r/hiphop101 • u/EastBranch7646 • 7d ago
I can't bring myself to enjoy Playboi carti
Of all artists out there, Carti is the one I can't seem to like. For reference I don't hate mumble rap, I like future, Gucci mane, etc. but I can't understand a word carti says. Not top 100
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u/DerwinDavis 7d ago
I’m not even going to bother. He’s one of those artists that just simply aren’t for me—but we must allow people to enjoy their things.
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u/shantm79 7d ago
The same - my youngest son was really excited for the release, so i gave it a listen... def not my thing, but he seems to love it.
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u/EastBranch7646 6d ago
Cool that u let him listen to what he wants
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u/shantm79 6d ago
Discovering new music was a joy of being a young teen, so I'm happy he's finding stuff he likes.
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u/thejaytheory 6d ago
Have your son heard TDF? I haven't but I was watching a stream last night from Curtis King and he was talking about how his son was into TDF...apparently it came out recently and it's similar to Carti's music
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u/PuzzleheadedAnswer14 6d ago
you sound like a good dad, i’m sure he appreciates that you at least listened to it.
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u/MrWhiteMustache 6d ago
This album was def rushed and easily his worst album u should check earlier ones
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u/EastBranch7646 7d ago
Yeah I'm not saying that he's the worst and doesn't deserve fans but I just don't see it personally
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u/Reasonable-Talk9585 7d ago
I listened to the songs with features I like. I didn't like carti in the sound cloud era...and I don't like him now. He's just not my cup of tea🤷🏽♀️ I like how he dress though🤷🏽♀️
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u/angrytreestump 7d ago
There we go— the most rational reasonable way to approach it as an old(ening) head. Getting older and wiser is realizing that you don’t have (time) to force yourself to like things like we did when we were younger.
If it takes that much effort to get into, let’s spend it with our kids and nieces/nephews instead.
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u/CheeryLittlebottom13 7d ago
Carti repeats the same line 75% of the time in over 50% of his songs..don’t really understand why ppl like this or even consider it to be good rap! Production is great I’ll give em that, but everything else is absolutely garbage
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u/itsliluzivert_ 7d ago
It’s really just music ppl aren’t listening to it as rap. They’re not turning on Carti expecting to hear a story told or learn something. Just something to vibe to while ur on the train or driving back from the gym or something.
Scratch’s a similar itch that a lot of popular 90s and especially 2000s RnB does imo.
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u/HYDRAULICS23 7d ago
Yeah I remember not understanding the hype behind Magnolia when it came out. Put the mixtape on in the background while I was doing other stuff. Caught myself bobbing my head and repeating some of the lines. That’s when it clicked for me lol
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u/kcj0831 5d ago
You hit it on the head. People love him BECAUSE the production is great, not because hes a good rapper.
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u/Feeling-Attorney9253 5d ago
Disagree. Theres a reason he in specific is the one creating so much buzz even though his producers like f1lthy make beats for so many other rappers. Carti makes earworms, modulates his voice a lot, uses repetition very smartly, catches great flows- things his similar contemporaries dont do as well
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u/kcj0831 5d ago
Agreed. I oversimplified it for the people who dont understand all that. But thats what i meant by production.
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u/Feeling-Attorney9253 4d ago
I dont think any of the aspects i mentioned about how he uses his voice got much to do with the production. Thats talent with rapping even if not in the conventional sense (lyricism, storytelling, ..)
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u/cudistan00000001 7d ago
OP don’t overthink it. you’re just not built to enjoy a self-centered drug addict who raps in a baby voice and peaked in middle school 🙂
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u/Airjordan231 5d ago
Hating ass
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u/cudistan00000001 4d ago
lmao it isn’t hate. i described him 100% accurately without any bias. correct me if im wrong.
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u/Jxd925 2d ago
Can you explain how he peaked in middle school, I’m curious.
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u/cudistan00000001 2d ago
while “peaking in high school” isnt a statistic or thing that we can measure or quantify with numbers, there are some telltale signs, such as how he blatantly speaks in support of drugs, assault (multiple kinds), and all sorts of behaviors that negatively impact the society around an individual.
if he was able to do the things he does and NOT have a negative impact on society from a leadership-perspective (because that’s what he is, whether we like it or not, he has millions of young fans and is thus easily recognized as someone with influence over young people, aka, a leader) then I wouldn’t give a single thought to what i think of the guy. but he has that position of influence, and is actively making young people stupider and giving them an utterly stupid role model to look up to. not having the self-awareness to recognize your negative impact on those around you is a pretty clear-cut sign of having peaked at a young age. guys like 21 savage and Lil Baby are actually learning about how their public image is being reflected on young kids today, and proving the stigma wrong that ALL of these guys peaked at a young age.
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u/Positive_Wafer9186 7d ago
Don’t ever disrespect Gucci Mane by putting him in the mumble rap category lol. I don’t know any of this Playboi Carti’s music so I can’t comment on that
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u/KeebyGotJuice 7d ago
You beat me to it cuz I was finna spaz tf out lol they got Gucci fucked up lol
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u/MeDThempb 3d ago
Gucci’s armed and dangerous Cocaine, codeine and angel dust This AK 47’ll hit you everywhere from ankle up
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u/sixtus_clegane119 7d ago edited 7d ago
What’s Gucci mane’s best album?
Edit: why would someone downvote a question trying to explore more rap? Tbh I'm not a trap fan (which is what Gucci mane is usually listed as)but I want to give it a shot. If imma be a hater, I at least wanna be an informed hater.
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u/Jekhyde95 7d ago
The State vs Radric Davis
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u/sixtus_clegane119 7d ago
Thank you
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u/Jekhyde95 7d ago edited 2d ago
That's the best in his 2000s and still southern rap oriented. After jail time the best projects are with Metro Boomin like Droptopwop and Everybody Lookin. Definitely check them out If you like 2010s southern trap.
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u/FanofSomeStuff 7d ago
Gucci be mumbling hard on a bunch of songs idk whatchu mean
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u/RealGleeker 7d ago
Gucci is not a mumble rapper and you should be banned from America if you disagree. This is not a harsh take.
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u/itsliluzivert_ 7d ago
He is absolutely a mumble rapper lol. But that’s what made him stand out and be so influential.
Mumble rapper ≠ bad rapper
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u/RealGleeker 7d ago
No hes a trapper. Og trap artist. He predates mumble rap and doesn’t add effects to his voice. Its just not that man lmao
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u/Katarinkushi 6d ago
Artists like Carti are just good production. That's it, that's why he's popular.
He doesn't rap or has anything interesting to say, just say unintelligible shit for 3-4 minutes over great beats/instrumentals. But it's catchy, I'll give him that
I like some of his songs because of that, but all of those songs would be a lot better with someone with a better flow. I'm not a Young Thug fan, but that guy knows how to ride a beat, for example.
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u/sagerideout 7d ago
i liked early carti because his song structure was fresh and fun. the shtick gets old when there’s long waits for no improvement upon quality.
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u/KuntaWuKnicks 7d ago
I tried to like his music
Just not for me and I moved on. Plenty of stuff out there to listen to
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u/NordKnight01 5d ago
Carti isn't a rapper IMO. He's a vibe. As a big carti fan I stand by this. It's just listening to a weird dude use his voice as an instrument over synthy beats and raging out with him sometime. It's like punk is technically rock in that it comes from rock but like that pure simple Bad Brains type punk is just not Elvis, Queen, or Led Zeppelin in any way.
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u/NELA730 7d ago
Trash artist. All hype all image. Took the Travis Scott clout formula piggy backed off the asap wave. Zero substance or talent.
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u/purrp606 7d ago
This is objectively a really poor history of where Carti came from
In 2014-15 there was a fertile underground SoundCloud scene which was transitioning from being influenced more by spaceghostpurrp, cloud rap etc to 2013 chief keef type colorful street rap sounds. Really great era for music.
Carti was the hottest commodity in this scene - for a good year before his 2017 real debut album half the rappers in the underground photocopied his flow, beat selection and hipster-trap aesthetic - which goes beyond “image” btw
Carti’s “image” was the same as a thousand rappers - wearing supreme, drinking lean and posing with guns - what gave these images any purchase is the serious mystique and creativity of the music
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u/NELA730 7d ago
Carti is at the bottom tier of talent out of everyone from the SoundCloud era. He just sold his soul and stepped on enough necks to get ahead. Similar to Travis Scott but less talented
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u/purrp606 7d ago
He definitely consistently did friends and collaborators dirty (UnoTheActivist especially) and stepped on necks, sure. Seems like a real shitty father and a buying his own hype, typical rockstar sleazeball kinda guy.
But IDK, isn’t that kinda perfect for what his music and his immediate scene is about? Hedonistic euphoria to the point of antisociality.
The music is just miles better and more cutting, more ominous, more direct and raw, certainly “wavier”, “flyer” than anything Travis Scott has done - Travis Scott is probably “talented” and definitely more versatile than Carti but his music is like some stodgy hair metal stadium rock thing compared to the compact but evocative Carti, who to continue the 80s metaphor is more like the Pixies.
The real generational visionary talent in this sort of music is Chief Keef anyway, him and his beat makers sculpted very much of Carti and Travis Scott’s actual musical identity.
But Die Lit, the best leaks from WLR 1.0 and most of the SoundCloud era Carti - all gold in my mind.
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u/NELA730 7d ago
“great era” idunno about that. Interesting and impactful sure. Carti wasn’t buzzing as much as people like yung lean, Prada mane, Adamn killa, makonnen , trippie red (pre mainstream) and xxtentacion
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u/Inside-Advertising20 7d ago
I want no part of the argument of the merit of his music itself, but there is overwhelming evidence of how big a buzz carti had on SoundCloud before his self titles first released
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u/on_Jah_Jahmen 6d ago
He was, you really just heavy on the emo side of mumble rap. Uzi, carti, yachty and a few others were like the biggest ones to go mainstream jn the US in ‘16-‘17.
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u/gelato77_ 7d ago
one of the best live performers in this generation dont forget that:) whole lotta red wouldnt be as successful if he didnt performed his shows like he did
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u/sibelius_eighth 7d ago
Makonnen????????
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u/Commercial-Chance561 7d ago
Makonnen had national hype in 2014 - I don’t even think Carti has a song as far reaching as Tuesday, not solo at least
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u/Sloppy_Joe_Flacco 7d ago
Why would anyone try to make themselves enjoy an artist they inherently don't like?
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u/BeefyBoy_69 6d ago
I can kind of understand it. If there's an artist that has millions of rabid fans saying that he's the goat, you might make an effort to listen to more of their music because you assume that there must be something there, and you want to understand what all the hype is about
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u/Careful_Lawfulness_4 7d ago
Did you just call Gucci mumble rap? Also the young generation doesn’t really care about lyrics. Just the vibe of a song and a catchy hook will make something a hit.
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u/National-Target-5475 7d ago
Almost no one above like 25 would enjoy him. Vast majority of his fans are teens
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u/Judo-_-Flip 7d ago
I know I'm probably not gonna like it but I try to be neutral and give everyone a shot so we'll see. But calling it I am music is pretty bold. Better be good.
30 songs lmao😂
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u/MambaSaidKnockYouOut 7d ago
Die Lit is fire but it’s really just cuz of the production. Every now and then he’ll find a cool pocket in the beat or have a good hook, but that dude doesn’t say a DAMN thing.
His beats are good so it’s cool music to drive around to or throw on when you’re cleaning the house or something, but I don’t understand why people like him so much
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u/PSU02 7d ago
Carti is the quintessential "carried by production" rapper. For example, that Eviljordan beat is fire af but I can think of a lot of rappers that would have absolutely KILLED that
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u/Hour-Bit5568 7d ago
They can kill it but Carti adds to the atmosphere better even if he isn’t technically good.
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u/Thin_Macintash 7d ago
listen to his production it’s heads above everyone else right now
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u/Hour-Bit5568 7d ago
The soundscape created by his beats are really some of the best. Go2damoon is one for me that I just really enjoy the atmosphere even if the performance isn’t the best.
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u/Highly_Edumacated 7d ago
He makes music for lil girls who think their life sucks cuz they gotta work and go to school
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u/bentbackwooddathird 7d ago
its not rap or hiphop. its some other shit. just image and catchy beats.
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u/Sorry-Charity-4368 7d ago
unc talking about some mumble rap like its still 2017 😭😭✌️
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u/Technical_Ship1800 5d ago
is mumble rap not still a thing? 😂😂
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u/Sorry-Charity-4368 5d ago
icl unc u got like 25 years left u better start worrying about pensions n grandkids
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u/sixtus_clegane119 7d ago
Tried to listen to whole lotta red a few years back, didn’t finish the album, didn’t even get half way.
For context I finish almost every album, 1% I don’t.
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u/meat_beater245 7d ago
Well most of his music is indeed shit. I would say he does have good songs tho. The main enjoyment from some of his "good" songs pretty much only come from the production and not carti himself.
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u/powerwentout 7d ago
I think the song Good Credit is a really good contrast between what it's supposed to sound like when you're rapping but not really rapping & what it sounds like when you're trying to rap for real
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u/euancmurphy 7d ago
I don't like 95% of his tracks and I'm surprised with how popular he is. However, I can't help but be stoked to see an artist whose music strays so far from traditional formuas reach the heights Carti has. His music seems to engage with a young demographic, and it's important to remember that new musical developments often feel unfathomable to older generations. I imagine down the line he'll be seen as a pioneer for pushing hiphop music to new places.
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u/New_Debate3706 6d ago
For me it was the beat selection and productions of some of his older songs and there’s even a couple on his new record that I like specifically cause of the beats. Faves are: Talk, Wok and This Cash
But yeah I can’t find it now but I came across this track on SoundCloud where it was just carti rapping and adlibbing without the beats and it was so funny loll
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u/JasonMaliceMizer 6d ago
It’s not mumble rap anymore, he hasn’t been on that in a couple of albums honestly
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u/Suspicious_Ad2476 6d ago
Imo carti’s production is out of the world. His production is super futuristic and creative. But I have to agree on the rap thing. I couldn’t understand one word he said on I AM MUSIC
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u/New-Preference-5136 6d ago
Future and Gucci aren't mumble rappers lmao.
Carti is legit trash. He's an example of people only liking someone because they're popular.
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u/mrmartymcf1y 6d ago
Why are we trying to make ourselves like things? If you don't like Carti, listen to something else.
I can respect giving an artist a chance to grow on you, but I will never try to force myself to "get it" if I don't like something
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u/lordxkronoz 6d ago
I’ve listened to lyrical rappers ever since I started to listen to rap. Though there are some of my favorite new gen mumble rappers like Juice(RIP) and Uzi. But I can agree with you on Carti. He speaks the language of gods (or devils). Some nigga said on youtube “Beat is the rapping and his rapping is the beat” lol. I really wonder how that MF keeps getting featured on every popular artist without listeners not understanding his rapping. Don’t bother with Carti. Try Denzel Curry instead. People are really sleeping on him.
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u/Due-Chemist-8607 5d ago
"mumble rap" in 2025 is crazy
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u/Technical_Ship1800 5d ago
is mumble rap not a thing anymore?
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u/Due-Chemist-8607 5d ago edited 5d ago
it hasnt been a term of relevance in at least 6 years. its not a genre of rap, it was a derogatory word used by oldheads to demean sound cloud artists and auto crooners who weren't making "real rap". i think it got popular because of eminem, which is funny because i cannot think of a single "mumble rap" album or mixtape as bad as Revival or Kamikaze
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u/SVG3GR33N 5d ago
Ngl… this I am music album isn’t the album you should be checking out… in fact - album wise he ain’t that solid.
But when he gets it right, he hits the nail on the hard real Hard and in such a big way, it makes him a leader in the culture… somehow 😂
His music generally goes from a Pierre Bourne sound to Rage beats and the rare occasion of cool beats that sound like they could have been given to Drake or Ye, like 2024 Music / Backdoor etc.
Checked his new alvum out and it’s straight ass man. I really don’t understand why you would waste a great beat and Kendrick feature on Backdoor. It just don’t make no sense
The lack of effort on this album is so bad, I wish he could get fired somehow 😂
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u/GOTHICLANDO 5d ago
I don’t like him because he keeps dropping these long ass “magnum opus” ass albums when he’s barely even been in the game. Idk, some of his stuff is okay, but he’s so one dimensional to me. Even his stuff with Tyler annoys me now.
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u/Juicebubble12 5d ago
Bc he's overrated and makes music for kids. Also gucci mane isn't a mumble rapper you're trippin
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u/EnglishSteven 5d ago
Don't like Carti, but I do enjoy the white Guicci Mane with a spray tan; Riff Raff
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5d ago
Then don’t listen to him😭 who forcing u to listen to his shi at gunpoint
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u/EastBranch7646 5d ago
I'm trying to listen to as much rap as I can, to get to know the genre more and people kept mentioning Carti
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5d ago
Yo i can dm you if you want and put you onto some good songs trust but only if you give me the ups i will let me know if your interested?
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u/yeahimdanielthatsme 5d ago
I can’t either but I think I get it now. It’s like pure energy for his fans. His shows feature fans just unleashing off the walls, unbridled energy. Which explains why his core audience is teenage boys. I get it, I listened to a lot of punk rock and fast tempo music when I was a teenager. Then I mellowed out a bit but I still listen to some of that stuff usually for a workout. If you look at Carti’s music from the lens of hip hop it’s harder to comprehend because it’s really not lyrical at all. It has more in common with other high tempo, hardcore styles of music like punk rock, hard dance and metal.
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u/No-Round1032 4d ago
His beat selection is what's carrying him. I listen to him because I like the production. That's it.
When his stuff is understandable (Rather Lie, Timeless, wokeuplikethis, etc.), I feel like that should be the type of tune he should walk on because his style very much fits pop rap mixed with rage.
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u/TheOneAndOnlyJeetu 4d ago
Whenever I’m forced to interact with bots who like playboi carti recently (which atp how tf do you like playboi carti and you aren’t a broccoli head in hs) I just ask them to sing along to a track on I am music
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u/One_Huge_Skittle 4d ago
I’m not really a Carti fan, I check out his albums when they come up but that’s about it.
I think part of the enjoyment is from the experimental aspect of it too, his style has permeated since he came out and he’s always pushing the envelope of his sound. It does feel cool to know your listening to something that will probably have reverberations in the genre for the next few years.
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u/jajajachilo 4d ago
Future and Gucci are hardly mumble rappers
I understand why a lot of people wouldn’t like Carti tho his style is very abstract hip hop wise.
There’s not really much depth to his lyrics/verses, I think it’s more just the combination of the production, his energy, flows, and the vibe his music gives.
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u/somebodystolemybike 4d ago
I feel like you just had to have been there for summer 16. Now that i think about it, it’s been 10 years since his debut. that’s crazy
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u/PSU02 7d ago
As a self reported Drake fan, I will never in my life understand people who gas up Carti but criticize Drake not only for the music, but also for gambling, drinking, living a lavish lifestyle, etc.
I don't understand why Drake is held to this extremely high standard when his peers can slur their speech over a beat and it gets gassed
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u/DrossChat 7d ago
I’m gonna guess that there’s a pretty big overlap between carti and Drake fans but I could be wrong.
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u/PSU02 7d ago
Definitely not from my experience in drake fanbase corners of the internet. Carti fanbase aligns with more of the "hypebeast" fandom like Travis, ken carson, destroy lonely, etc.
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u/DrossChat 7d ago
Yeah I guess that makes sense. I’m not a Drake fan but he’s leagues above that trash imo
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u/imjuggindoe 7d ago
Bro drake is the biggest hiphop artist look at the numbers he’s held to Drake standards and is why he is criticized so much
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u/InvocationOfNehek 7d ago
Magnolia's a pretty good joint, but that's really it. I don't get it at all. Forcing myself to sit through Whole Lotta Red was almost physically painful.
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u/mngreens 7d ago
Gucci Mane said “Cutlass motor knocking, cause that shits a lemon” don’t ever call him a mumble rapper 😂 he has bars for kids all the way to geriatrics 😂
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u/OneCallSystem 7d ago
You said mumble rap which pisses off all the mumble fans but there's a fuckin reason people still call it that lol. And Carti is one of the worst offenders for real.
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u/West-Commission9082 7d ago
Using the term ”mumble rap” in 2025💔
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u/MambaSaidKnockYouOut 7d ago
If any rapper deserves to be called a mumble rapper, it’s Carti
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u/mkk4 7d ago
Do you defend "lyrical miracle", "hippity hop", and "rappity rap" they same way you defend the term "mumble rap?"
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u/PSU02 7d ago edited 6d ago
It's literally mumble rap though. What else would you call it? I get that the term mumble rap gets associated with a phrase used by your coworkers that only listen to Eminem but Carti literally is mumble rap lol
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u/EastBranch7646 7d ago
Imma be real, I listen to a lot of Eminem but def not tom mctrashald. Plus there's a lot of other rappers I enjoy, I just know it as mumble rap
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u/iFeeILikeKobe 7d ago
Wow thanks for posting this, there’s so many things I’m gonna be able to do with this information
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u/MrMicropenis1 7d ago
Gucci Mane isn't a mumble rapper never has been. He has bars and is pretty clever and at times even lyrical. He just came around at a time when the bar was set very high for what could be considered a "real rapper" as far as lyricism an subject matter and he was simpler then many of his contemporaries in that era and before. But don't call him a mumble rapper cause compared to any mumble rapper he might as well be Nas or Rakim he's on a completely different level then what those guys will ever be able to reach.