Playboi Carti’s recent studio album Whole Lotta Red was highly anticipated, especially after his meteoric rise to success from the days of Soundcloud. The LP was streamed 126 million times within the first week of its release, earning him his first no. 1 on the Billboard Albums chart — and with songs featuring massive stars like Kanye West and Kid Cudi, it’s no wonder why. In a conversation with Cudi, Carti reveals what it was like to work with the prolific artist and fashion designer.
“Kanye is the OG. He opened my eyes to some s—. When I got around him, I realized why I love him so much,” he began. “You get what I’m saying? When I get around you, I realize why I love you so much. I even appreciate Ye for introducing me and you. Being able to talk to somebody who understands what I’m saying, I got that from his whole camp. I felt that energy from everybody he deals with. I didn’t feel like a loner. The world I’m trying to build, he already got it going on. Ye is on this king vamp s—. Cudi is on this king vamp s—. Y’all already on that,” he said. Kid Cudi echoed Carti’s words of praise, adding, “Ye is the ultimate big bro. He’s someone good to have in your corner.”
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As opposed to his 2018 album Die Lit, Whole Lotta Red came as a shock to many fans and critics. Its release was punctuated with a few disappointed reactions as many claimed it didn’t live up to the long building hype that surrounded it. Though this album was meant to tell a different story, Carti claims, and that story was more personal and included little input from others. “My last drop, I had a lot of features. Whole Lotta Red is about me. People that I did choose on this album are people that I never thought would f— with me,” he shared with the “Pursuit of Happiness” singer. “I had to work to get to where I’m at, and these are the people I’m trying to impress, the people I want the co-sign from. I got Future, I got Cudi, I got Ye. I’m f—ing with the originals, the m—ing godfathers of this s—. Who else you need on the album after that?”
As for Carti, whose diehard fanbase claims to have “never lost hope” on the journey to the second album, attributes much of his latest project’s success to the loyalty of his fans. “My fans are the most loyal m—ers in the world. I make worldwide music. It’s not just for the States,” he said. “If I look at your s— or Ye’s s—, or all the other great artists, y’all never did nothing that somebody else did. That’s the only route I can go by. I’ve got my diehard fans, I got my young Carti fans, I got my new Carti fans, and I’m just trying to put them all together and show them, ‘Yo, don’t ever think you got me figured out.’”
