Less is More: The Mysterious Career of Playboi Carti

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Ulttra Wilson, Staff Writer

On April 14, 2017 self-proclaimed rockstar Jordan Terrell Carter, better known to the world as Playboi Carti, released his very first mixtape to much hype and success. The self-titled mixtape was highly anticipated by his fans since his breakout hit “Broke boi” surfaced on the internet in 2015. He toured that summer and after he would leave the spotlight to focus on music and not be heard from again.

After countless singles and leaks about his work, the world was waiting for Carti to release a full project.

Unlike his rap peers Carti chooses to stay off social media and limits his posting thus making it difficult for fans to get a glimpse of his next move. With fans wanting more from Carti they continue to find ways to get his music through leaks which expose them to tracks which many thought they would have to wait until his next project to hear. Little did they know, he had much more in store. On May 10, 2018, Carti shocked the music world by releasing his first studio album, “Die Lit,” which had no promotion at all. The album would feature a new sound from Carti and big features from the likes of Skepta, Travis Scott, Lil Uzi Vert, Pi’erre Bourne, Chief Keef, Young Thug, and many more of his peers in today’s rap industry. With 19 new tracks that bamboozled those who thought the album was leaked prior to its release it was accepted with open arms and loved by critics. Music blog Pitchfork describes the album as “an album that works almost completely from its own lunatic script. It is a perversely infectious sugar high, rap that fundamentally recalibrates the brain’s reward centers.”

Carti continued the cycle and toured again in the summer of 2018 and added in some media runs on various radio stations, which was something that he really wasn’t known for doing. He stepped out of his shell in 2018 but that still didn’t stop him from his old ways. Before the year ended a video surfaced of Carti telling a few fans that “the album is coming soon.” The upcoming project titled “Whole Lotta Red” (due to the fact that his favorite color is red) already has fans piecing together tracks on the album. Will he fool fans again and release all new tracks? Will his new album drop in April or May? There’s really no way to figure out what he will do next. All fans can do is continue with what they have and wait.