On March 14, Jordan Carter—professionally known as Playboi Carti—released the highly anticipated album “Music,” the fourth studio album release of his career, and his first album release in nearly five years. The album consists of 30 songs and leans on the dark, bassy, electrical sound of his last album, “Whole Lotta Red,” while also providing room for Carti to showcase him rapping in a deeper, contrasting the infamous babyish voice used by him when rapping in the past, as well as lighter tracks, similar to the sound of “X,” an album released by his labelmate Ken Carson.
The album opens with the heavy-hitting “POP OUT,” which was performed at concerts before, but never got officially released. The song’s background features heavy-hitting bass and distorted electric guitar that provides a vessel for Carti’s aggressive delivery. The song does not sound the best when listened to in a quiet place; instead, it will probably be in its ideal environment when performed by Carti on stage, fueling his infamous concert mosh pits.
Following this strong opening, the highly anticipated “CRUSH,” featuring Travis Scott, is a relief from the chaotic sound of the previous track. A catchy synth loop backing high-pitched vocals from Carti and lines from Scott seem like they would build up to something, however, the same beat just repeats throughout, even though the song is almost three minutes long. The middle of the song would have been the perfect opportunity for a drop into a different beat; however, the decision that was made does not ruin the song, because the repetitiveness of the song puts the listener into a trance-like state that evokes the overall eerie feeling of the album.
The next 13 to 14 songs are rather forgettable and sound like filler tracks. Carti also downgrades some of his original Instagram-exclusive releases with extremely loud snares and producer tags from DJ Swamp Izzo, which get very annoying throughout the album. This section includes “RADAR,” a catchy song with an alien-sounding synth in the background. Another somewhat memorable song is “RATHER LIE” featuring The Weeknd is a lighthearted song, reminiscent of their other recent collaboration “Timeless.” “BACKD00R” surprisingly features Kendrick Lamar and Jhene Aiko—although Kendrick Lamar’s verses feel shoved in and unfinished—similar to his verses on “GOOD CREDIT.”
“I SEEEEEE YOU BABY BOI” is a highlight of the album, bringing back the sound from “Whole Lotta Red” for a track. Carti talks about his current success and being able to show his true personality to the world, with lines like “Yeah, livin’ this life out of highs, I escaped the fail,” and “I was tired of bein’ in a shell, Just sittin’ in the heat, it was feelin’ like Hell.”
While the first half of the album brought on a somewhat rocky start, Carti somewhat redeems himself in the second half. Beginning with the melodic “WAKE UP F1LTHY” featuring Travis Scott, which is a mediocre song but it is still listenable. Additionally, “JUMPIN” featuring Lil Uzi Vert marks their first collaboration in over seven years, the song is catchy and features energy-filled verses from Uzi. However, the song’s lyrics make it obvious that it was written years ago, with Uzi mentioning his nearly five year old album “Pink Tape” as if it was new, and Carti mentioning a scrapped name—”Narcissist”—for the album that became “Music.”
The next song, “TRIM” featuring Future, is a song that has no lines from Carti in it, instead, Future raps throughout the whole song alone. This is another one of the highlights from this album, which is unfortunate, because it contains zero Carti and gives him a bad look by not having any verses on one of the best songs on his own album. The next song, “TRIM,” features a brassy beat produced by Swamp Izzo and other producers, filled with heavy hitting and clever lines from Future that make it enjoyable to listen to. Coming off this strong song is “COCAINE NOSE,” which is another highlight of the album. It features a grimy sounding guitar in the background, while Carti uses a darker voice to deliver lines like “I’m puttin’ cash in a what? I don’t play, Tried to speed it off? I don’t play,” showcasing Carti’s ability to create atmospheric tracks.
The next two songs, “WE NEED ALL DA VIBES” featuring Ty Dolla $ign and Young Thug and “OLYMPIAN” are two more hits. “WE NEED ALL DA VIBES” is a laid-back, catchy and melodic song that features vocals from Ty Dolla $ign andis reminiscent of a track off of the “Vultures” albums. Furthermore, “OLYMPIAN” is one of the best songs of the album, including a beat reminiscent of “Long Time” from Carti’s hit album “Die Lit,” that hooks the listener in with a dark, yet hopeful sounding melody. Carti also comes through with his verses on this song, making it one of the shining points of this album.
Next, we go from one of the best songs of the album to one of the worst. “OPM BABI” starts off with a catchy beat that seems to have potential, but it is ultimately trashed by, yet again, Swamp Izzo adding unnecessary sound effects and producer tags that sound like a cat was walking on his soundboard. The song is impossible to listen to and is a very low point for the album.
“TWIN TRIM” is another song featuring Lil Uzi Vert, but this time, the verses on it are rapped exclusively by Uzi, similar to “TRIM,” where there are no Carti verses at all. This song is another highlight, featuring catchy flows from Uzi and a beat that entrances the listener. After this track, one of the best in the album—“LIKE WEEZY”—starts playing. The song starts out with a very joyful beat sampled from the Atlanta hip hop group “Rich Kidz,” paying homage to Carti’s hometown. The beat is creatively sampled and sounds like a breath of fresh air in the album. The song is topped off with a slick delivery from Carti, who doesn’t disappoint with his verses.
The remaining four songs on the album are decent, but forgettable. He closes out the album with “SOUTH ATLANTA BABY,” another song paying homage to Carti’s birthplace. Overall, “MUSIC” is a traditionally “good” album, but doesn’t offer an industry-changing sound like “Die Lit” or “Whole Lotta Red” did. However, it is a good stepping stone for potentially more consistent releases from Carti, who is hinting at a potential back-to-back drop of another album on March 21st. The sound presented on the album is unique and has a lot of room to grow, so if Carti starts releasing consistently, a new wave in the industry could start flourishing.