1,540 days passed between the release of Playboi Carti’s latest album MUSIC and his second album, 2020’s massively popular and influential Whole Lotta Red. It would be an understatement to say that Carti’s newest record was highly anticipated. Not every album release leaves fans speculating over track lists for years, coming up with release dates that come and go with no new drops and multiple title changes. I have multiple friends who stayed up (or attempted to) for the 6:00 A.M. release of the record. Carti and his Opium label have a massively loyal fanbase, so the hype was there and then some. So, over four years later we finally have the album, leaving us now to ask a simple question: “Was it worth the wait?”
Speaking bluntly, no, not at all. It would be hard for any record this widely anticipated to live up to the expectations that were being made; but even if we lower them down to a wide degree, MUSIC is still a very middle of the road release to say the least. Carti has always been a controversial figure whether it be for his personal conduct or his music itself. His early records were minimalist to the largest degree, but this added to the appeal. 2018’s Die Lit is one of the most intoxicating rap albums in recent memory, full of ad-libs and sticky beats. Whole Lotta Red was a similarly anticipated release that saw Carti move to a more aggressive rage sound. Songs such as “Stop Breathing” are great examples of this stylistic change, one that was highly divisive on release but proved to be very influential. It was a very hit-or-miss record (to this day I am not the biggest fan of the record; it would probably fall in the 6-7/10 range for me), but its experimental nature deserves to be respected and proved to be a massive success for the Atlanta rapper. MUSIC lacks both the innovation of Whole Lotta Red or the simple fun of Die Lit and earlier mixtapes and singles.
Looking at the music on MUSIC, it’s a very mixed bag to say the least. The album has a very unorthodox sequencing, with the worst tracks present on the album being some of the very first moments on the album. “POP OUT” is an intentionally abrasive intro that is a lesser version of the rage sound Carti himself innovated. “EVIL J0RDAN” wants so desperately to be the next viral Carti song but with its grating vocals and uninteresting production it doesn’t accomplish much at all. Features from the artists such as Travis Scott, Future and a few controversial Kendrick Lamar collaborations can sometimes add some needed variety but don’t help the record much at all. Weeknd collab “RATHER LIE” is the first very solid song on the record, with “CHARGE DEM HOES A FEE”, “OLYMPIAN” & “COCAINE NOSE” being two other notable tracks. The songs here aren’t terrible, but only a few are more than just ok. The best tracks to be found on the project were added in the SORRY 4 DA WAIT deluxe edition. These are much higher quality tracks, with “2024” being the best to come out of the entire project and arguably the best song Carti has been the lead artist on since 2020.
MUSIC is not a terrible album at all, instead suffering mostly from being incredibly bloated and forgettable. The record is simply lacking the innovation and fun that made his previous records stand out. Even if you remove the years’ worth of build-up, this would still be an underwhelming record. Anyone saying that the record is truly terrible is exaggerating, and I wouldn’t expect too many people to have this as a top 3 Carti release. As with any record, I encourage you to check the album out yourself and form your own opinion, but I must say that I am not a fan of this record at all. MUSIC will not be the classic that his previous releases seem destined to become, most of these tracks do not stick for more than a month.