I AM MUSIC Review

Playboi Carti’s New Era Is Ugly, Beautiful, and Inevitable

There are no throwaways here. No filler. No apologies.

Playboi Carti’s latest album isn’t trying to be understood — it’s trying to be felt. The project doesn’t chase validation. It weaponizes chaos, bends form, and builds something that doesn’t just sound different, but moves different.

Since Whole Lotta Red, Carti’s been on a trajectory that most artists wouldn’t dare touch. Not just experimental, but disruptive. The kind of energy that doesn't care about playlists, doesn't care about neat genre boxes, and definitely doesn’t care about playing it safe.

This new album is rage refined. Less about moshpit hype and more about power in distortion. Vocals are chopped, distorted, layered, glitched. At times Carti sounds like a demon, a synth, a punk, or a sample of himself — and that’s exactly the point.

MojoJojo - Staff Pick

MojoJojo feels like the sound of a system crash inside a fashion week runway show. It’s raw and mechanical, but cinematic. The production is jagged and industrial, almost minimalist in how much it leaves room for Carti to chant, echo, and morph through the track. His presence isn’t about bars — it’s about control of texture.

There’s something hypnotic here. Something cult-like. It's not built for the casual listener. It's built for the movement — the ones who treat Carti not just as a rapper, but a sound architect.

WakeUpFilthy - Staff Pick

WakeUpFilthy is another standout that feels like Carti in full command of his madness. The beat is frantic and unrelenting, with siren-like synths and deep 808 cuts that don’t give the ear a break — and that’s the point. It's sonic overstimulation delivered with confidence.

Carti barely raps in the traditional sense here. His voice becomes part of the instrumentation. Every adlib, every whisper, every warped cadence feels calculated to spark something primal.

WakeUpFilthy isn’t a song — it’s a signal. One that lets you know you’re inside the world Carti built, and you’re either tuned in or you’re lost.

This Isn't for Everyone — It Wasn't Meant to Be

What makes this album hit isn’t clarity. It’s conviction. It sounds like a rejection of traditional structure in favor of emotion, repetition, noise, and control. It’s anti-radio, anti-chart, and anti-industry in the best way possible.

This is post-mainstream Carti, and he's not trying to convert anyone. He’s just building a world for the ones who already get it.

You can’t decode this album on the first listen. You feel your way through it. And in a world obsessed with perfect hooks and fast skips, Carti dares to build something fractured, layered, and raw — and that might be exactly why it’ll last.