Hot 97 hosted its annual Summer Jam at the Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Megan Thee Stallion, Rich the Kid and A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie kicked off the first half of the show, while Meek Mill, Tory Lanez, the Migos and Cardi B added major star power as headliners.

Each artist had their own draw of fans that came out just for them but Cardi was easily the most anticipated.

The leader of Bardi Gang came out on the back of an ATV, dressed in vibrant yellow, rapping the lyrics to Invasion of Privacy opener “Get Up 10.” In response to her fiery entrance, the crowd hollered their approval. She was jovial, charming and personable — the same Cardi we’ve seen on social media for years now, even while spitting her most cutthroat lyrics.

After a high-octane performance of her most recent single “Press” — which much of the crowd surprisingly recited in full — she started a roll call for the tri-state area. “Is Jersey in the building?,” she shouted. Then after a light cheer from the audience, she smirked, “That’s nice.” She followed up with New York, the Bronx and Brooklyn, the latter garnering an uproar.

We also saw Cardi share her set generously, doling out stage time to a number of other artists, lending to the tradition of creating Summer Jam moments. She brought out Pardison Fontaine for “Backin’ It Up,” and she welcomed Yung Miami of the City Girls to the stage to perform their hit record, “Twerk” and sunk down to gyrate for a few beats. Blueface joined her to run “Thotiana,” and of course her husband Offset linked with her onstage for a quick performance of Father of 4 single “Clout.”

Cardi asked her crew, “Where my cowboy hat? Where’s mine at?” Concertgoers were trying to figure out which song she could be performing next where she’d need a cowboy hat. Before we could put too much thought into it, she was introducing Billy Ray Cyrus, Lil Nas X and their smash remix of “Old Town Road” to the hordes of Summer Jam attendees. The crowd’s roar came in waves, starting from the upper sections to the floor below.

Cardi B is just checking the boxes off: hit singles, collaborations, strong followings on and off-line, a Grammy with her first album and now a Summer Jam headlining moment to boot. She knows she’s winning now, but she’s always prepared to look back for a second — on Sunday night, Cardi B ended her set with breakout Hot 100-topper “Bodak Yellow.” Makes sense. “This song right here?,” she started. “It paid all my family’s bills, bitch.”