Whole Lotta Red (studio album)
by Playboi Carti

akin to bach

I remember trying this for the first time, and hating it. Then i gave it a few more tries, and now i think it's a masterpiece. It isn't for everyone, and i know why someone might hate it, but to me the concept is amazing, and i can't wait for his next full album to drop. I think it's gonna top this one

From teague 04/01/2022 16:16 | #283705

Everything that makes Die Lit work is what makes Whole Lotta Red a total dud. F33l Lik3 Dyin and Control are the only decent songs on here.

From paladisiac 12/08/2021 21:03 | #277256

The beats are choice. The lyrics are mostly simple repetition. That leaves me a whole lotta boRED.

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From pjohnsongolf 09/16/2021 15:01 | #273789

Well I already feel the consensus is starting to shift on this album. The more I listen to it the more I am starting to love it. Honestly there is no way you can love Donda and not like this a lot

From Boltzmann 08/31/2021 09:22 | #273111

I was listening to Kanye's new album and as always on Kanye's new projects: I am only interested in the features. So I heard Carti on there and thought: "if only he made his album sound like this", and then: "wait, did he not?" So I came back and appreciated it much more than last time.

Perhaps I understand why I hated it the first time. The first few tracks are rather weak compared to the part towards the middle. The opening track is perhaps a bit awkward indeed (I have to agree with my part self even though I like the track much better now); it is followed by an awful verse by Kanye; and the three tracks after that are perhaps a bit over the top while not being good enough to pull it off. I recommend listening from M3tamorphosis if you didn't enjoy the album the first time around. Plus: Because of his vocal stretching experiments he puts much less emphasis on flow, and that's what I loved about Die Lit. Most tracks consist of him repeating a line ad nauseam (not necessarily a bad thing). So don't go into this album expecting actual rapping (again, I don't mean this in a negative way).

I still think Young Thug has been a big influence on this album, but I view it a bit in a more positive light now. I'm glad vocal experimentation is becoming a major field in trap because of Thugger. We've seen it with Future's "Ladidadida slob on me knob", Lil Uzi Vert has also been contributing interesting voices to the game, and of course the dozens of Thugger clones that have sparked up lately. Playboi Carti has been a welcome contribution to this branch of trap, and I think he still is.

I love the submarine sound (if that makes sense) with which he sometimes starts off his tracks. (This hasn't changed from last time)

There is a simple formula to "Whole Lotta Red", pulsating Synths come in and Carti comes on with an idea and repeats it until the song ends. I adore the beats, in particular Vamp Anthem is such a clever fusion of gothic organ and trap tone. The Carti end is awful. He will spout something vaguely hedonistic about being a rockstar/vampire and put it on max repeat. There really is no substance behind it. The pure quantity of songs just wears out any momentum that the instrumentals make.

Playboi carti takes a more aggressive approach then usual on this album, which may turn off his fans. But the first half of this album is full of bangers and aggressive beats, but the second half falls a little short. Overall 8/10

From mdbaxter 01/08/2021 16:58 | #264041

Disjointed effort with some interesting ideas that mostly fall short of the mark. I hesitate to call some songs filler but a fair amount of the tracks aren't that good. Carti finds his stride more in the second half of the album where he reverts to the more laid back style that he's famous for.