Playboi Carti's Albums, Ranked Worst to Best
From 'MUSIC' to 'Whole Lotta Red' to 'Die Lit,' here’s a ranking of Playboi Carti’s albums.
Every Playboi Carti album has been highly anticipated. Since he first emerged with “Broke Boi” in 2015 and resurfaced with ASAP Mob a few months later, Carti has been one of the most fascinating and talked-about rappers in hip-hop.
From those bright, bouncy early tracks, Carti has evolved—moving from gritty underground bangers to space-age, futuristic rage music, and now, to commercial anthems. As a rapper, he’s an acquired taste, often relying on energy and improvisational vocal yelps and inflections rather than metaphors or conventional flows. His ear for production is eccentric, prioritizing loudness and idiosyncratic noises and textures.
Despite this, Carti has built one of the most impressive catalogs in modern rap. Ten years and four projects in—one mixtape and three studio albums—he's delivered nothing but bangers. In an era dominated by singles, viral hits, and leaked tracks, Carti has remained focused on the album format, even when those albums often feature untamed and chaotic structures.
Due to his blend of quality, genuine innovation, and underground success, Carti has spent most of his career as cult star rather than a mainstream one. That all changed with the release of MUSIC, his third solo album and by far the most successful of his career. (Part of the hype was due to the long wait—it took nearly four years—unofficially known as the I Am Music era.)
The album is out, the reception has been warm. And, with a stadium tour on the horizon, It’s clear it's only up from here. So that means it's the perfect time for a ranking.
Here are all of Playboi Carti's albums ranked, from worst to best.
4.Playboi Carti
Label: AWGE/Interscope
Producers: Harry Fraud, Pi’erre Bourne, Roark Bailey, Southside, Murphy Kid, K-Major, Ricci Riera, Hit-Boy, J Stew, J. Cash, KasimGotJuice, Southside, Jake One, and MexikoDro
Features: Lil Uzi Vert, ASAP Rocky, and Leven Kali
Clout goggles are in vogue. Pi’erre Bourne is still giving his best beats to other rappers instead of saving them for himself. Louis Vuitton and Supreme just announced their first collaboration. The “Milly Rock” was still a dance New Yorkers did. SoundCloud rap—or “mumble rap” depending on who you ask—is everywhere, shaping the sound of rap music. This is the world into which Carti’s much-anticipated debut mixtape, simply titled Playboi Carti, arrived.
These were the breezy, carefree days of Carti, when he was still running around New York City with A$AP Rocky. The project's production is filled with springy trap drums, bright synth pads, and flutes, courtesy of a diverse range of producers from Bourne to Hit-Boy to Jake One—it almost sounds like it could've been cooked up on a Nintendo DS or an arcade cabinet.
Carti's raps do more with less: a handful of simple, repeated phrases ricochet like pinballs in a machine, eventually lodging themselves into your brain (see: "Dothatshit!," "Flex," and "Yah Mean"). You can practically feel the air ripple as his adlibs whizz past your ears. And then there’s “Magnolia,” to this day one of Carti’s biggest hits, a track with a bouncy New Orleans beat and a flow full of whimsy, where he raps lines like, “Damn, I thought I told you/Shootin' like a soldier/Like I'm from Magnolia.”
If Atlanta artists from the early 2010s, like Future and Young Thug, were stylistic innovators, reimagining what traditional lyricism could sound like, then Carti’s debut mixtape tore that door down entirely. Sure, it might be more low-stakes compared to his later work, but the project still works in how it summarizes a time perfectly: mindless, breezy fun. —Dario Mccarty
3.MUSIC
Label: AWGE/Interscope
Producers: SLOWBURNZ, DJH, F1LTHY, Travis Scott, Jahaan Sweet, Ojivolta, Cardo Got Wings, Johnny Juliano, Metro Boomin, Twisco, MIKE DEAN, Ramzoid, BBYKOBE, Cash Cobain, Keanu Beats, Kanye West, Keanu Beats, Nagra, Darius Rameshni, Dez Wright, Mu Lean, Stoopid Lou, 99Hurts, Yung Exclusive, Southside, Wheezy, Car!ton, Smatt Sertified, Juke Wong, KP Beatz, Lucian, BNYX, Wonder1x, BL$$D, Ethan Scott, TM88, Akachi, Sonickaboom, C$D Sid, Macnificent, 100yrd, Brak3, Onokey, Clif Shayne, DJ Moon, Nick Spiders, prod.sonic, Clayco, opiumbaby, Streo, KP Beatz, Kelvin Krash, Rok, Lukrative, Malik Ninety Five, Shades, and Maaly Raw,
Features: Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, Skepta, Travis Scott, Lil Uzi Vert, Future, Jhené Aiko, Young Thug, Ty Dolla Sign,
After helping reimagine what the rap underground sounded like with Whole Lotta Red, Carti took a step back. Literally—it took him three and a half years to release a follow-up—but also figuratively, by crafting an album dedicated to the glory days of mixtape-era Atlanta rap. (Thanks, in part, to the efforts of legendary Atlanta DJ Swamp Izzo, who plays the role of Robin to Carti’s Batman.)
MUSIC is relentless—a mishmash of the many personalities and creative quirks of Carti. Critics have pointed out its length—30 songs—and the randomness and occasional sloppiness in the tracklist. (For example: "Pop Out" is supposed to transition into "EVIL J0RDAN," but it doesn’t.) But those are the quirks that make Carti...Carti.
And MUSIC sounds like every version of Carti molded into one. You get the rockstar energy with tracks like “POP OUT” and “OPM BABI;” the experimental vocal inflections on “RATHER LIE” and “OVERLY;” attempts at transcending into pop stardom ON “CRUSH” AND “BACKD00R;” cypher-level spit sessions on “EVIL J0RDAN” and “HBA”; and a strangely personal glimpse into Carti through the project’s sample choices, pulling from Bankroll Fresh, SpaceGhostPurrp, and Rich Kidz.
While previous Carti albums saw the rapper test unconventional vocal performances, MUSIC's most most experimental aspects come in the form of the varied production techniques—which include snare rolls and extended outros. The album pulls at a thousand musical strings, with the hope of giving every Carti fan something they’ll enjoy. Even if you don’t like every track, it’s hard not to find at least a five-song stretch you can’t ride to. —Jamal Desroches
2.Die Lit
Label: AWGE/Interscope
Producers: Playboi Carti, Pi’erre Bourne, Art Dealer, IndigoChildRick, Maaly Raw, Don Cannon, and Ineza Beats
Features: Skepta, Travis Scott, Lil Uzi Vert, Pi'erre Bourne, Nicki Minaj, Bryson Tiller, Chief Keef, Gunna, Red Coldhearted, Young Thug, and Young Nudy
There are few albums that define the mid-2010s SoundCloud era quite like Die Lit—and even fewer that seem to fully capture the essence of the wave nearly a decade later. On top of star-studded assists from Young Thug, Travis Scott, Nicki Minaj, Skepta and Lil Uzi Vert, among others, Die Lit is a modern rap classic, and the moment where Carti started his transition from a underground figure to a legitimate star.
The album’s brazen, black-and-white artwork—which showcases Carti front-flipping into a mosh-pit unbeknownst to the crowd beneath him—sets the tone for the Atlanta “mumble rapper” turned rockstar’s ascension, laying the framework for the bubbly array of hits that ensue (with most curated by his right-hand man at the time Pi’erre Borune).
Released in 2018, just over a year after sharing his self-titled mixtape, Carti came back with a palette of tracks that will define his legacy for years to come. Songs like “Shoota,” “Love Hurts,” “RIP,” “Long Time,” and “FlatBed Freestyle”—where he perfected the baby voice—are still fan favorites, as the album breathed life into an era already known for colorful melodies and burnt-out 808s.
On Die Lit, Carti was more calculated, crafting his most sonically cohesive record in his catalog while maintaining creative looseness. Each track is either a luscious earworm or minimalistic escape into euphoria. Coupled by Carti’s melting flows and (seemingly) indecipherable vocals, he collects a gauntlet of laid-back rager anthems, making Die Lit an essential listen every time you need to be revived. —Jon Barlas
1.Whole Lotta Red
Label: AWGE/Interscope
Producers: F1LTHY, Jonah Abraham, Wheezy, Outtatown, Lukrative, ssort, Lil 88, Ken Carson, Richie Souf, Gab3, Roark Bailey, Juberlee, KP Beatz, Maaly Raw, star boy, Art Dealer, KP Beatz, Jasper Harris, Lucian, Ojivolta, Pi’erre Bourne, and opiumbaby
Features: Kanye West, Kid Cudi, and Future
Whole Lotta Red is a Christmas album. After years of anticipation, dozens of leaks, and a lukewarm reception to a single—ironically called “@ MEH”—Playboi Carti dropped his second studio album at the end of a hellish year, a gift for the 10 months of COVID-19-related quarantine.
It’s a classic. Not only the best album of Carti’s career but also the best of the decade so far. It’s an album that created a new game changing blueprint for young rappers who like to scribble outside of the lines.
While Die Lit saw Carti embrace his "baby voice," Whole Lotta Red marked the birth of a new Carti voice: the screecher. After months of being locked inside, Carti made the ultimate "outside" album—loud, deranged, and in constant motion. This album still features sprinkles of experimental flows, voices, and pockets, but he doesn’t rely on producer Pi’erre Bourne as much. Instead, he embraces an army of producers—from F1LTHY to Lil 88—to create music that is snarling and deeply indebted to the demented corners of internet music.
The album’s highlights are many. You’re thrown into the deep end with “Rockstar Made,” a track with a beat that suffocates you from the opening moments. “Stop Breathing” is an all-timer—ferocious, punk-inspired, and packed with one of the most stylistically interesting rap performances of Carti's career (e.g., “Ever since my brother died, I’ve been thinking about homicide”). Then there's the overstimulated, bright, and light soundscapes of “Over,” the horrorcore vibes of “Vamp Anthem,” and the Blade Runner aesthetics of “Go2DaMoon.” I could keep going. And despite a number of high-profile features, including Kanye West, Future, and Kid Cudi (which is a funny nod to "Pissy Pampers"), this is Carti's world—one dominated by a truly great, tornado-like performance. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo
