Playboi Carti (mixtape)


Playboi Carti is the eponymous debut mixtape by American rapper Playboi Carti. It was released on April 14, 2017, by AWGE Label and Interscope Records. The mixtape features production from Pi'erre Bourne, Southside and others, and guest appearances from American rappers Lil Uzi Vert, ASAP Rocky, and Dutch singer Leven Kali. The physical version of the mixtape was released on October 6, 2017, and a vinyl edition was released on November 17, 2017.
The mixtape was supported by three singles – "Lookin'", "Woke Up Like This," and "Magnolia", the third peaking at number 29 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It was Carti's highest single at the time.

Release

Two singles were released prior to the mixtape’s release. These included “Lookin”, which featured Lil Uzi Vert, released on March 17, 2017, and “wokeuplikethis*”, which also featured Lil Uzi Vert, which released on April 7, 2017, one week before the mixtape’s release. The single “Magnolia” was later released on June 13, 2017.
Playboi Carti debuted at number 12 on the US Billboard 200, with 28,000 album-equivalent units, of which 21,000 were streaming units and 7,000 were pure album sales. As of September 2017 the mixtape has moved over 367,000 units. The mixtape was certified Gold by the RIAA on January 10, 2018 for sales over 500,000 units.
A music video was released for "Magnolia" on July 10, 2017. It was directed by Hidji Films and features cameo appearance from the song's producer Pi'erre Bourne, as well as cameo appearances from Southside, ASAP Rocky, Slim Jxmmi, A Boogie wit da Hoodie, Don Q, Nav, Casanova, Smooky Margielaa, Squidnice and Cash, one of the XO members. It has amassed over 120 million views as of July 2020.
A music video was released for “Woke Up Like This” on August 9, 2017. The music video features Lil Uzi Vert, and has amassed over 42 million views as of July 2020.
A music video for “New Choppa” was released on August 31, 2017. It features ASAP Rocky, and has amassed over 22 million views as of July 2020.

Critical reception

The mixtape received generally positive reviews from critics. In a positive review, Jon Caramanica of The New York Times called the project "erratic, sometimes transfixingly so," stating that "Playboi Carti’s album takes hip-hop’s ad-lib era to its logical extreme — everything sounds like an ad-lib, even the main lyrics." In a more negative review, HipHopDX critic Narshima Chintaluri described the record as "simply a glorified beat tape with ad-libs", stating Carti "need to further develop his songwriting in order to maintain this allure alongside his more successful contemporaries."
Brian Duricy of PopMatters described the record as "the sonic equivalent of the stereotypical laissez-faire worker who breezes through presentations on sheer personality alone," stating that "over the production, however, you’re not getting particularly much." Pitchfork's Briana Younger wrote that "Playboi Carti feels like a break from life, the soundtrack to a mindless good time," and adding that "Carti is tactful in discerning where and when he can get away with letting the instrumental ride and when he needs to rise to the occasion." The single "Magnolia" was awarded Best New Track by Pitchfork.

Accolades

The mixtape appeared on 2017 year-end album lists by publications such as Fact, Pitchfork, and Tiny Mix Tapes. John Twells of Fact stated that the project "adeptly taps into a widespread youthful malaise and the genre-fluid playlist culture that has come to dominate rap’s mainstream Sad and restless but also party-ready, Playboi Carti doesn’t need political rambling or conscious posturing to get its message across." Corrigan B of Tiny Mix Tapes wrote that "of everything that 2017 promised about rap’s future, Playboi Carti felt the most like a real path forward, a crystallization of the SoundCloud underground’s zeitgeist in a format built to transcend the scene’s messy adolescence."
PublicationAccoladeRank
FactThe 50 best albums of 201725
Gorilla vs. BearGorilla vs. Bear's Albums of 20177
Tiny Mix Tapes2017: Favorite 50 Music Releases9
Rolling Stone40 Best Rap Albums of 20178
Cult MTL's Mr. WavvyBest Music of 20179
PitchforkThe 50 Best Albums of 201735
PitchforkThe 200 Best Albums of the 2010s

Track listing

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes and ASCAP.
Notes
Sample credits
Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.
Technical

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications