Music often follows trends which cast a wide net in an attempt to reach as many people as possible. Popular music is often un-inspired and un-original copying previous formats while adding the newest trends to switch it up a bit. I personally can not tell the difference between a “Lil Baby” song and a “Gunna” song a all. However music does have more niche genres which avoid the mainstream sounds. In an era where artist are trying to be as high energy and loud as possible some artist have carved out a corner of minimalism. Minimalism is defined as “a reductive style or school of modern music utilizing only simple sonorities, rhythms, and patterns, with minimal embellishment or orchestrational complexity, and characterized by protracted repetition of figurations, obsessive structural rigor, and often a pulsing, hypnotic effect.” (Urdang, 1966) Artist like Playboi Carti have stripped back there beats, lyrics and delivery to continually deliver music which rides against the mainstream
Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary. (2001). New York: Random House Reference.
In 2018 Playboi Carti has a career year due to a combined collaborative effort with producer Pierre Bourne. Playboi Carti or Jordan Terrell Carter is an Atlanta native who burst onto the sound cloud scene with pop rap songs “Broke Boi”, “Fetti” and “Run it” which gained mainstream attention. However this sound was quickly phased out with the release of Carter’s breakout mixtape self titled Playboi Carti. Songs like Magnolia and “Wokeuplikethis (ft. Lil Uzi Vert)” defined Carti’s minimalist sounds. Both songs were produced by Pierre Bourne and featured boosted bass and repetitive sounds which would make future. The iconic “Yo Pierre you wanna come out here?” intro was introduced in this mixtape as well. This all culminated to Playboi Carti and Pierre Bournes collaborative effort Die Lit.
Jordan Timothy Jenks is a graduate of SAE institute where he learned skills in sound engineering. These skills proved to be integral to molding the sound of Playboi Carti early on and culminated to a distinct sound that he and Carti would develop. Being from Queens, New York he was influenced by east coast rappers like “Dipset” and “G Unit”. At age eighteen he moved to Atlanta to learn how to make his own instrumentals. This proved integral to his ability to make a distinctive sound that wasn’t heavy on samples. The result was a bass heavy repetitive trap sound which Carti sought to take advantage of.
Die Lit is a trap rap album at its heart but transcends the genre by adding elements of experimental and punk music. The iconic baby voice Carti voice almost moans over the opening track “Long Time” while an even higher pitched voice pierces the listeners ears paired with heavy bass and and distorted background static. Music Critic Henry Owens Elaborated saying “He comes equipped with a nonchalant swagger of flows and adlibs, making his music peculiar and polarizing. Songs like ‘Poke It Out’ are repetitive to the point of earworm catchiness, and others like ‘Lean 4 Real’ finds Carti warping his voice into new territories of obscurity.” (Owens, 2018) From the weird vocal inflections laced in Atlanta slang and accent to the erie and nasal adlibs Carti effectively layers his vocals into the spacey high energy beats that Pierre Bourne crafted for the project.
Owens, H. (2018, June 21). Playboi Carti's 'Die Lit' is the revival trap music needs. Retrieved May 7, 2019, from https://acclaimmag.com/music/playboi-cartis-die-lit-is-the-revival-trap-music-needs/
Carti also markets himself in a non traditional way. He often leaks his music to the public to generate buzz and constantly post cryptic hints to projects he has with artist. His upcoming Album titled “Whole Lot a Red” hasn’t even officially been announced but through second hand testimonies of producers and leaked throw away songs Playboi Carti has generated buzz for his upcoming album based purely off hype. In advertising his albums indirectly and making every move in cryptic fashion Carter doesn’t pander to a large audience and I do not believe that he wants too. His job is to satisfy his real fans and anyone that tags along is welcome for the ride. This comes at a time where other artist who came up out of the soundcloud scene are polishing there sound and promoting as much as possible to ride old hype as much as possible. Critic Tommy Monroe went on to elaborate the fading hype of Florida rapper Lil Pump which symbolizes the end of the 2017-2018 boom in soundcloud rap stating “The Florida rapper’s limited strengths and many weaknesses become highly detectable on Harverd Dropout...the album piles up songs without structure, lines without meaning, and hooks without melody; it’s utterly tasteless.”(Monroe ,2019) Trap needed a change that panders to the rise in hype culture but delivered on the end of quality. Playboy Carti filled the void of a further weakening soundcloud rap scene.
Monroe, T. (2019, February 27). Album Review: Lil Pump Nearly Flunks Out on Harverd Dropout. Retrieved May 7, 2019, from https://consequenceofsound.net/2019/02/album-review-lil-pump-harverd-dropout/
His graphic lyrics, punk appeal incredibly loud booming bass is somewhat of a turn off to people that listen to mainstream Hip-Hop but his definitive sound had paved the way for the future of alternative Hip-Hop. By moving against corporate interest and market motives projects like “Die Lit” and “Playboi Carti” have far surpassed the enjoyment of their counterparts “Harvard Dropout by Lil Pump” and “Bad Habits by Nav” who have begun to lose the interest of their fan bases. Critic Henry Owens sums what makes Playboi Carti great in his article titled Playboi Carti’s ‘Die Lit’ is the revival trap music needs’ “While Die Lit may go against the grain of your typical trap album, it utilizes its fundamentals to push the genre forward.(Owens, 2018)
Owens, H. (2018, June 21). Playboi Carti's 'Die Lit' is the revival trap music needs. Retrieved May 7, 2019, from https://acclaimmag.com/music/playboi-cartis-die-lit-is-the-revival-trap-music-needs/
