Destination Jam: 5 essential Playboi Carti tracks to listen to as you wait for 'Whole Lotta Red' to drop
If you've been following news of Playboi Carti and his long-awaited album 'Whole Lotta Red', you'll find there's still hope that the LP will drop before the end of 2020. The rapper's latest teaser for the album arrived on November 23 with Carti revealing that the album is "TuRneD iN." Check out his post here.
We're sure fans will be itching to get their hands on 'Whole Lotta Red' upon its release and to ease your cravings until then, we want to share a playlist of some of the best tracks by the rapper. For new listeners and for longtime fans needing their fix, check out our top five essential songs by Playboi Carti below.
'Magnolia'
First on our playlist is the banger 'Magnolia', the quintessential Carti track that remains the best song to introduce listeners to the rapper. Apart from being certified platinum three times, 'Magnolia' has impacted several prominent charts, including hitting the No 7 spot on Billboard's Hot Rap Songs chart, peaking at No 29 on the Hot 100 chart and more. In this song, Carti raps over a blend of trap and hip-hop with static synth on loop and a thumping beat while the song is a reference to Magnolia Projects in New Orleans.
'Shoota' featuring Lil Uzi Vert
Move on to another smash hit by Carti, 'Shoota' released in 2018 on his debut studio album 'Die Lit' and features rapper Lil Uzi Vert. Although many hardcore fans would reject the fact, 'Shoota' has often been a chosen song for videos on platforms such as TikTok. Whether the platform doesn't do the song justice or not, 'Shoota' still hits hard and infectious. Listen to the audio version up on YouTube below.
'Wokeuplikethis*' featuring Lil Uzi Vert
Another catchy collab with Lil Uzi Vert, 'Wokeuplikethis*' adopts a clicking trap beat, humming synth, crooning backing vocals and lyrics like, "Oh, I think they like me, yeah they like me. Diamonds on me ice cream, hoe that's lightly. My Draco bitch a Spike Lee, diamonds on me biting. I heard these niggas wanna fight me." The official music video, with its current near-50-million views on YouTube, was directed by James “JMP” Pereira, who previously directed 'Look At Me' and 'Moonlight' for late rapper XXXTentacion.
'New Choppa' feat A$AP Rocky
In the humorous video for this track, 'New Choppa', Carti and collaborator A$AP Rocky poke fun at the overused concept of showing off guns in rap videos. In the clip, Carti and Rocky sit in a living room smoking and flipping through channels TV and land at a gun advertisement filled with scantily-clad women. The rapper pair are then sucked into the commercial, decked out in bulletproof vests and show off their assault rifles before shooting everything from bottles to teddy bears.
'@ MEH'
We wrap up this playlist with one of our favorite Carti tracks. '@ MEH' is also the latest song listed here, released in April. Speculated as the lead song for 'Whole Lotta Red', the track is continually growing in popularity while the music video has already garnered 20 million views in seven months since its premiere. The colorful track harks back to the 32-bit video game era with light, fluttering synth while the fattened beat beckons for a pump-up of bass and volume. A promising lead-up to Carti's new album, for sure. Watch the '@ MEH' music video below.
Destination Jam is a daily list of songs that will keep you entertained and grooving up top in lieu of feeling drained and losing the plot. Look out for a fresh selection of great tunes from MEAWW to refresh your mood every day.
