After nearly five years of empty promises, “false starts,” and questionable fashion choices, enigmatic rapper Playboi Carti has returned with his highly anticipated third studio album, “MUSIC”—and he delivered.
Of course, this wasn’t as straightforward as it sounds. After initially announcing the album would drop at midnight (the standard for most mainstream music releases), Carti later announced it would not be available until 12 a.m. PST—or 3 a.m. EST.
Like some sick final joke on his fans who have tried their hardest to be patient with him, the album didn’t actually drop until around 7 a.m. EST.
And yet, the delay shouldn’t come as a surprise to those familiar with Carti’s antics. He had previously announced the album would be released last year, leading many to believe it would come out sometime in January 2024. After releasing a few singles on Instagram and YouTube during that time, no album was ever released.
But, fans remained hopeful. In February 2024, he was featured on Kanye West’s and Ty Dolla Sign’s track titled “Carnival,” which quickly blew up on social media, and became Carti’s first chart-topping single. A month later, he teamed up with Future, Metro Boomin, and Travis Scott for the song “Type S--t” (which I am proud to say I was able to see performed live at MetLife Stadium last year with some of my closest friends). To the disappointment of fans who were hopeful that he would drop the album over the summer, it wasn’t until September 2024 that Carti released “ALL RED”—his first solo streaming release since 2020 and what most thought was the lead single to his album. A month after that, he collaborated with The Weeknd on the song, “Timeless,” which was produced by Pharrell Williams and Mike Dean—and yet, still no album.
Nevertheless, the album is finally here, and it was well worth the wait. “MUSIC” is 30 tracks long (which increased to 34 after he added four more songs to the album two weeks after its initial release) with 77 minutes of runtime, providing fans with more than enough material to enjoy until his next release—which, let’s be honest, might never happen (although he’s already teasing his next album, supposedly tilted “BABY BOI” ). The album has a star-studded lineup of guest features, including longtime collaborators like Future, Young Thug, Travis Scott, and Lil Uzi Vert. However, the biggest and most unexpected feature of them all was Super Bowl Halftime performer and serial Drake-disser, Kendrick Lamar, who continues his incredible run as of late with appearances on three of the album’s songs (“MOJO JOJO,” “BACKD00R,” and “GOOD CREDIT,” where he calls Carti his “evil twin”).
For production enthusiasts like me, the album also features several high-profile producers in the rap scene. This includes F1lthy, who played a huge role in the production of Carti’s last album, “Whole Lotta Red,” along with Metro Boomin, Kanye West, Southside, and Wheezy.
A smorgasbord of sorts, the album has “songs for everybody,” as internet personality and unofficial Carti spokesperson DJ Akademiks said on X / Twitter the night before the album was released. Embracing his Atlanta roots with a more traditional trap music sound while expanding on the edgy sound of his last album, Carti raps over several hard-hitting instrumentals designed to be played at the most obnoxious volume possible (examples are “POP OUT,” “K POP,” and “WAKE UP F1LTHY”). On some of these instrumentals, Carti uses a deep, raspier cadence that had fans in shock when he first premiered it on “FE!N,” a track released on Travis Scott’s fourth studio album, “UTOPIA” in the summer of 2023. Many of these “deep-voice” songs come much later in the tracklist, including my favorite song on the album, “DIS 1 GOT IT.”
But there are also subtler, more emotionally-driven songs for those who don’t want their ears to bleed or head to throb from these intense instrumentals. It’s fair to assume track eight on the album, “RATHER LIE,” featuring The Weeknd, will be a chart-topper. Not only does The Weeknd sound amazing (like always), but the beat is ethereal, and Carti gives one of his most memorable verses to date. “FINE S--T,” “BACKD00R,” and “OLYMPIAN,” are also similarly songs on the tracklist that are worth checking out as well.
Whether you love him or hate him, something undeniable about Carti is his creativity and influence. It’s rare for a rapper, let alone a musician, to reinvent themselves with each new release. As mentioned before, he uses a deeper voice for the first time in “MUSIC”—a contrast from his characteristic high-pitched “baby-voice” that helped him blow up. With every release, Carti also spawns a new breed of “Carti-clones,” who take obvious inspiration from his songs and style. While the influence of his first two projects is more subtle, the influence of “Whole Lotta Red” since its release is clear. With its unique blend of rap, punk, and rock aesthetics that fans have deemed “rage music Carti became the pioneer of a whole subgenre of rap music. Rappers like Yeat, and label-mates Ken Carson and Destroy Lonely, have made whole careers from this style of rap. Just give it a few years and the influence of “MUSIC” will be clear (if not already).
Besides his voice, another huge stylistic shift for Carti on this album was his lyricism, which has noticeably improved from his shorter, minimalist style of rapping years ago (yet, examples of such are still far too explicit to provide in the school newspaper). While he is still not a lyricist on par with someone like Kendrick, this is clearly by design—it has been a part of his appeal from the beginning, frustrating “oldheads” who dismiss his music as meaningless and nonsensical “mumble rap.”
But this in itself is part of the appeal of rap. As I said in a previous article, what makes rap music so great is its capacity to be both substantial and insubstantial, fun and serious, lyrical and nonsensical. Having this variability allows artists like Kendrick and Carti to succeed within the same genre (and even for them to collaborate).
As I said, my favorite song on the album is “DIS 1 GOT IT,” but I also really like “OLYMPIAN,” “OPM BABI,” “LIKE WEEZY,” and “SOUTH ATLANTA BABY.” But given the huge tracklist, these are all subject to change, and I’m excited to see what my ears will gravitate towards as I continue listening to the album for what will probably be the next five years or whenever he decides to drop his next one.
Regardless, Carti silenced the doubters with his latest album, proving again why he has been able to remain so prominent despite only releasing four projects in eight years. The album debuted atop the Billboard 200, making it his second album to do so. He also sold roughly 300,000 equivalent album units in the album's first week, which is the biggest week for a rap album this year. All 30 songs on the album placed on the Billboard 100as well, making Carti the first rapper ever, and just the third-artist ever, to have every song on a 30-plus-song album make the singles chart.
On the cover art of the album, it says “I AM MUSIC”—a bold yet accurate statement that reflects Carti’s undeniable influence and prominence in rap that will likely remain for years to come (schyeah).
Zachary Mawby is the head editor for The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at zachary.mawby@student.shu.edu.
