By Emre Emirbayer, Year 12
After years of silence and unkept promises, Playboi Carti has finally released his long anticipated album MUSIC on the 14th of March 2025. In the years following Whole Lotta Red, Playboi Carti’s presence was defined by mystique and random snippets, cryptic messages, and an ever-growing sense of anticipation. This, in hindsight, would turn out to be a genius marketing technique to build anticipation for the album. Only months after the release of his previous album in 2020, Carti began teasing a new project. By August 2021, he announced the album Narcissist with a September 13 release date, but the day came and went with no album, which left fans in suspense. What followed was a long, unpredictable journey – one that eventually led to MUSIC, a title he wouldn’t reveal until 2022. In the months that followed, Carti stayed mostly quiet, but he still kept fans on edge. During his concerts, he played snippets of unreleased tracks. He performed ROCKSTAR in full at Rolling Loud in March 2023. In July, he played POP OUT at Wireless Festival. Playboi Carti appeared on Travis Scott’s UTOPIA with a completely new voice and persona than what fans were used to. His voice was deeper and his vocal effects had changed. This left fans wondering what was next and whether his new sound would shape the upcoming album. But it wasn’t until the end of the year that the real teasing began. On December 7, Carti broke his silence with a single image on his Instagram story: I AM MUSIC. The same image appeared on the Opium Instagram account, captioned simply: “PREPARE”. Respected figures in the music industry such as Pharrell Williams echoed the message across their social media. That night, DJ Akademiks confirmed what fans had been waiting to hear—the MUSIC era had officially begun.
In December 2023, Carti started releasing some music on YouTube and Instagram, but not on streaming platforms. Some notable songs he released at the time are H00DBYAIR, KETAMINE, EVIL J0RDAN and BACKR00MS. However, his most groundbreaking release was arguably the song named 2024 in which he explicitly claimed that his album would be out in 2024. Excitement kept building as fans speculated that Music could drop at any moment. For the entire year, Carti went on concerts across the globe. His performances further fueled the hype, as he delivered some of the most chaotic and high-energy shows in the world. Known for his warzone-like crowds and electrifying stage presence, Carti turned every concert into a cultural masterpiece. These solidified his international popularity and left fans even more eager for Music to finally drop. The risky decision he took of incorporating a set-list which consists mostly of unreleased songs paid off tremendously. Fans in countries foreign to him such as Switzerland were singing his songs by heart, songs that were not even officially out. Playboi Carti is one of the only artists who can afford to do things like these.
2024 was nearing its end and MUSIC was still not out. Fans believed that the final months of the year was the perfect time for Carti to finally drop. With only a few months left, anticipation reached its peak, and it felt like the long wait was about to pay off. Everything was in place for a triumphant ending. In September, he released ALL RED on all streaming platforms. This was his first official solo single in four years. Two weeks later, he released Timeless with the Weeknd which peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100. Playboi Carti was finally becoming a normal artist who releases music instead of posting thousands of outfit pictures on Instagram. The happy ending was near. However, the end of December came and there was no mention of MUSIC. No announcements, no teasers – just silence. Fans waited patiently for something to happen. There were rumors that he would release the album on the last day of the year. Nothing happened. 2024 ended with no MUSIC. This led to a massive outrage among Carti fans. Social media trends such as “I AM LIAR” (referencing I AM MUSIC) or “2024 No Music” followed. Hate arose among the community and for an instance, it looked like Playboi Carti was taking his mysterious persona a bit too far. It looked like everything was just trickery and that we would never get the album.
Last week, Carti shipped out merchandise that had been available for pre-order on his website. The merch listing stated that orders would arrive when MUSIC was released and that Carti had up to six months from September 12, 2024, to drop. This information was known, but fans took it with a grain of salt. The shipping of the merchandise, however, brought a final spark of hope. On March 12th, Spotify’s official account posted the I AM MUSIC cover on Instagram with the caption “HAVE FAITH”. Then, at last, after years of silence, delays, and endless anticipation, Carti broke through the void. With only two days left, he made the announcement fans had been waiting for—MUSIC was finally coming. He set the release date to March 14th.
Carti did indeed release MUSIC that day. The album contains thirty songs and is an hour and a quarter long. On a personal note, I think that the album is a musical masterpiece. The production is through the roof with some of the most experimental and immersive beats of Carti’s career. The distorted, high-energy instrumentals blend elements of rage, electronic, and psychedelic sounds. This creates in the listener an atmosphere that feels both chaotic and hypnotic. His vocal delivery is another defining aspect—at times aggressive and raw, at other times melodic and ghostly. Carti clearly brought out the best in every artist featured on the album. There is truly nothing lacking with MUSIC, it flows perfectly. Albums like this are very rare and listening to MUSIC feels like experiencing an artist truly in their element. It is a truly mesmerizing experience. Such a long and thrilling wait made its release even more impactful, and perhaps it was what made the album so special. All of what has been previously stated makes Playboi Carti a marketing genius.
