Playboi Carti. Photo by Rolling Loud/Henry Hwu
Nearly four-and-a-half years after his third album Whole Lotta Red, Playboi Carti has released his long-awaited new project MUSIC. The album spans 30 tracks and includes features from Kendrick Lamar, Future, Travis Scott, Young Thug, Skepta, and The Weeknd among others.
Stream Playboi Carti's new album MUSIC on Spotify and Apple Music
The release of MUSIC (which Carti was calling I AM MUSIC until today's release) concludes a long and often torturous path for fans of the Atlanta rapper. Mere months after releasing Whole Lotta Red, Carti wrote “LeTs dr0p thiS new Album . w3 noT done.” in an Instagram caption posted in March 2021. He used Instagram in August to announce a project called NARCISSIST, and even gave it a release date: September 13, 2021. That store turn came and went without so much as an acknowledgement from Carti.
In an April 2022 XXL cover story, Carti revealed the title of his new album: Music. That Christmas, he tweeted “love all my supporters it’s time,” leading fans to hope he was following up on the Christmas 2020 release of Whole Lotta Red.
Things went mostly quiet for another year until December 2023 when Carti revealed the album's updated title: I AM MUSIC. Days later he shared a new untitled song and music video on his Instagram page. That would be the start of an acclaimed run of singles: “2024," “H00dByAir,” “Backr00ms,” and “EvilJ0rdan,” all released officially but not available on streaming platforms.
Those songs and the momentum they created made it feel all but certain that an album was imminent. But it wasn't until September 2024 that Carti launched a pre-order and merch page. That same month, he shared the song "ALL RED."
In February 2025, the I AM MUSIC title with the Spotify logo appeared on billboards across America, and images soon spread across social media. Neither Carti nor Spotify publicly acknowledged them at first, but soon Spotify's official accounts were posting cryptic Carti-themed teasers.
Earlier this week, Carti confirmed that work on the project was finally finished. "“MY ALBUM DONE. ME N WHEEZY TALKING ABOUT SOME OL OTHER SHITTT,” Carti wrote in a pair of Instagram Stories.
As for what's next? According to DJ Akademiks, Carti says he's ready to drop another project soon after releasing MUSIC. We'll see what happens!
