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Cardi B<\/a> has been criticized by Joe Budden<\/a> for sampling JAY-Z<\/a>\u2018s \u201cImaginary Players\u201d on her new similarly titled single \u201cImaginary Playerz\u201d.<\/p>\n Speaking on his eponymous podcast, Budden explained why he was not happy she chose to sample such a revered song.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cShe shouldn\u2019t do that again. Don\u2019t take any East Coast top three, four rapper beat, classic song, and redo that. We gonna shout out the writers. The writers killed. This is not about the writers. The bars are there. That wasn\u2019t enough.\u201d<\/p>\n The former Slaughterhouse rapper added: \u201cThat delivery, those punch-ins, how choppy that was \u2026 \u2018Imaginary Players,\u2019 for y\u2019all that wasn\u2019t there, Hov, when that dropped, was a much better rapper than that.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was just fly because of the cadence and the flow and what he was saying, his aura and voice control. Cardi is in the same pitch, same tone, sounding choppy, not smooth. Bars are there, but this is not the beat for that.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe Budden, back from vacation, shares his thoughts on Cardi B \u201cImaginary Players\u201d record and whether she can hit 200k first-week sales in today\u2019s climate, where Gunna sold 80k, Clipse sold 118k, and Nicki Minaj sold 228k. pic.twitter.com\/4P0YHF2rWL<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 joebuddenclips\/fanpage (@Chatnigga101) August 20, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n