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After years of delays, revisions and leaks, the most anticipated album of the last two years, “Whole Lotta Red” by Playboi Carti, has finally been officially released to the public.
“Whole Lotta Red” carries the punk torch that was first ignited in “Die Lit” and maximizes this sound to the fullest. Carti embraces his new rockstar persona and uses it to introduce completely new sounds whether it be with his attention grabbing, aggressive voice that heavily resembles some of the punk pioneers in the 80s, or the distorted heart thumping beats that are the perfect adrenaline inducing backdrop for mosh pits. Coupled with this extreme aggression are also a few songs that feature Carti actually singing, and while the singing isn’t particularly amazing or even objectively “good” the fact that Carti is continuing to experiment with his sound all while his current sound hasn’t even been grounded or crafted completely yet is astounding.
The sound of this album will be a game changer as well as the production on here sounds exactly as if the punk era in the 80s were to occur in this decade. Influences of EDM, rock, grunge, trap, and glitch are all meshed together to create this otherworldly sound that may seem jarring at first but given the right context and environment, is the exact type of sound that would fit a 2020 punk rockstar. I can easily see this type of production becoming the norm in hip hop in the next year or so.
The content of WLR consists of the usual topics that Carti talks about, women, drugs, partying, relationships and his oppositions. In addition to those things, Carti sticks to a particular image and aesthetic and that is his vampire goth image. There are several songs here that specifically pertain to this newfound identity that Carti has embraced, particularly “Vamp Life” and “Vamp King”. Carti declares himself as the only real current rockstar and showcases this with the abrasive and aggressive sound, the hedonistic lifestyle described in his lyrics and the “IDGAF” attitude that inhibits this album.
While I do enjoy most of this album, I do think it runs a bit too long for me to fully like the album front to back. Of the 24 songs, I really only go back to about 15, which for most trap albums is actually quite a good number. I don’t believe this album to be flawless but I do think this is an extremely good starting point for the next evolutionary stage of Playboi Carti’s career. Thanks for watching and reading!
Favorite tracks: Go2DaMoon, Stop Breathing, New Tank, New N3on, Control, King Vamp, Not PLaying
0:00 Intro
0:34 Rockstar Made
2:05 Go2DaMoon (feat. Kanye West)
3:22 Stop Breathing
5:58 Beno!
6:58 JumpOutTheHouse
7:16 Metamorphosis (feat. Kid Cudi)
8:00 Slay3r
9:00 No Sl33p
9:25 New Tank
10:06 Teen X (feat. Future)
11:44 Meh
12:30 Vamp Anthem
13:04 New N3on
13:39 Control
16:38 Punk Monk
19:19 On That Time
19:46 King Vamp
21:04 Place
21:30 Sky
22:02Over
22:56 ILoveUIHateU
23:28 Die4Guy
24:02 Not PLaying
24:44 F33l Lik3 Dyin