It’s been a long wait — made longer after missing the typical midnight release time for a new album — but after more than four years, Playboi Carti has finally dropped his latest album.
The new album, simply titled Music, is Carti’s third album overall and his first since dropping Whole Lotta Red on Christmas Day back in 2020. The album is lengthy, clocking at an hour and 17 minutes with 30 songs, and it’s particularly star-studded with guest features from The Weeknd, Travis Scott, Future, Young Thug, Lil Uzi Vert and Young Thug and Kendrick Lamar.
Kanye West didn’t seem to be a fan of that latter feature, with the rapper dissing Lamar’s verse on Friday, posting on his X account that “I DONT LIKE KENDRICK LAMARS MUSIC.”
“HE RAPS VERY GOOD BUT I DIDNT NEED TO HEAR HIM ON CARTI ALBUM,” West, who has once again embroiled himself in controversy in recent weeks for antisemitic social media posts, wrote. West has collaborated with both Carti and Lamar in his career. Most recently, Carti was featured on West and Ty Dolla $ign’s “Carnival.” Lamar was featured on “No More Parties in LA” on West’s 2016 album The Life of Pablo.
Carti released the album early Friday morning, suggesting that Thug’s feature contributed to the hours-long delay, as Carti posted on X thursday night that he “HAD 2 MAKE SURE SLIMEEEE WAS ON DIS MF.”
Carti has become one of the most influential artists in rap since dropping his debut mixtape back in 2017, bolstered by the trap hit “Magnolia,” which has since gone triple platinum. Carti’s fans had been feverishly waiting for a new album for years, and the rapper finally confirmed the new project would come out earlier this week.
One of the most anticipated records in hip hop, the album will likely be a chart smash. While he hasn’t released an album since 2020 until today, Carti’s been featured on prominent tracks like Travis Scott’s “Fein,” and Future and Metro Boomin’s “Type Shit.”
Carti will likely be heavily pushing new the album during a headlining set at Rolling Loud Los Angeles on Saturday.