Playboi Carti’s long awaited album “MUSIC” was finally released on March 14. The 30 song album has a mix of punk sounds and Southern Atlantic Trap. Although “MUSIC” has a few good songs and very good guest features, the album is too long and feels lazily made considering the five year wait.
Halfway through my first listen of the album, I noticed how all of the tracks blended together with similar hypnotic beats. Many of the songs felt like filler tracks and didn’t add anything to the album.
The leadoff track, “POP OUT” was an immediate disappointment. There was so much going on in this song, I felt like I couldn’t fully appreciate the beat and other features.
Like most of Carti’s albums, the lyrics were bland compared to its beats and production. “MUSIC” felt as though it was missing substance due to the lack of meaningful lyrics. This is the album’s main fault and is present in many of its tracks.
This isn’t to say the album was a complete loss. Many of the songs featured heavy basslines and video-gamey sounds that made it a fun listen. I also really enjoyed the diversity in Carti’s voice, which made the album less monotone. Some songs like “EVIL J0RDAN” feature Carti in a deeper pitch, while in other songs he still raps in his well-known high-pitched voice.
Another saving grace of this album was the guest features. Some of my favorite tracks include “RATHER LIE” (with The Weeknd), “BACKD00R” (feat. Kendrick Lamar $ Jhenè Aiko) and “GOOD CREDIT” (with Kendrick Lamar). Carti is known for his bright and quick beats, which differs from the normal production style of his guest artists, so it was really interesting to hear artists like The Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar play with those beats in their verses.
Carti and The Weeknd are one of the best duos in the industry and “RATHER LIE” really portrayed their musical chemistry. The Weeknd brought a lot to the song, with his vocals breaking up some of the monotony that was present in the rest of the album. I loved Kendrick’s verses in this album, showing a different side of him than what we have been recently seeing in his personal projects. You could tell with his ad libs and features that he was really having fun in the studio.
For me, this album is mediocre. I loved the production, but the lyrics lacked too much for me to keep this as a frequent listen. I have to be in a very specific mood to want to listen to this, which I can predict will not be very often.
