Rap icon Playboi Carti released his third studio album, “MUSIC,” on March 14. The album showcases Carti as a perennial mumble rapper, one who is characterized by song production rather than lyrical content. With over 30 tracks on the album, some with recognizable guest features, “MUSIC” appears to be promising, but the spotty assortment of favorable tracks does not outweigh the poor lyrics and repetitive rhythms present on an underwhelming album that took four years to make.
The overall production for “MUSIC” was surprisingly inconsistent, with many songs suffering because of a loosely arranged mix of synths and eerie beats. With the highly renowned producers ranging from Metro Boomin, F1LTHY, SWAMP IZZO, Cardo, and Kanye West working on the album, the project should have exceeded listeners’ expectations, but “MUSIC” is littered with mostly dull rhythms. Carti’s previous albums are known for relying heavily on experimental production aspects. and this becomes a problem for the reception of this new album when too many sounds are mixed to the point where the songs sound overwhelming.
“MUSIC” is considered an Atlanta trap album, a complete switch from the vampiric punk style on his 2020 album, “Whole Lotta Red.” Atlanta trap is characterized by distinctive sounds with a heavy use of drums and synthesizers. Carti has experience in the Atlanta trap genre with his 2015 singles “Broke Boi” and “Fetti”. Going back to his trap roots didn’t make an exciting return as the album eventually gets repetitive.
Carti’s featureless tracks are hit or miss in terms of quality and production. There are many album highs, such as “MUNYUN,” “HBA,” and “OLYMPIAN,” which maintain fast-paced rhythms without feeling rushed, but these are few and far between. The majority of the songs have a pattern of being both rushed in production and lazy in performance. “POP OUT,” for example, was a terrible album opener as the mixing of beats paired with the abysmal lyrics creates a bad–but accurate–preview for the rest of the album.
The most popular collaborations on the album came from Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, and Travis Scott. These guest features served as an attempt to redeem the album, but are just as disappointing, except for Kendrick’s performance on “GOOD CREDIT” and The Weeknd’s performance on “RATHER LIE”. Travis Scott manages to hold his own with “PHILLY,” but he still sounds bland overall as he lacks energy and substance with “CRUSH” and “WAKE UP F1LTHY.” Future’s appearance on “TRIM” was decent enough, but ultimately forgettable compared to his recent, more satisfactory performances on 2024’s “WE DON’T TRUST YOU.”
Fans eagerly awaited a collaboration between Carti and Lil Uzi Vert, only for Uzi’s performance on MUSIC to be unimpressive. The duo’s tracks, “JUMPIN” and “TWIN TRIM,” are short, filler songs with no interesting aspects whatsoever. This is disappointing as the two artists usually complement each other well. Unfortunately, this is not true on “MUSIC.”
Multiple songs on “MUSIC” can also be deemed as pure filler as they lack structure and interest. Tracks such as “KPOP” and “I SEEEEEE YOU BABY BOI” are forgettable and unnecessary with a short duration that serves no purpose and bloats the album’s runtime.
Overall, “MUSIC” was not worth the four year wait. A limited number of songs, like GOOD CREDIT and RADAR, hit hard, but the majority of the 30 tracks should have remained as drafts. With the constant repetition of similar lyrics and rhythms, “MUSIC” is not a good representative of the Atlanta trap genre.
Album rating: 4.5/10.
