1/16/2020 | Nate Herrera

Whole Lotta Red is the latest release from Playboi Carti, a 24 year old artist from Atlanta, who first gained mainstream success with songs like “Magnolia”, “wokeuplikethis*”, and “Broke Boi”. His style was defined by a very minimalistic approach to lyrics over psychedelic trance-inducing trap beats. His self-titled 2017 debut mixtape would further develop this style of music which induces a certain “vibe” with it’s sound rather than evoking meaning through lyrics. Although it was packed with many filler tracks, there were plenty of highlights like the aforementioned “Magnolia”, “wokeuplikethis”, and “New Choppa” which showed the potential of this sound and style of rap. This potential was fulfilled with his 2018 album “Die Lit” which is widely viewed as a magnum opus of trap music. This album featured songs with a more abrasive tone and punk aesthetic like “RIP” and also singles which furthered the minimalist trap aesthetic that he had been working towards such as “Love Hurts”, which barely features a beat, as it is composed of only a sub bass, drums and a chorus which is only a single line repeated over and over.

Shortly after the release of this album, his next work was announced: “Whole Lotta Red”. Multiple release dates would be speculated and each time, fans would be let down. But with every let-down, the anticipation would grow and grow. Hype for this album was like no other, and fans had waited almost over two years clinging to every leak they could get their ears on. But finally the Kanye executive-produced WLR came out on Christmas of 2020, which is pretty ironic considering the demonic aesthetics that had been teased in the merch and images posted by Carti around this time.

However, did the abum live up to the hype?

This album can be split in two parts, I consider the first half and a few other tracks on the back end to be “Whole Lotta Red” while the rest can be classified as “Die Lit 2”. This first half features some of the most abrasive and violent production and vocals ever to be on a Playboi Carti song. Opening up with the song “Rockstar Made”, this intro establishes the tone of the rest of this portion with a harsh 8-bit esque beat and repetitive vocals. Many of these songs have a similar style and sound like they could be boss battles in a gameboy video game that was layered with earth shattering 808s and super dry trap drums. Some of the mixes on these beats are so violent that the 808 distorts all other instruments like on “On that time”. Listening to these beats evokes the feeling of moshing as they just sound so violent and murderous. Props go to the producers and engineers on this album as these are some of the craziest beats I have heard. Aside from experimenting with beat selection, Carti’s vocal delivery and mixing is drastically different than anything else in his discography. First of all, they are mixed all the way in front, taking center stage, rather than blending with the beat. Also, his vocal performances are packed with tons of emotion. He reaches into different registers very frequently, audibly straining his voice in strange and evocative ways to create a unique and captivating experience. Standout moments are his high pitched baby voice on “Teen X”, his strained and pouty delivery on the second verse of “Rockstar Made”, and his whispery and murderous sounding delivery on “No Sl33p”’s chorus.

Lyrically, Carti continues to be minimalistic, leaving tons of space between lyrics and repeating phrases over and over again on multiple tracks; including “JumpOutTheHouse” where the phrases, “jump out the house” and “jump out that bih” are repeated over 40 times as we’l as on “TeenX” where he repeats “We on the X, We on the codeine” over 30 times. Although this album only has three features, which are all extraordinary, Playboi Carti is able to entertain and carry his own weight for most of this album. This lack of features is acknowledged by many songs having antisocial themes like in “Punk Monk” where he says “I don’t even need these [gentlemen] on my songs” and Sky where he says “Can't [mess] with nobody (What?), not even my shadow”.

The simplicity and distorted mixes can understandably be seen as lazy to many, but after listening deeper it’s apparent that all of it is intentional. The sum of all parts in the tracks equate to sounding as if he took a single raw emotion and converted it into audio form. I think that the distorted mixes and spur of the moment recordings are very reminiscent of lofi punk recordings, like those of The Damned, which would have distorted instruments. However instead of using electric and bass guitars, this project uses very raw synthesizers and distorted 808s.

The style on this record is very different in comparison to the rest of his discography, and as Playboi Carti says on the track M3tamorphosis, he “had to change [his] whole swag”. However, this tracklist has many songs which sound like they could have been on a “Die Lit 2.” I think these tracks aren’t nearly as exciting or boundary-pushing as the others and were there to appeal to more people, but they certainly are still catchy and I could see them being played in clubs as music you can just “vibe” to. Songs like “New N3on” and “Sky” are good examples of this, where they aren’t as experimental, but still fun songs to listen to. I also am intrigued by the bit of introspection on “Sky” where he talks about struggling with trust in a relationship and turning to drugs as a coping mechanism to not feel anything. This theme is continued on ” F33l lik3 Dyin” where he reflects on his rockstar lifestyle and how he yearns for love and is aware of how his lifestyle is detrimental as he says “Every day I’m dyin’” and “Light my cigarette up like an incense (All my life), And I know I'm dyin' (Woah), This shit got me dyin' (Woah)”.

My only complaint with this album is that some songs could have been trimmed off for a more coherent album and lesser run time as this whole album is just over an hour long. In summary, I believe this album will have a profound effect on the next generation of rappers to experiment more with vocal deliveries and production choice and I am excited to see what direction he will go in artistically.

Final Rating: 9-9.5/10

Favorite Tracks: Rockstar Made,Go2DaMoon , Stop Breathing, Beno!, JumpOutTheHouse, M3tamorphosis, Slay3r, No Sl33p, New Tank, Teen X, Meh, Vamp Anthem, Punk Monk, On That Time, Sky, ILoveUIHateU, Not PLaying

Least Favorite Tracks: