Playboi Carti Music
Playboi Carti's Music arrives as a maximalist, guest-studded spectacle that both thrills and frustrates: across seven professional reviews the record earned a 70.43/100 consensus score, suggesting a polarizing but often exhilarating listen. Critics consistently praise Carti's playful vocal styles and Atlanta trap roots, with standout tracks like “BACKD00R” (and its featured variant “BACKD00R (feat. Kendrick Lamar & Jhené Aiko)”), “GOOD CREDIT (with Kendrick Lamar)” and “RATHER LIE” emerging repeatedly as the best songs on Music. Those moments—heavy-on-the-bass club bangers, R&B-tinged hooks, and cinematic synth flourishes—are cited as the record's most memorable highs.
The critical consensus sketches a record of contrasts. Reviewers note Carti's sonic refinement and adventurous production choices, from brash psychedelic beats to chipmunk-soul flourishes, which fuel exhilarating tracks such as “CRUSH (with Travis Scott)” and “POP OUT”. At the same time professional reviews flag excess and length as recurring flaws: sequencing, muddy mixes, and uneven songwriting make parts of the album feel overlong or undercooked. Some critics celebrate the guest-driven spectacle and mixtape nostalgia as strengths that reinforce Carti's Atlanta rap legacy, while others view the collaborations and ad-libs as masking inconsistency rather than resolving it.
In short, the critic consensus frames Music as a high-energy, occasionally messy statement that contains undeniable highlights—the best tracks deliver kinetic life and vivid vocal experimentation—yet asks listeners to tolerate indulgence for reward. Below, detailed reviews unpack which moments justify the hype and which expose the record's ambition outpacing its discipline.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
BACKD00R (feat. Kendrick Lamar & Jhené Aiko)
1 mention
"Backd00r,’ though, is their best team-up."— New Musical Express (NME)
GOOD CREDIT (with Kendrick Lamar)
1 mention
"Good Credit’ shows the yin and yang in full effect."— New Musical Express (NME)
RATHER LIE (with The Weeknd)
1 mention
"Rather Lie’ featuring The Weeknd is a toxic yet irresistible knockout"— New Musical Express (NME)
the muscular, electric-guitar-looping “Cocaine Nose” abruptly switches to the polished, bouncy melodic rap of “We Need All Da Vibes,
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
POP OUT
CRUSH (with Travis Scott)
K POP
EVIL J0RDAN
MOJO JOJO
PHILLY (with Travis Scott)
RADAR
RATHER LIE (with The Weeknd)
FINE SHIT
BACKD00R (feat. Kendrick Lamar & Jhené Aiko)
TOXIC (with Skepta)
MUNYUN
CRANK
CHARGE DEM HOES A FEE (with Future & Travis Scott)
GOOD CREDIT (with Kendrick Lamar)
I SEEEEEE YOU BABY BOI
WAKE UP F1LTHY (with Travis Scott)
JUMPIN (with Lil Uzi Vert)
TRIM (with Future)
COCAINE NOSE
WE NEED ALL DA VIBES (with Young Thug & Ty Dolla $ign)
OLYMPIAN
OPM BABI
TWIN TRIM (with Lil Uzi Vert)
LIKE WEEZY
DIS 1 GOT IT
WALK
HBA
OVERLY
SOUTH ATLANTA BABY
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What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 9 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
In a review that crackles with admiration and impatience, Playboi Carti’s Music is presented as a sprawling, occasionally overlong banquet whose best tracks - notably “Evil J0rdan” and “Mojo Jojo” - crystallize his uncanny vocal imagination. Mosi Reeves writes with a mix of awe and critique, praising moments where synths burble and soar while calling out lapses into mundanity, and he highlights how guest turns (Kendrick, Travis, The Weeknd) amplify Carti’s vision. For listeners searching for the best songs on Music, the review points repeatedly to “Evil J0rdan” for its celestial intro and to “Mojo Jojo” for its charged interplay with Kendrick Lamar as standouts that capture Carti’s generational potential.
Key Points
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The best song is "Evil J0rdan" because its new synthesized intro and skyward feeling crystallize Carti’s grander ambitions.
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The album’s core strengths are Carti’s vocal experimentation and varied production textures, balanced against uneven length and occasional mundanity.
Themes
Critic's Take
With pop-punk nods and R&B earworms threaded through, these songs show why listeners ask about the best tracks on Music and the best songs on Music with good reason.
Themes
Critic's Take
The vocal play - from the downy-soft babble on “I SEEEEEE YOU BABY BOI” to Kendrick's trickster turns on “MOJO JOJO” - is presented as the album's chief pleasure. Overall the tone is admiring but candid about lapses, making clear which best tracks carry the record.
Key Points
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The album's core strengths are vocal experimentation and wide sonic variety across beats and guest performances.
Themes
Critic's Take
Playboi Carti keeps leaning into maximalist chaos on Music, and the reviewer's favorite moments - the best tracks on Music - are those that turn that restlessness into thrilling noise. Likewise, “Evil J0rdan” and “Like Weezy” pop as top songs where Carti's voice work and homage pay off, even when the album sometimes tips into bloated streambait. The review reads the album as both a vibes-drenched triumph and a self-indulgent mess, so the best songs are the ones that feel lived-in rather than labored.
Key Points
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The album’s core strengths are its maximalist energy, voice work, and nostalgic nods to Atlanta mixtape culture.
Themes
Critic's Take
Playboi Carti's Music is a messy, glorious excess that rewards attention, and the best tracks show why. Carti's vocal metamorphoses - from the guttural stunt on “K POP” to the slippery effeminacy of “Radar” - are the record's chief asset, making those songs the best songs on Music.
Key Points
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The album’s core strengths are Carti’s adventurous vocal transformations and eclectic, wide-ranging production.
Themes
Critic's Take
It feels like Carti has thrown a party on Music, part chaos, part pure club bangers - the best tracks, notably “OLYMPIAN” and “OPM BABI”, hit with febrile, bass-boosted energy that defines the record’s highs. The record is flawed by awkward sequencing and muddy mixes, yet the standout tracks prove Carti still delivers irresistibly fun, addictive moments.
Key Points
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‘OLYMPIAN’ and ‘OPM BABI’ are the album’s best songs due to their febrile, bass-boosted trap brilliance.
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The album’s core strengths are Carti’s maximalist production, playful vocal styles, and a stash of addictive club-ready bangers despite uneven sequencing and weak guest turns.
Themes
mu
Critic's Take
The reviewer revels in the album's brash, loud, psychedelic production but constantly returns to the album's glut of undercooked ideas and endurance-test length. He praises moments of forward-thinking sound design and delightful stupidity, yet complains that the sheer volume makes even solid tracks forgettable. Ultimately the best tracks stand out because they feel kinetic and lived-in amid an ocean of voice-memo repetition and filler.
Key Points
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The best song is best because it pairs Carti's chaotic sound design with a memorable guest verse and feels fully realized.
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The album's core strengths are bold, forward-thinking production and fleeting, intoxicating moments amid excessive filler.