On December 25th, 2020 there was one other thing besides Christmas that people were looking forward to that day and that was the 3rd studio album by hip/hop artist Playboi Carti, Whole Lotta Red. It was one of the decisive releases in recent years with the reception of the project being completely different depending on who you ask. This could be due to the more experimental style it took compared to his other album with this album taking many risks production-wise and vocally. 

Throughout the album, Carti has very aggressive vocal delivery with it even sounding like he is out of breath at some points in the album. That on top of the intense beats the project uses makes this album very unique to listen to. Production actually something this album exceeds at with notable names like Kanye West executive producing the project. But, overall I feel as if this style brings out aggressive energy that works in his favor for most of the album. This album doesn’t have many features either with only ones being Kanye West, Kid Cudi, and Future who with the 24 song track length don’t feel like they steal the show. While the project can get repetitive lyrically the energy and delivery Carti brings more than makes up for that. One thing that surprised me about this album was how he was able to keep the album as entertaining as it was for being such a long album I found myself never getting bored. 

What this album has also brought is new energy brought to Carti’s live performances. Through recent festivals which Carti has been a part of he has brought his most high-energy performances yet and have all have had very positive reactions and with his upcoming tour announced it seems like the energy will continue. The album was not as praised as it is now and when it first came out reviews were actually mostly negative. Reviewers actually felt as if the new style Carti brought with this release brings down the album as appose to helping it. So while I feel like this album might not be for everyone I think everyone should still give it a listen because it is a unique and high-energy album that will be really enjoyable for anybody who clicks with it.