I AM MUSIC: Worth the Four Year Wait?

by Yamil Risi

Playboi Carti performs onstage during the 67th Annual Grammy Awards at Crypto.com Arena on Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Amy Sussman/Getty Images/TNS)

On Dec. 25, 2020, Playboi Carti released Whole Lotta Red. The album was met with negative reviews. Since then, Carti has done many features in popular songs like FE!N, Popular, Timeless, and CARNIVAL. Many anticipated the release of a new album with teasers displaying "I AM MUSIC". On March 14, 2025, he finally dropped. However, the question is, was it worth the four years and three months wait?

Album Ratings

Key:

🗑️ - Worst

✨ - Special Mention

⭐ - Favorite

🗑️ POP OUT- 1/10

As an intro, this is a really bad way to start. It doesn't define the rest of the album, but it made me expect worse from this album.

CRUSH- 6/10

This song did really have potential, but it felt like a long, extended intro that had the rest cut off.

K POP- 4/10

The hi-hat that plays throughout this song does bother me a lot. This hi-hat and its loudness reflect the rushed mixing of the album.

EVIL J0RDAN- 7/10

The intro had me expecting something different, but after the 1 minute mar,k the song doesn't have as much going on as the intro had me believe.

MOJO JOJO- 6.5/``10

The Kendrick adlibs are ok at best, but not necessary to this song.

✨ PHILLY- 8.5/10

The Travis Scott feature did help this song a lot for me

RADAR- 7.5/10

Metro Boomin did a good job with this beat, especially the half with a more Halloween sound. It's a shame this song is only 1 minute and 47 seconds. However, Swamp Izzo really annoys me. His unnecessary ad-libs ruin good verse,s and this song is far from the worst of it.

✨ RATHER LIE- 8/10

The Weeknd feature is really nice in this feature, and it makes this song sound more like a The Weeknd song

FINE S***- 6.5/10

This song is pretty short and it's not something I would consider listening to on a daily.

BACKD00R- 5/10

I don't like Carti saying backdoor as an adlib, and lyrically, there isn't much going on with this album.

TOXIC- 7/10

The instrumental is really good, but the Skepta feature is not good. I'm not a big fan of UK rap, so his verse just ruins the song for me.

MUNYUN- 6/10

Hearing Swamp Izzo in the first ten seconds of this song is something I don't ever want to experience again. His constant ad-libs throughout this whole song are just unnecessary. The beat is a basic Carti beat, and not a lot goes on lyrically.

CRANK- 4/10

Swamp Izzo comes in again and starts screaming throughout the whole song. The highs are really high in this song and are pretty piercing to the ears.

CHARGE DEM H*** A FEE- 6.5/10

The Future and Travis Scott feature overshadows Carti in this and is better than Carti's verse.

GOOD CREDIT- 7/10

I enjoy the beat of this one, and it has more going lyrically than other songs, but what confuses me is Kendrick's feature in this album. During the Kendrick and Drake rap feud, Kendrick accuses Drake of being an absent father. However, it is known that Carti practically abandoned his son, Onyx, as Iggy Azalea states that Carti never comes to see her and his child. Did Kendrick ignore his moral compass for a feature on a highly anticipated album? I'm not really sure myself.

✨ I SEEEEEE YOU BABY BOI- 8.5/10

This type of beat is what I enjoy seeing more out of Carti's discography. These types of beats are what I enjoy a lot more than the more commonly used beats in this album

WAKE UP F1LTHY- 5/10

This song is ok at best, but it feels like a lot of the other songs in this album. Travis Scott's feature isn't great and also does not add much to this song.

JUMPIN- 7/10

Lil Uzi Vert's feature helps this song pretty well, but Carti repeating the same phrase does not help.

TRIM- 7.5/10

Swamp Izzo ruins some of the best verses on this album from Future with Swamp Izzo just screaming his name while adding absolutely nothing to the song. If Carti reuploaded this full album with no Swamp Izzo, it would have raised the rating up to an 8/10. I don't want the whole world saying Swamp Izzo.

COCAINE NOSE- 5/10

Carti's raspy voice hurts this song a lot and I feel like if F1LTHY (the producer of this song) handed this beat to another person, it could have been done better.

✨ WE NEED ALL DA VIBES- 8/10

This song feels like it snuck into the song. It sounds very different from the other songs and unexpected like RATHER LIE.

⭐ OLYMPIAN- 9/10

This is my favorite on this album. I love the beat, and the drumbeats add a lot to this song. The instruments in this and I SEEEEEE YOU BABY BOI are what I want more out of Carti

OPM BABI- 3/10

I don't like this song. The stock sound effects make this song worse with the added Swamp Izzo laughing and repeating his name.

TWIN TRIM- 7.5/10

This song is basically just a Lil Uzi Vert solo song, just added to the playlist to increase the length. It is a short son,g but I feel like it has a lot of potential if Uzi just put it in his own discography.

LIKE WEEZY- 4/10

The sample in this song makes me dislike this song a lot more.

DIS 1 GOT IT- 6.5/10

This song is alright, but I don't feel like lyrically it has a lot going for it.

WALK- 6/10

This song is alright and the bass is good in it, but not a lot goes on lyrically and it is very short.

HBA- 7/10

Again, not a long goes on lyrically in this song. It sounds like a lot of other Carti songs, especially in this album.

OVERLY- 4.5/10

The snare and random sound effects make this song worse than it already is. The piano doesn't really sound like it fits this song, and sounds more like part of a children's song. It is pretty short, but that helps the song more than it hurts it.

✨ SOUTH ATLANTA BABY- 8/10

I love this song, and it makes a great outro to the album. I group it as my favorite Carti sounds with OLYMPIAN and I SEEEEEE YOU BABY BOI.

Final Thoughts

I don't believe the album was worth the four-year wait. It doesn't sound like he was working on the album for the last 4 years. However, he did give roughly two albums' worth of music with the tracklist being 30 songs long.

TOTAL ALBUM RATING: 6/10

AVERAGE SONG RATING: 6.02/10

Do you think the album was worth the wait?

• 0%For sure
• 0%Absolutely not