Fans have long awaited Playboi Carti’s third studio album, MUSIC, which was released on March 14, 2025. It became Carti’s second number-one album on the Billboard 200 after Whole Lotta Red. Among the 30 tracks, there were numerous collaborations with popular artists such as Young Thug, Travis Scott, Future, Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, Lil Uzi Vert, Skepta, and Ty Dolla $ign. To name a few, Cardo, Metro Boomin, Southside, F1lthy, Ye, Ojivolta, and Cash Cobain were notable producers who made an appearance.
Jordan Terrell Carter is a popular American rapper from Atlanta, Georgia. He started his career in music on SoundCloud as Sir Cartier in 2011. In 2013, he rebranded himself as Playboi Carti and began developing his unique style after meeting the producer Ethereal. While a member of Awful Records, he began gaining recognition within the underground scene with his singles “Broke Boi” and “Fetti” in 2015. He then signed to ASAP Mob’s AWGE hip-hop collective in a joint venture with Interscope Records. After releasing his debut commercial mixtape Playboi Carti (2017), featuring singles like “Magnolia” and “wokeuplikethis*,” his popularity grew immensely. He proceeded to release Die Lit in 2018 with acclaimed songs such as “Shoota” and “Poke It Out.” According to Genius, Carti co-founded the record label Opium the following year. Then, in 2020, he released his next studio album titled Whole Lotta Red, which received much criticism at first but later came to be regarded as a monumental modern rap album. In 2024, Carti collaborated with Kanye West, Ty Dolla $ign, and Rich the Kid on the song “CARNIVAL,” which reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and emerged as one of his most successful works. One of his recent releases with The Weeknd, called “Timeless,” debuted at #3 on Billboard Hot 100.
Playboi Carti has amassed over 19 billion streams globally, according to SongStats. He is well-known for his varied diction and vocal range, as he frequently switches from a “baby” voice to a deep, raspy tone in his songs. According to The Nation, he has adopted a “rock star” persona and is said to have been inspired by artists ASAP Rocky, Kanye West, Jay-Z, MF Doom, Slayer, the Sex Pistols, and KISS. He has had a great influence on the genres of mumble and rage-rap, using extreme bass sounds and memorable verses that have attracted the attention of around 62.2 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
According to Metacritic, MUSIC received primarily positive reviews with a weighted average score of 76 out of 100 based on 8 critic reviews. At West Morris Central High School, enthusiastic top 0.01% Playboi Carti Spotify listener Markus Vidiera says, “This is the best album ever. It is a cultural reset! Carti is so cute. TWIN TRIM is the most underrated song on the album, but the best song is RATHER LIE (with The Weeknd).” It seems that Playboi Carti has only become more prevalent since his rise to fame, as people around the world are now familiar with his catchy and distinctive music.
