The Mysterious Anticipation of Playboi Carti’s upcoming album “MUSIC.”

Image Credit- Johnconnermeida on Instagram

In 2024 Atlanta born rapper, Playboi Carti, the unstoppable hip-hop artist known for his genre bending recording style is currently in the late stages of a metamorphosis in his musical sound as well as his ever changing aesthetic. Carti is geared up to drop his highly anticipated album "MUSIC," which fans have been waiting for since the beginning of the year. This is coming four years after his wildly rambunctious “Whole Lotta Red” album that debuted #1 on the billboard charts, selling 100k units in its first week back in December 2020. Recently ranked the 2nd best album of the 2020’s by Pitchfork, the noisy bass and over layering ad libs that send the listener into a hip hop trance with a vortex of punk elements surrounding the sound is what captivated fans years ago and have left them hungry for new music from Carti. 

Those who have been following the rapper for years know the mystery that is associated with his name. Moving in silence for the majority of his career, so when it’s time to make moves they pop in his supporters’ face like lightning. In 2024, Playboi Carti left his hibernation and hiatus, becoming more active on social media than ever and leaving a trail of loose singles and features that have sporadically been released on the internet. He earned himself his first credits on a number 1 billboard song this year teaming up with Kanye West, Rich the Kid, and Ty Dolla $ign on “CARNIVAL.”

He also had his highest debuting solo release with “ALL RED” which charted at 14. The song was produced by F1lthy who was a heavy collaborator with him on “Whole Lotta Red” but the production and vocal style was in a completely new direction with triumphant synths warping together and a brand new deep voice vocal style that fans have compared to another long time rapper, Future. He followed this single with a brand new collaboration track with The Weeknd who is the number one artist in monthly listeners on Spotify. The song “Timeless” has a brand new style of catchy flows and vocal switches on top of a spacey and bouncy instrumental. 

Playboi Carti was given his first billboard award this year being named “Artist of the Year.” It is safe to say that Playboi Carti is cementing his legacy in 2024 but he is not done yet. He has been teasing “MUSIC” since the start of this year and announced through merch bundles that it will be coming out before this year runs to a close. With the hype greater than ever fans are curious to see what sound he will deliver. In recent years he has been known for his energetic repetition, strained vocals, and ludicrous background ad libs but he has hinted and teased that the sound may be on par with one of his pre successors, Lil Wayne, who is an early 2000’s rap phenomenon who is widely considered one of the best and most influential rappers. In a loose single he released on his secondary instagram account, one of the lyrics expressed “They wanted this album to be offset, but I told them, ‘I'm comin' normal.”’ Perhaps this means a more standard trap style instead of the absurdly unique sound he has invented over recent years.

Dating back to 2022 a close connection in the music industry to Carti, Fritz Owen, tweeted “Nah fr @liltunechi (Lil Wayne) has been inspiring my brother (Playboi Carti) so much during these past years since his last project u wouldn’t even understand.” Fans are intrigued to see how he will mesh his own style with potentially a Lil Wayne sound which is more traditional rapping drowned in autotune delivering clever bars aggressively. Playboi Carti, whose real name is Jordan Carter, revealed details in a 2022 that he spent 3 months recording in a cave which is certainly an interesting headline from a fan perspective. Recording from different locations can affect the sound of vocals in various ways as it may bring out a different energy of the musical artist or may enhance the vocal sound. 

On October 15, 2024 I spoke with a long time fan of Playboi Carti and asked some questions. Adam Pirog, a 17 year old musician from New Jersey, talked about the inspiration taken from Playboi Carti that he applies to his own music, the influence of his sound on the newer generation, and what sounds he would like to see Carti try out in the future. 

I struck a question off the top of my head that I was eager to ask, “You being a musician yourself, what inspiration have you taken from Playboi Carti and what has his impact on the music game been?” 

“He’s always been ahead of the production game, hopping on more advanced types of instrumentals than anyone else. Now, you see so many young rappers coming out and hopping on the waves of beats he’s been using for years. For example, his own artist under his label, Ken Carson… Ken has been doing his thing using a similar style of beats.” Adam said after pondering on the question for a minute. He added, “As for my own sound, yeah, those heavy drums he incorporates into his beats I tend to go to and those catchy Pierre Bourne melodies are iconic.” 

To wrap this up I asked a final question, “When do you expect the album, MUSIC?”

He replied in an unsure tone stating, “I don’t know man, no one knows for sure with Carti but hopefully before the new year.” Fans can expect new music with a whole new sound by the end of 2024.