Is There Anything Good About Whole Lotta Red
Yes. There are several good things about Whole Lotta Red. Actually, there is nothing “wrong” with this album. I can appreciate when an artist is willing to experiment. Plus, the cryptic tweets and eccentric instagram posts hinted at the idea that this project would be a little different than his first two.
While I won’t deny that I was caught off guard and doing the Jay Z head nod for the first few tracks, I wouldn’t say that I was turned off or dissatisfied. The beats on the first half were either too similar to each other, or so experimental that the song almost felt out of place. Every time a new song started, I hoped desperately to hear “Yo Pierre, you wanna come out here?” - so that I could find comfortability in the sound that Playboi Carti and Pi’erre Bourne have mastered. Vocally, Carti jumped from raspy voice, to baby voice, to pitch-corrected punk voice. On first listen, this variance was tough to digest. The lyrics on the first half were a lot more audible than we’re used to hearing from Carti, and that may have worked in his disfavor; now that the mainstream audience can actually hear him, they have to concede the fact that he’s delivering a lot of empty bars.
The second half of the album settles back into the Carti that we’re familiar with. On the production side, we get two beats from Pi’erre on Place and ILoveUIHateU, and the chemistry seems as solid as ever. While Carti continues to vary his tones and cadence on the second half, he is able to calm his energy, be more topical, and somewhat relate to the listener. While it may not be saying much, Carti is more personal than he has ever been. He justifies his reclusiveness from the industry by detailing his missteps, shamelessly dropping names of a lot of rappers along the way (Punk Monk). He then revisits his opinion on his girlfriend’s past affairs - going from not caring about her mileage in 2018 (Mileage - Die Lit) to demanding to know everyone she’s touched in 2020 (Sky). He later executes on his version of a heartfelt ode to his older brother, Reggie Carter (Die4Guy).
Good News
Kanye West delivered one of his better verses of the last few years on Go2DaMoon.
Pierre’s production on Place and ILoveUIHateU adds to the duo’s elite collection.
Key! and MF Doom get a shoutout on the same album. That’s big - for me at least.
Like every Playboi Carti album, it will probably get better with time.
Some people will listen to this once, be turned off, and never come back to it - and that’s fine. But I know that there is something for everybody on this album. Don’t give up on it just cause you didn’t like the first six songs when you played them off your iPhone speaker at 1am in bed by yourself.
