Social Media Manager: Samantha McCarthy
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After years of album teasers, canceled tours, and alleged leaks, Atlanta-born rapper Playboi Carti (born Jordan Carter) has finally released what fans were “feining” for—MUSIC.
The 76 minute, 30 track album features various artists: Travis Scott, The Weeknd, Kendrick Lamar, Jhené Aiko, Skepta, Future, Lil Uzi Vert, Young Thug, and Ty Dolla $ign.
In summary, the album received a positive reception overall, with Pitchfork awarding MUSIC a solid 7.7 out of 10.
Personally, I agree with this rating. While there are a few songs that can be considered skip-worthy, the majority of this album is consistent, following what Pitchfork describes as a “synthesis of all of Carti’s impulses both good and bad: the inspired hip-hop head and transactional businessman; the disruptive rapper of his generation and the morally bankrupt social climber…”
The non-stop flow of restless trap beats and a new vocal range from Carter—featured more prominently here than ever before—captures the rush and urgency that likely drove the creation of this new album.
The album begins with the track “POP OUT,” a bass-driven, rage-rap anthem led by Swamp Izzo, Atlanta-born DJ, and Carti himself. Following this track is a melodic song featuring Travis Scott, entitled “CRUSH.”
“EVIL J0RDAN,” the fourth song on Music, encompasses Carti’s more recent deeper-voiced rap. The track’s official release brought joy to fans, as it was originally teased back in December of 2023.
“MOJO JOJO,” featuring Kendrick Lamar, reached the top five on Apple Music charts shortly after the album’s release.
The feature run continues on “PHILLY” with Travis Scott, where Carti manages to capture the essence of MUSIC in just a few bars: “Diamonds all over my body / Molly all over my body.”
The track “FINE SH–” also discusses one theme that is prominent throughout the album: women.
“My bi— so bad, she can’t even go outside / My bi— so bad, she can’t even post online,” Carti vocalizes in this song.
An interesting way to speak, I suppose.
“BACKD00R,” another charting song, features Kendrick Lamar, Jhené Aiko, and Carti, as they speak of living in lavish wealth.
The album continues consistently, with “CHARGE DEM HO– A FEE” featuring Future and Travis Scott. With Future’s voice on this beat, it has definitely become one of my favorites from MUSIC.
“GOOD CREDIT,” the halfway point of the album, again features Kendrick Lamar, where he names Carti as his “evil twin.”
The second half of the album brings more features to the table, with Young Thug and Ty Dolla $ign on “WE NEED ALL DA VIBES,” and, for some reason, a solo track from Lil Uzi Vert, entitled “TWIN TRIM.”
MUSIC finishes strong with “HBA,” a track that was first teased back in 2023, as well as “SOUTH ATLANTA BABY,” where Carti delves into the violence and street life he experienced throughout his life.
Fans are happy that MUSIC is finally here, despite the journey of its release being rough.
In 2020, Carter released his critically acclaimed album, Whole Lotta Red (WLR), on Christmas Day. Since then, fans have been on edge waiting for the artist’s next move.
Months after WLR was out, Carter began to tease new music on twitter. On March 13th of 2021, he posted on Instagram: “LeTs dr0p thiS new Album . w3 noT done.”
After this? Silence, until August, when he again uploads on Instagram, this time captioning his post “NARCISSIST 09/13/21.”
Weeks of anticipation pass by, yet nothing is released on this date. The next day, the store on Carter’s website opened with Narcissist themed merchandise. Shortly after, it was announced that the website had been hacked, with the merchandise never being approved.
Then, the album is confirmed, leaving fans confused. Carter posted on X (formerly known as Twitter), “FORGET ABOUT SAMPLE CLEARANCES. DROP NARCISSIST.”
With the title of MUSIC being announced in April 2022, fans were expecting something later that year. The second anniversary of WLR came around, with Carti posting a photo of an androgynous person taking a mirror selfie with a parental advisory sticker in the corner, signifying that there was new music on the way.
To spare the rest of the back-and-forth of music being announced and never being released, MUSIC was finally officially uploaded on March 14th of 2025, after being delayed a few times.
Did you listen? And, as music critic Anthony Fantano would ask, “Did you love it? Did you hate it? What would you rate it?”