After years of teasing and promising and mendacity, Playboi Carti, the prodigal hype-baiter, has lastly returned with a brand new album, Music. It’s a hulking, convulsing mishmash of tracks spanning manufacturing kinds and time intervals, with a few of his most electrical raps, frenetic flows, and anarchic music constructions so far. The vary of bangers is large sufficient to soundtrack the subsequent few months of TikTok hype edits whereas additionally satisfying your millennial brother who fondly remembers going berserk to Waka Flocka Flame in faculty. So many new voices, too: Goblin Carti, Evil Warlock Carti, Spitting With Glee Carti, Gargling Broth Carti. The sprawl is a part of the album’s attraction, and if anybody might pull off a 30-track marathon on this type, it’s Playboi Carti. However what if we obtained the possibility to go in with forceps and scalpel and carve this album right down to perfection? Right here’s my try.
Excisions
“Ok Pop”
A lot of this album feels prefer it was focus-grouped to thrash dwell, and “Ok Pop,” a revision of “Ketamine,” is like rage-rap composed by Hans Zimmer. The guitar bolts and sweeping synths beg you to think about Carti as some type of shadow boss, levitating within the sky like SpongeBob going Goofy Goober mode. I can deal with just one over-the-top enviornment epic per album—give me the reckless slaughter of “HBA.”
“Philly”
Carti’s goofy lyrics and toad-mouthed Molly-blurts can’t save the Travis Present from sabotaging the momentum. Ship La Flame and this saloon-trap beat again to Astroworld.
“Superb Shit”
Some unnerving lyrics and a beat that feels lethargic and trite in comparison with the remainder of the album’s mad chaos.
“Wake Up F1lthy”
I’m completely satisfied to report that I obtained unique entry to the temporary Carti despatched F1lthy and BNYX®: “Epic Cyborg Area Rage Opera Kind Beat.” That is the place Music nearly stumbles into Utopia territory. It’s all empty theatrics and celestial swishes, with a Travis Scott visitor verse so feeble it hits like Grok.
“Jumpin”
There are some good little vocal tics between Carti and Lil Uzi Vert, however this instrumental is forgettable. It’s limp in each sound (hits like a cousin of the beat for Future’s half of “Life Is Good”) and lyrics, with dated references to Pink Tape and Narcissist.
“Trim”
One of the best options on Carti albums lose themselves within the environment, drowned and rewired by the weirdness. Flashback to “Teen X”: Future imitated Carti’s personal child voice so the 2 have been like a household choir tag-teaming in Martianese. “Trim,” that includes Future, sounds method too managed, too clear. DJ Swamp Izzo tries his greatest to carry the havoc, but it surely feels extra like Carti guesting on a Future tape.
“Cocaine Nostril”
I’m all for “burnt music,” the synapse-frying shit that seems like mucus at the back of your throat and smells like smoke. However “Cocaine Nostril” has all of the juddering grotesquerie of Carti’s Complete Lotta Crimson hits with out the relentless assault of “On That Time” or “JumpOutTheHouse.” It seems like Carti heard Destroy Lonely’s If Seems Might Kill and was like, Right here’s the way you really do rock-rage, son. Possibly I want to listen to it dwell to get the total impact, however “Pop Out” is my most popular burnout banger right here.
