This might just be the hottest take of the year: Carti’s album didn’t live up to the hype it received. When popular artists like Playboi Carti drop new music, the internet breaks; fans flood comment sections, trends start, and your entire TikTok For You Page becomes nothing but snippets and fire emojis. Carti’s known for his wild, unique music style, and with this, he’s built a cult-like fanbase that treats every release like a global event. Once all the noise dies down, we’re left thinking, was the album really worth it? Carti’s most recent and most anticipated album “I am Music” dropped on March 14th and is now available on platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube. The album brings Carti’s usual vibe; wild, chaotic, and intense. But with the hype this album received, it’s only fair enough to expect something different from his usual style.
Don’t get all this twisted, the album has some good moments. It’s very diverse in features with well-known artists like The Weeknd, Travis Scott, Future, Jhené Aiko, Skepta, and many others. The main thing about Carti is that he’s a trendsetter. Even if it’s mumbling into a mic to rage beats, his sounds are always a few steps ahead and futuristic. It checks all the boxes: the crazy energy, the beats, and the edgy vibe, but the problem is, the album is the result of Carti simply hitting copy and paste. It produces the usual, wild, and chaotic energy with the same aesthetic and that’s the issue. Rather than pushing limits in the variety of his music and trying something new, he chooses to stay in his comfort zone and produce music we’ve heard before. With all the hype that came before the album, I expected something different and new.
This doesn’t mean the album doesn’t have a few good songs here and there. Viral tracks like “EVIL JORDAN,” “TRIM” or “HBA” give off high energy and are perfect for getting ready or hanging out with friends. The production was high quality and a lot of work was put into it, the beats are addictive and the energy stays high from start to finish. Carti is his own aesthetic and If you’re looking for some songs with vibrant energy, this album delivers. But the more you listen, the repetition can’t simply be ignored. Too many tracks sound like different variations from each other. Previous albums, similar beats, and ad-libs are practically recycled and it feels like Carti is copying himself with all his past albums. Instead of Carti’s music evolving, it feels like he is stuck in a loop.
It’s clear that Carti’s intended audience is mostly teens who live for the fun, chaotic, and loud energy of adolescence, and it may work for them. But when you compare this album to similar ones like “Utopia” by Travis Scott or “2093” by Yeat, Carti’s album is materialistic and nothing compared to other albums of the same genre. “Utopia” blends trap and storytelling into a strong experience while “2093” uses futuristic beats and bars, Carti on the other hand, still sticks to the formula that made him famous and doesn’t add anything new or different. The album feels like a collage of a variety of rage beats but nothing with meaning, storytelling, or actual production. It’s loud, flashy, and even aggressive, but ultimately, it’s shallow, there’s nothing more to it than what you can hear.
Carti has potential- he’s shown it. With albums like “Die Lit” or “Whole Lotta Red”, he made a huge turning point in rap today, influencing upcoming rappers and making concerts more dramatic and creative. However, “I Am Music” feels like he’s leaving that legacy behind rather than building on it. The album has the aesthetic, the features, and the wild vibe but doesn’t have the purpose, meaning, or ambition that made his work from before so genuine. It’s as if Carti knows what his fans want and isn’t trying to go further, which is what made him stand out in the first place. At this point in his career, most listeners were hoping for something that leads in a new direction and not a louder echo of what he’s already done.
After all, “I am Music” is a good addition to Carti’s catalog, but it doesn’t make anything new. Carti fans would probably really like this album, it has that rage energy and production he’s known for. However, if you’re looking for something deeper with enticing storytelling, you’d probably be skipping a lot of tracks. I would recommend it to people who enjoy the wild, rage energy or want something to blast in the car. My final rating? Probably a 6.5/10, it’s fun and worth a listen, but not for everyone.
