It's very fair to say that there really is no other artist like Playboi Carti. Fans online deliberate their favourite tracks; it's usually one of the hundreds of unreleased songs that are talked about before any of the studio releases, not to mention the insane album sales each studio release has taken in the first week alone. His self titled debut has racked up over 2.2 Billion streams, not even mentioning the other two albums.
He also knows how hungry his fanbase is for any sort of slither of new music from him, and he loves to keep them waiting. He perfectly represents stardom in the digital age, all while your mother probably has no idea who he is.
Case in point: MUSIC has finally been released. It has been five very long years of false promises, scrapped albums, cancelled and rescheduled tours to get to this point. Fair to Carti, he understands the power of a controversial rollout, being quite a polarising figure himself. Like him or hate him, he was one of the pioneers of the new age of Soundcloud rappers, and he is not letting anyone forget that.
This is a beast of an album, clocking in over 70 minutes long with 30 tracks which sadly, should’ve been cut in half. Not to say there isn’t some absolute gold among the coal here; there is. Tracks like MOJO JOJO with its catty Kendrick Lamar ad-libs, COCAINE NOSE lurches forward with distorted guitar work backed by blown out bass, BACKD00R has SZA and Carti hitting harmonies and LIKE WEEZY with its J-Pop inspired production backed by genuinely sweet sounding vocals make for some very pleasurable moments.
The man himself described this album as "Burnt Music". I akin that meaning to a blank burnt CD you would’ve got off your friend’s older brother with tracks you’ve never heard of. Some of them have you thinking ‘I’ve never heard anything like this before, I love this.’ While the rest of the CD will have you wishing you were listening to anything else. POP OUT as an opener will easily turn off many newcomers with a complete disregard for any kind of good taste with baffling reverb on its ad-libs alongside weak hooks. RADAR is a track that goes absolutely nowhere with an uninspired trumpet heavy beat. Songs like OVERLY and CHARGE DEM HOES A FEE feel like they were thrown together in mere weeks, which makes me wonder what took him so long to release the album (A 5 year wait, may I add).
However, it's not all terrible, his commitment to the carefree vibe is quite impressive. It shines on tracks like MUNYUN and FINE SHIT, with genuinely out there production and varied vocal presence. He is really pushing his voice to extremes here, to the point where you can’t even tell it's him, which adds to the mutative nature of the album as a whole. Another highlight are the guest stars which absolutely shine above Carti, which I think is the point. To me, Carti has always felt like a ringleader in a 808 heavy circus, knowing what acts to show first, and when’s the best time to let them into the ring. TOXIC begins to lose my interest, until the legend himself Skepta dives in midway through the track and throws some of the most witty and sharp lines over the whole album. GOOD CREDIT is the third Kendrick feature, but the first one with an actual verse, and it was worth the wait. His pen is scathing and his flow is proof that he is versatility personified.
WE NEED ALL DA VIBES is a beautiful mashup of Young thug, Ty dolla sign and carti just absolutely losing themselves: to the vibe.
MUSIC has the same issue as his last album Whole Lotta Red. It is just too long. At its best, it is a sprawling experimental monster that is engrossing as it is bracing. At its worst, it is a rushed, tacked together mess of tracks that feel more like a contract agreement meeting its end. At the end of the day though, it does not matter what I say. Because he does not care. He will continue to polarise, sell out shows and top charts. He is 'MUSIC'.
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