated despite having only two studio albums.

Now she appears determined to make the third arrive much faster.

2027 Is the Target

For now, Cardi's third album remains a project in its earliest stages rather than a finished release waiting for a date.

Two songs are done to her satisfaction. Most of the album still has to be created. There is no title and no specific release date.

But Cardi has publicly established the timeline she wants.

After her birthday celebrations in November, she plans to pull back and focus on recording. She says fans will not have to endure anything resembling the seven-year gap between Invasion of Privacy and Am I the Drama?.

And if everything goes according to the schedule she laid out backstage in Las Vegas, Cardi B's third studio album will arrive sometime in 2027.

This time, Cardi says she isn't playing around.

She's ready.