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.[2] 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.[3] The physical version of the mixtape was released on October 6, 2017, and a vinyl edition was released on November 17, 2017.[4]

Playboi Carti
Mixtape by Playboi Carti
Released	April 14, 2017 (2017-04-14)
Studio	Various Surf School Studios, New York Means St. Studios, Atlanta Ricci Studio and House of Hit Studios, Los Angeles Downtown Studios, Soho
Genre	Hip hop trap cloud rap[1]
Length	46:50
Label	AWGE Interscope
Producer	ASAP Rocky (exec.) Chace Johnson (exec.) Harry Fraud Hit-Boy J. Cash Beatz Jake One JStewOnTheBeat K-Major KasimGotJuice MexikoDro Murphy Kid Pi'erre Bourne Roark Bailey Ricci Riera Southside
Playboi Carti chronology
Playboi Carti (2017) Die Lit (2018)
Alternative cover
Cover art for physical versions
Singles from Playboi Carti
"Lookin'" Released: March 17, 2017 "Woke Up Like This" Released: April 7, 2017 "Magnolia" Released: June 13, 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

Lil Uzi Vert appears on the album

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.[5] As of September 2017 the mixtape has moved over 367,000 units.[6] The mixtape was certified Gold by the RIAA on January 10, 2018 for sales over 500,000 units.[7]

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.[8]

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.[9]

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.[10]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	69/100[11]
Review scores
Source	Rating
HipHopDX	2.9/5[12]
Pitchfork	7.3/10[1]
PopMatters	6/10[13]
Vice	A−[14]
XXL	4/5[15]

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."[16] In a more negative review, HipHopDX critic Narshima Chintaluri described the record as "simply a glorified beat tape with ad-libs", stating Carti "need[s] to further develop his songwriting in order to maintain this allure alongside his more successful contemporaries."[12]

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."[13] 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."[1] The single "Magnolia" was awarded Best New Track by Pitchfork.[17]

Accolades

The mixtape appeared on 2017 year-end album lists by publications such as Fact,[18] Pitchfork,[19] and Tiny Mix Tapes.[20] 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."[21] 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."[20]

Publication	Accolade	Rank	Ref.
Fact	The 50 best albums of 2017	25	[18]
Gorilla vs. Bear	Gorilla vs. Bear's Albums of 2017	7	[22]
Tiny Mix Tapes	2017: Favorite 50 Music Releases	9	[20]
Rolling Stone	40 Best Rap Albums of 2017	8	[23]
Cult MTL's Mr. Wavvy	Best Music of 2017	9	[24]
Pitchfork	The 50 Best Albums of 2017	35	[19]
	The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s	150	[25]

Track listing

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes[26] and ASCAP.[27]

Playboi Carti[28]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Location"	Jordan Carter Rory Quigley Allan Holdsworth Rowanne Mark	Harry Fraud	2:49
2.	"Magnolia"	Carter Jordan Jenks	Pi'erre Bourne	3:02
3.	"Lookin" (featuring Lil Uzi Vert)	Carter Kendall Bailey Symere Woods	Roark Bailey	3:04
4.	"Woke Up Like This" (featuring Lil Uzi Vert)	Carter Jenks Woods	Pi'erre Bourne	3:56
5.	"Let It Go"	Carter Cameron Pitts Jenks	Pi'erre Bourne	2:30
6.	"Half & Half"	Carter Joshua Luellen Kendricke Brown Cameron Murphy	Southside K-Major^[a] Murphy Kid^[a]	3:47
7.	"New Choppa" (featuring ASAP Rocky)	Carter Ricci Riera Rakim Mayers	Riera	2:06
8.	"Other Shit"	Carter Chauncey Hollis	Hit-Boy	2:50
9.	"No. 9"	Carter Jonathan Stewart	JStewOnTheBeat	3:19
10.	"dothatshit!"	Carter Jenks	Pi'erre Bourne	3:05
11.	"Lame Niggaz"	Carter Jenks	Pi'erre Bourne	2:50
12.	"Yah Mean"	Carter Jenks	Pi'erre Bourne	2:45
13.	"Flex" (featuring Leven Kali)	Carter Kasim Walker Joshua Hawkins Leven Kali	KasimGotJuice J. Cash Beatz	4:00
14.	"Kelly K"	Carter Luellen Jacob Dutton Tomislav Pasanec	Southside Jake One^[a]	4:30
15.	"Had 2"	Carter Pitts	MexikoDro	2:20
Total length:				46:50

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies an uncredited co-producer
• "Woke Up Like This" is stylized as "wokeuplikethis*"
• "Do That Shit" is stylized as "dothatshit!"
• "Let It Go" features uncredited additional background vocals by MexikoDro
• "Kelly K" features uncredited additional background vocals by Blakk Soul[29][30]
• "Lame Niggas" is stylized as "Lame Niggaz"

Sample credits

• "Location" contains samples of "Endomorph", written by Allan Holdsworth and Rowanne Mark, as performed by Holdsworth.[31]

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[26]

Technical

• Hector Delgado – mixing (tracks 1, 7, 13), recording (tracks 7, 13)
• Frankly Kastle – mixing assistant (tracks 1, 7)
• Harry Fraud – recording (track 1)
• Tatsuya Sato – mastering (tracks 1-3, 5-15)
• Kesha Lee – mixing (tracks 2-5, 9, 10, 11, 15), recording (tracks 2, 4, 5, 9-12, 14, 15), mastering (track 4)
• Roark Bailey – recording (track 3)
• Max Lord – recording (track 6, 7)
• Finis "KY" White – mixing (tracks 6, 12, 14)
• Dan FryFe – recording assistant (track 7)
• David Kim – mixing (track 8), recording (track 8)

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2017) Peak position Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[32] 95 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[33] 28 US Billboard 200[34] 12 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[35] 7

Year-end charts Chart (2017) Position US Billboard 200[36] 62 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[37] 25

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[38]	Platinum	1,000,000
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone sales+streaming figures based on certification alone

References

1. Younger, Briana (April 22, 2017). "Playboi Carti: Playboi Carti". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
2. Servantes, Ivan (April 14, 2017). "Stream Playboi Carti's Self-Titled Debut Mixtape". Spin. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
3. Craighead, Olivia. "Listen to Playboi Carti's Self-Titled Debut Mixtape". The Fader. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
4. http://amazon.com/Playboi-Carti-LP/dp/B07614JC6R
5. "First Week Sales For Playboi Carti's Self-Titled Debut Project".
6. "Rumor Mill - TOP 50 STREAMED SONGS, SPS ALBUMS THIS YEAR". hitsdailydouble.com. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
7. "Gold & Platinum". RIAA.
8. "Playboi Carti - Magnolia". YouTube. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REmZhFKmOmo
10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JZqoGz0b6o
11. "Reviews and Tracks for Playboi Carti [Mixtape] by Playboi Carti". Metacritic. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
12. Chintaluri, Narshima (April 19, 2017). "Review: Playboi Carti's Self-Titled Debut Is Simply A Glorified Beat Tape With Ad-Libs". HipHopDX. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
13. Duricy, Bryan (April 19, 2017). "Playboi Carti: Playboi Carti". PopMatters. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
14. Christgau, Robert (January 19, 2018). "Robert Christgau on Joey Bada$$'s Timely Consciousness". Vice. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
15. Glaysher, Scott (April 26, 2017). "Playboi Carti Flexes on Debut Mixtape". XXL. Archived from the original on April 26, 2017. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
16. Caramanica, Jon. "In New Albums, 21 Savage and Playboi Carti Go Against the Flow". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
17. ""Magnolia" by Playboi Carti Review | Pitchfork". pitchfork.com. Retrieved 2017-05-20.
18. "The 50 Best Albums of 2017". Fact Magazine. December 20, 2017. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
19. "The 50 Best Albums of 2017". Pitchfork. December 12, 2017. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
20. "2017: Favorite 50 Music Releases". Tiny Mix Tapes. December 18, 2017. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
21. "The 50 Best Albums of 2017". Fact Magazine. December 20, 2017. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
22. "Gorilla vs. Bear's Albums of 2017". Gorilla vs. Bear. December 3, 2017. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
23. "40 Best Rap Albums of 2017". Rolling Stone. December 22, 2017. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
24. "These are the best albums of 2017". Cult MTL. December 22, 2017. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
25. "The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s". Pitchfork. October 8, 2019. Retrieved December 25, 2019.
26. Playboi Carti (CD liner). Playboi Carti. Interscope Records.CS1 maint: others (link)
27. "ACE Repertory". ASCAP. Select "TITLE", type "Song" in the search engine, and click "Search". Retrieved May 10, 2018.
28. "Playboi Carti on iTunes". itunes.com.
29. "Instagram post by Snare Jordan • Apr 14, 2017 at 4:18pm UTC". Instagram.
30. "Instagram post by Eric Keith • Apr 14, 2017 at 8:21pm UTC". Instagram.
31. "Playboi Carti's 'Location' - Discover the Sample Source". WhoSampled.
32. "Dutchcharts.nl – Playboi Carti – Carti Playboi" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
33. "Playboi Carti Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
34. "Playboi Carti Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 25, 2017.
35. "Playboi Carti Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 25, 2017.
36. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2017". Billboard. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
37. "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 2017". Billboard. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
38. "American album certifications – Playboi Carti – Playboi Carti". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 

External links

• Playboi Carti (mixtape) at Discogs