In a twist as unpredictable as a mosh pit at a meditation retreat, Playboi Carti has unveiled his long-teased album I Am Music—only to reveal it’s missing two names fans assumed were locks: Kanye West and SZA. The Atlanta provocateur, whose Whole Lotta Red became a Gen Z The Dark Side of the Moon, has always thrived on chaos, but this move is a next-level flex. Carti’s camp confirms the omissions weren’t accidental. “He wanted this to feel like his universe,” a source close to the rapper tells Variety. “No co-pilots.”
The absence of Ye—Carti’s former mentor and Donda collaborator—is particularly jarring, given their symbiotic history of warping rap’s boundaries. And SZA’s sultry SOS reign had fans craving her smoky vocals over Carti’s glitchy beats. Yet I Am Music charges ahead like a punk-rock freight train, doubling down on Carti’s signature vampiric adrenaline. Tracks like the Travis Scott-assisted “2024” and the Lil Uzi Vert collab “Firearm” lean into industrial screeches, trap nihilism, and the kind of distorted hooks that’ll rattle Bluetooth speakers at 3 a.m.
This isn’t Carti’s first rodeo with left-field choices. Remember when he dropped Whole Lotta Red on Christmas 2020, baffling fans expecting holiday cheer but birthing a cult classic? This time, he’s betting that his anarchic vision—equal parts Atlanta strip club and Berlin basement rave—needs no starpower garnish. Social media, of course, is split. One fan tweeted, “Carti left Kanye in the Yeezy pasta aisle,” while another mused, “SZA dodged a bullet… but I’m still gonna blast this in my therapist’s parking lot.”
The album’s title, I Am Music, feels less like a boast than a manifesto. Carti’s baby-voice croons and shattered-glass production remain, but there’s a newfound ferocity, as if he’s exorcizing fame itself. Tracks like “Hoodwitch” channel Nine Inch Nails’ Year Zero through a SoundCloud lens, while “Casket Fresh” pairs nursery-rhyme melodies with lyrics about “dying young, just for the aesthetic.” It’s messy, exhilarating, and utterly Carti—an artist who’d rather set his own playground on fire than share the swings.
Will the Ye and SZA stans revolt? Maybe. But Carti’s genius lies in his refusal to play by anyone’s rules, even (especially) his own. I Am Music drops August 16. Clear your calendar—and maybe your mental space. This isn’t background noise. It’s a baptism.
