North Texas Daily

Xavier Spurlock | Contributing Writer

Last Friday, rapper Playboy Carti released his highly anticipated self-titled debut mixtape. Released on the same day as Kendrick Lamar’s “DAMN,” Carti is maintaining hip-hop’s balance of fun with an album full of absolute stunting from beginning to end.

Before signing to A$AP Rocky’s label AWGE, the underground scene has waited for Carti to drop a whole project. With tracks like “Broke Boi,” “Fetti” and “What,” the Atlanta native has delivered bangers time and again, causing fans to become impatient for his debut release.

While making the mixtape Carti spent time enjoying his new life – he could be seen online doing things like starring in “Yeezy Season 3,” meeting Raf Simons at New York Fashion Week and flexing at the train station alongside A$AP Rocky and A$AP Bari.

Playboi Carti is a conception of the culture. He proclaims that A$AP Rocky is his “dad.” He was once a part of Awful Records family. He is styled by designer Shane Gonzales on his album cover. He has appeared in OVO lookbooks, and Ian Connor taught him how to be a great performer and pushed him into rap super-stardom.

The album cover finds Carti sitting in a bed with two beautiful women and smoking. It is a visual representation of his star status, which has been apparent since the beginning of his career. In his earlier interviews, Carti made sure to have two women around him to create his “playboy” image.

The people around Carti and his image alone were enough to turn him into one of the biggest new faces in hip-hop. However, Carti’s music undeniably catapulted him into the position that he’s currently in.

Before dropping the album, Carti surprised fans by releasing two singles featuring his mumble rap contemporary Lil Uzi Vert. After this a website called cashcarti.com appeared with a countdown timer and the hashtag #cartiseason, according to The Fader. Once the countdown ended, the album was up on streaming services everywhere.

The album is primarily for turning up in the car, at parties or simply to have fun. The current single for the album, “Magnolia” is a hype track that lets you know what Carti does best. He stunts and has fun doing what he does.

Along with the two features from Uzi, a verse from A$AP Rocky and another from newcoming artist Leven Kali, Carti created a 15-track album to turn on and vibe out to.

Although some people find inspiration in the lifestyle that Carti raps about, this isn’t an album to turn on and expect to become introspective to. This isn’t anything to learn from. It’s sex, drugs and rap-and-roll through and through.

This is just the beginning for Cash Carti. With Lil Yatchy and Lil Uzi Vert releasing new music on the horizon, 2017 is bound to be a great year for fans of trap music and mumble rap.

Featured Image: Playboi Carti is the latest sensation in mumble rap. Complex.