Playboi Carti's 'I Am Music' Album: Fan Reactions

“I’m just a glazer, honestly,” Asad Bimbo says about Playboi Cart’s new album, Music. The 21-year-old considers himself a fan. “He just sounds like the coolest rapper ever to me.”

He’s also one of the most enigmatic. After an explosive early career punctuated by 2018’s Die Lit and 2020’s Whole Lotta Red, Carti sequestered himself in a corner of the internet and, more than a year ago, began teasing a new project. Finally, following multiple song releases on YouTube and Instagram, a slew of ’fit pics, more cryptic posts than I can count, and, of course, a couple of last-minute delays, the 30-track (yes, you read that correctly) Music hit all DSPs around 7 a.m. on March 14. It’s been analyzed, criticized, dissected, and debated ever since.

Certain rap media personalities blamed age for their lack of understanding of Carti, while others at least tried to process the music thoughtfully. Carti, meanwhile, took over the singles and albums charts, and managed to ruffle Kanye West’s feathers. Fans questioned the possible use of artificial intelligence on the album, and talk about Carti’s allegedly abusive past resurfaced. And there are rumors of more music via a deluxe.

“He just sounds like the coolest rapper ever to me.”

Music discourse is everywhere. But after an almost five-year wait for this LP, fans say they’ll take all the Carti content they can get.

“I thought this new album was pretty good,” Bimbo says. “I'm just going to like whatever card he puts out, for the most part.”

Bimbo is far from alone. Music broke multiple streaming records on the day of its release, sold nearly 300,000 copies in its first week, and has topped the Billboard 200 albums chart.

“A lot of people from that SoundCloud generation have not really been able to last the test of time the same way that he has,” Bimbo says.

On Music, as in his public persona, Carti is erratic. For nearly 75 minutes, he flips, weaves, and bobs between beats that sound like they come straight from an early video game, calls back to Atlanta mixtapes with shouts from DJ Swamp Izzo, and pushes his fans’ “trained ears” to the limits with the deepest and squeakiest voice inflections of all time. He pulls from his regular pool of features, including Travis Scott, Future, and The Weeknd. But there are also a couple of surprises, with Jhené Aiko providing background vocals on “Backdoor” and Kendrick Lamar extending his victory lap with ad libs on “Mojo Jojo,” singing on “Backdoor,” and a verse on “Good Credit.”

“On ‘Music,’ as in his public persona, Carti is erratic.”

As with any bloated album, there are tracks that should’ve been left on the cutting room floor, including “Toxic,” “Charge Dem Hoes a Fee,” and “We Need All Da Vibes,” but for the most, part Music delivers. Fans say it accomplishes something that’s become a rarity in music today: It forced conversation about the music across the board. You can’t hop on music Twitter (“music X” bffr) without seeing someone call the album “trash” or “mid.” Do quick skim, though, and you’ll see people engaging it with it critically. What does Carti’s rise say about the current state of rap? Is he the last rap superstar? How do you even describe this album?

“This is not Illmatic,” says Johhny Tanner, a 28-year-old fan. “You’re not listening to just straight rhymes and deep messages. It's about a feeling. It's about being in the moment. And I think that's what makes his music special. It makes you feel what he was feeling when he put the music together.”

Tanner was among the legions of fans who waited up well past their bedtimes for the album only to be wrought with disappointment as 12 a.m. and 3 a.m. passed and no album arrived. Tanner, who is gay himself, eventually took his frustrations to Instagram, sharing a mostly joking post where he described Carit as a “gay vampire” who’s “toyed with my emotions for the last time.”

Now that the Music is finally out in the world, Tanner says it was more than worth the wait.

“I would say my knee jerk reaction is it's his second-best album,” Tanner says. “It kind of reminds me of old DatPiff [and] LiveMixtapes stuff, where you knew every song wasn’t going to be good, but there would be ones like that would just blow your mind every time. And I feel like this Carti album is kind of the same thing. I don’t like every song on there, but there's quite a few that I've had on repeat since they came out.”

Carti’s sound has evolved since the days of so-called “SoundCloud rap,” when he came to wide attention. He’s gone from lazily rapping on laid-back, spacey beats to pushing mosh-pit-ready “rage rap” into the mainstream, birthing a slew of copycats in the process.

“Just seeing his evolution from his self-titled [mixtape] to the little switch in Die Lit, he didn't remain the same,” says Austin Cochrane, a 28-year-old fan. “He likes to try different things, and he excelled at different things. I just feel very cool listening to him.”

Carti is set to join The Weeknd on his summer stadium tour as an opener and, as always, is teasing more new music. I personally won’t hold my breath. But whatever Carti does next, the response will be visceral.

“I think when we finally get the music, it’s like, ‘We finally got it!’ and it's really good,” Cochrane says. “I feel like he just keeps his fans on their toes and every time he drops, it does well because we connect with it.”

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