Rating: 3/5
Playboi Carti’s fourth studio album, “MUSIC,” was expected to be released in Jan. 2024. After five long years since his previous album, “Whole Lotta Red,” “MUSIC” was released on March 14th, 2025. During the five-year hiatus, he dropped singles “2024”, “ALL RED”, and was featured on The Weeknd’s “Timeless”, to name a few. This album did not reach his fans’ expectations, despite the anticipation.
The album rollout was extensive. People in big cities like Los Angeles, New York, and Miami saw many billboards promoting the album. He posted several outfit pictures, which many people thought were part of the album rollout. Additionally, Spotify released a post on Instagram telling viewers to have faith in the release of “MUSIC”.
On his merchandise website, it said that the “product will ship no later than six months from September 13, 2024”, which included the CDs, boxsets, clothes, and a downloadable version of the album. This means that the album had to be released before that date, or else he would have to refund everyone’s money, which further increased the album’s build-up.
Something that popped out in this album was the guest artists. There were features from big-name artists like Travis Scott, Future, The Weeknd, and Lil Uzi Vert, not to mention Kendrick Lamar’s surprise appearances. My favorite songs from the album are “EVIL J0RDAN”, “PHILLY”, “RATHER LIE”, and “BACKD00R”.
In the song “EVIL J0RDAN”, the intro is nice but it felt too long. It sounds like a 2015 Minecraft YouTuber’s intro. The song is still a hit, nonetheless.
One more song that featured Kendrick Lamar, “GOOD CREDIT” is great. The sample at the beginning of the song was creative but felt unnecessary. There’s so much hate around Kendrick Lamar for his verse on this song, but I thought it was good.
Another thing that I liked about this album was the production and the alternating uses of his higher-pitched voice and his deeper voice.
I didn’t enjoy the lack of lyrical depth on most songs. I understand that mumble rap is part of his style, but I prefer music with more meaningful storytelling or emotion. Moreover, the random “Swamp Izzo” adlibs throughout the album were unnecessary. Additionally, I’m not a fan of the short-length songs.
What he should have done differently is release it on time. He said that the album would be released at 12:00 am PST, but it was delayed until around 4:30 am. He should have added the other songs not included in the album such as: “ALL RED” and “PLAY THIS”. Furthermore, collab songs with Ye are mandatory since they work well together, which can be seen in “FIELD TRIP”, “CARNIVAL”, and “F*K SUMN”.
Playboi Carti’s new album “MUSIC” has some high highs and low lows, so I can only give the album a mid-ranking. This album is not good enough for all of the anticipation. All those years of outfit pictures, leaked snippets, and rumors just did not live up to the hype of the album. I think that Playboi Carti should prioritize being a featured artist because that’s what he’s good at.