Review: Playboi Carti – Whole Lotta Red

Finally, the Playboi Carti record is here, and I have given it some time to settle in my mind and some lengthy thought.

Posted 1/5/21

Rapper, singer, songwriter Playboi Carti releases his third full-length, highly-anticipated album Whole Lotta Red. The artist known for his infectious ad libs, earworm verses, and weird, ever-evolving delivery backed by some of the best beats returns from an almost three-year hiatus. After having a multitude of his tracks leaked in the last two years, it seemed like the mainstream gave up on him releasing official music. However, his leaks still topped charts and filled the scene with Carti’s coveted presence and sound. Whole Lotta Red is not only a milestone of one of the most hyped albums in hip hop, but also a personal hurdle for the artist as he tried his best to constantly recreate his album to be brand new (since his work was being leaked). Carti starts the album off strong with a trap banger Rockstar Made that serves as an atmospherically perfect intro track. It is very different from the vibe of Die Lit’s Long Time (Intro) but feels just as iconic. Song-by-song analysis:

Go2DaMoon – A mediocre track featuring a low-effort Kanye verse and a very short Carti verse that is wasted.

Stop Breathing – Carti delivers a lyrically questionable song tying his body to making women breathless and continuing to talk about thinking about homicide after his brother died. It is a completely absurdist portrayal of a mashup of cliché rap lyrics.

Beno! – A very upbeat song with a compelling melody with the exact vibe from his single @meh. Total earworm.

JumpOutTheHouse – Hands down the strangest song on the track list. The ad libs and lyrics can only be described as squirmy, belching, and whiny. It almost feels like a joke song, pushing the boundaries of the listeners comfort levels. The beat is even accompanied by duck quacking. I think it is actually a track that shows Carti’s seriousness in creating unorthodox music as Carti’s history of descending into absurdity proves that he is not joking on this track.

M3tamorphosis – A forced Kid Cudi feature on a song that is dreadfully long. Carti’s verse gets better the more you listen to it, but Cudi adds virtually nothing.

Slay3r – Great flow changes, head-bobbing beat, and a very catchy chorus. Has that @meh vibe.

Sl33p – A repetitive track with a stripped, trap beat. If you can ignore what he is saying or you can vibe with it, it has a soundcloud quality to it that is intriguing.

New Tank – Carti brings his voice to squeaky registers on another quality, Carti-esque trap song. He mentions the meme his fans make of his possibility of being homosexual.

Teen X – The vocals are very high pitched and squeaky here, too, that is backed by an innocent-sounding beat. Parallels the work of Bladee. Future is featured here with the only good feature verse on the album. One of the cuts on this project that remind me of Carti’s famous “baby voice.”

Meh – A solid Carti song with “slat” ad libs, good verses, and fun production.

Vamp Anthem – A clever, well-executed song featuring an organ instrumental to poke fun of the vampire meme his fans have made about him. It is surprisingly catchy and has a great vocal effect.

New N3on – One of the most unique tracks on the album, Carti releases this heavily-mixed version of his famous leak “Neon.” This song plunges the listener into a psychedelic instrumental accompanied by Carti’s signature baby voice and catchy lyrics.

Control – A corny introduction of an excerpt of Akademics talking about finding information about Whole Lotta Red. The music part of the track is mediocre electronic rap.

Punk Monk – An enjoyable filler track. A little long for my taste.

On That Time – This aggressive cut is something I skipped during my preliminary listen of the album, but it is worth listening to again. It includes a unique trap beat.

King Vamp – An annoying song with a lazy, oddly childish chorus. The instrumental incorporates a retro sample, making the song sound slightly dated, which just makes it worse.

Place – A calm track with an uncalled-for pause at the beginning. Carti just delivers a solid verse over a stoned beat.

Sky – This song includes cosmic production as Carti incorporates his infectious autotuned vocals. There is some good music progression on this cut because of the multiple diverse verses.

Over – An introduction to the last few songs of the album. Carti is more lyrically genuine than he usually is; he reflects on good and bad thoughts in his life; although it is a mess, the short individual lines do resonate.

ILoveUIHateU – Carti puts his personal twist on an emo-rap song here, warning women to not get too attached to him.

Die4Guy – Carti raps about loyalty on a refreshing beat and atmosphere, which is especially well-placed because it is so late in the album.

Not PLaying – A track about Carti’s “comeup.” He talks about growing up in the hood and making it big in the music scene, making life good for him.

F33l Lik3 Dying – The basis of the song is that Carti feels like dying if he does not get this specific girl. It is a weird and slightly cringey mix of his strange vocals and a choir in the background (perhaps Kanye’s work).

Sir Cartier showcases a great collection of songs on Whole Lotta Red, hopefully satiating the desires of his cult-like fan base. The wait was worth it because all but one song are never-heard-before, cutting-edge songs. We see Carti innovating vocally more than ever expected in response to the imitation of his “baby voice” across the rap community. Carti relies on aggressive delivery on skeletal trap beats, slowly progressing into an extremely psychedelic latter-half of the project (also, at times sounding like Carti copying Lil Uzi Vert copying Carti). Throughout all the tracks, his ad libs continue to dominate the songs as much as or more than his main vocals. These ad libs and vocals compared to those of his last album Die Lit portray a quintessential shift of Playboi Carti: the shift from Dadaism (meaningless art) to Absurdism. Carti made it clear that his lyrics were always meaningless by creating a rap style where listeners could not understand him. However, now he pushes the boundaries of what is comfortable for consumers to even listen to, paralleling the works of joke artists like IceJJFish. The difference is that Carti’s music is adamant in intent but so absurd that new listeners would likely think the music is not serious (e.g. JumpOutTheHouse). The only flaws on this album are the few filler tracks and petty acknowledgments he makes (addressing fans saying he is gay, is a vampire, and speaks in hieroglyphics). Otherwise, this album is just as impressive as Die Lit but in different ways. If Die Lit is considered a classic album, so should Whole Lotta Red.

Rating: 8.8

Favorite Tracks: Rockstar Made, JumpOutTheHouse, Teen X, New N3on, Sky, Over

Least Favorites: M3tamorphosis & Control