“Be Careful” serves as a public warning to Cardi’s partner that she will not stick around if he continues to sleep around with other women. It’s the third single from Invasion of Privacy, following after “Bodak Yellow” and “Bartier Cardi.”

There was speculation that the song was aimed at fiancé Offset, who was plagued by cheating rumors in late 2017 but in an April 2018 interview with Ebro on Beats 1, Cardi revealed she wasn’t:

No, I wasn’t talkin’ about Offset, I was just talkin’ about things I relate to and that have happened to me. First of all, I heard the record before I even was in love with Offset like that.

Soon after the song’s release, an old video surfaced of songwriter, Pardison Fontaine rapping similar lyrics over the same beat, which led to others accusing Cardi of stealing. In actuality, Pardison and Cardi are friends (since 2014) and is credited as a writer of the song under the alias Jordan Thorpe.