It has been well over four years since Atlanta native Playboi Carti released the critically acclaimed album Whole Lotta Red. He has returned to give the people what they want: MUSIC.
In the time between the release of Whole Lotta Red and MUSIC, fans were subjected to countless incidents of disappointment regarding the rapper. The rollout for the album consisted of lies, song leaks, album information, and singles. However, it all came to an end when Playboi Carti announced his album, MUSIC, would be released on March 14. Upon the announcement, his fans around the world rejoiced in happiness that the almost five-year-long wait would shortly come to an end.
The night the album was set to release, it was announced that it would be delayed to midnight PST. However, it would soon be found out that this was not the case. Ultimately, the album ended up releasing roughly around 3:30 AM PST and was an extensive 30 songs. Upon release, many had mixed feelings about the release, questioning if it was worth the wait or not. Chad Kautz, senior, stated that he did not like the album and thought it wasn’t worth the wait.
However, this wasn’t the case for everyone. Many throughout social media began to express their love of the album and generally agreed that the album was worth the wait. Keaton Berg, senior, expresses his love for the album: “I was very excited for the release of the album, and I think it surpassed all expectations.”
The album featured frequent collaborators of Carti, such as Lil Uzi Vert, Future, and Travis Scott. The album also saw features from Young Thug, Ty Dolla $ign, Skepta, Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, and Jhené Aiko.
MUSIC is largely different from its predecessor, Whole Lotta Red, which is widely acknowledged as one of the most influential albums of the decade. Carti displays his wide range of music-making capabilities on the album. We see this reflected in songs where he resembles his old “rage” sound of the Whole Lotta Red era, such as “POP OUT,” “OPM BABI,” and “C*****E NOSE.”
Another sound we hear on the album is a more back-to-his-roots sounding Carti in which he is rapping over upbeat yet murky instrumentals containing grimy lyrics on songs such as “TOXIC,” “LIKE WEEZY,” “PHILLY,” and “SOUTH ATLANTA BABY.” Carti continues to flex his versatility on songs like “RATHER LIE,” “BACKD00R,” and “MUNYUN,” where we see a more melodic Carti floating over soothing beats.
In addition to the release of MUSIC, Carti released a deluxe version of the album titled MUSIC-SORRY 4 DA WAIT, which was released on March 25, containing the songs “DIFFERENT DAY,” “2024,” “FOMDJ,” and “BACKR00MS.” The album was received well by fans all over social media due to its release of songs that many considered “grails”, or songs many people want but aren’t expected to be released.
Fans may wonder, what’s next for Carti? It can only be assumed that we will see another album from Carti sometime soon so that he can capitalize on the success of MUSIC and give the fans what they want. With that being said, Carti has teased that he would be releasing his album titled BABY BOI after the release of MUSIC. As there is no release date or new information regarding the album; the future remains uncertain. However, fans of the rapper are surely glad to finally have MUSIC.
