Whole Lotta Red

Whole Lotta Red is the second studio album by American rapper Playboi Carti. It was released on December 25, 2020, by AWGE and Interscope Records. The album consists of 24 tracks and features guest appearances from American rappers Kanye West, Kid Cudi, and Future. West served as the executive producer for the album, contributing to its overall production and appearing on the track "Go2DaMoon". The primary production was handled by F1lthy and Art Dealer, alongside a host of other producers, including Pi'erre Bourne, Maaly Raw, Lil 88, Jasper Harris, Ojivolta, and Wheezy. Recording for Whole Lotta Red began in late 2018 and concluded in November 2020. The album serves as the follow-up to Carti's debut studio album, Die Lit (2018).

Whole Lotta Red
Studio album by Playboi Carti
Released	December 25, 2020
Recorded	2018 – November 2020
Studio	Carter's home studio Means Street (Atlanta)
Genre	Trap[1] rage[2] experimental hip-hop[3]
Length	62:12
Label	AWGE Interscope
Producer	Art Dealer F1lthy Gab3 Jasper Harris Jonah Abraham Juberlee KP Beatz Lil 88 Lucian Lukrative Maaly Raw Ojivolta Outtatown Pi'erre Bourne Richie Souf Roark Bailey Ssort Star Boy Wheezy
Playboi Carti chronology
Die Lit (2018) Whole Lotta Red (2020) Music (2025)

Whole Lotta Red received generally positive reviews from music critics upon release, with praise for its experimental production and Carti's distinctive vocal style. The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, earning 100,000 album-equivalent units in its first week, becoming Carti's first number-one album. It also achieved commercial success and was later certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album has since been recognized on several year-end lists, with Rolling Stone ranking it among the "200 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time".

Background and recording

In August 2018, shortly after the release of Playboi Carti's debut studio album Die Lit, a video surfaced showing Carti discussing his next project, tentatively titled Whole Lotta Red.^[4] By November 2018, Carti was performing unreleased tracks from the album at a concert in Seattle, indicating early progress on the project.^[5] In March 2019, during an interview with GQ, Carti announced that Virgil Abloh would serve as the creative director for Whole Lotta Red.^[6][7] That same year, Carti's feature on Tyler, the Creator's "Earfquake", the lead single from Igor, showcased his distinctive "baby voice" style, which drew significant attention and heightened anticipation for the album.^[8]

In May 2019, a leaked collaboration with Young Nudy titled "Pissy Pamper", originally intended for Nudy's and Pi'erre Bourne's Sli'merre album, gained widespread popularity on TikTok and reached number one on Spotify's US Viral 50 chart before its removal. Numerous other leaks from Whole Lotta Red surfaced on platforms like YouTube and SoundCloud, prompting speculation that these leaks led Carti to rework parts of the album or abandon certain creative directions.^[9] In a June 2019 interview with The Fader, Carti revealed that recording for Whole Lotta Red began in late 2018, with sessions taking place at DJ Drama's Means Street Studios in Atlanta and at his own home.^[6] In May 2020, Carti featured on Drake's "Pain 1993" from the Dark Lane Demo Tapes mixtape, continuing his "baby voice" style. The track became Carti's first top-ten hit on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number seven.^[10]

Composition

American rapper Kanye West (pictured in 2009) served as executive producer of the album.

Whole Lotta Red represents a bold shift from the melodic, hazy trap of his earlier projects, Playboi Carti (2017) and Die Lit (2018), diving into a raw, experimental soundscape that blends punk, trap, and electronic influences.^[11] Spanning 24 tracks over an hour, it delivers a frenetic, high-energy experience driven by distorted production and Carti's versatile vocals, ranging from guttural screams to his signature high-pitched "baby voice".^[11] Prior to the album's release, in a November 2020 GQ interview, Carti described the album as "alternative" and "psyched out".^[12] Pitchfork described this vocal dynamism as central to the album's manic energy.^[3] Executive produced by Kanye West, with contributions from producers like F1lthy, Jasper Harris, Ojivolta, and Pi'erre Bourne, the album crafts a dark, vampire-themed aesthetic. Both AllMusic and HipHopDX compared its bold, polarizing vision to West's Yeezus (2013) for its divisive, uncompromising approach.^[11][2]

The production is characterized by booming 808s, jagged synthesizers, and distorted drum machines, creating a "menacing and futuristic" vibe. HipHopDX emphasized this harsh, futuristic sound.^[11] Opening tracks like "Rockstar Made" and "Stop Breathing" plunge listeners into a mosh-pit frenzy, with chest-rattling bass and synths amplifying Carti's unhinged delivery, with NME and Rolling Stone praised these tracks for their adrenaline-inducing energy.^[13][14] Songs such as "No Sl33p" and "JumpOutTheHouse" abandon traditional verse-chorus structures, favoring raw bursts of energy where Carti's vocals loop into hypnotic chants or ad-libbed outbursts, with Pitchfork describing this structural looseness as a defining trait.^[3] For example, "Stop Breathing" pulses with a beat echoing Gucci Mane's 2008 "Shirt Off", as Carti channels grief and rage over the loss of his friend Bigg Sosa, with Beats Per Minute and HipHopDX highlighting its emotional depth.^[15][2] "Vamp Anthem" incorporates a sample of Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, blending gothic organ tones with a trap rhythm to underscore the album's vampiric vibe.^[13][3]

According to PopMatters, the album's second half shifts toward melodic territory while retaining its experimental core.^[16] "ILoveUIHateU" and "Place", produced by Pi'erre Bourne, recall Carti's earlier airy trap style, with stretched synths and whiny vocals evoking nostalgia, with NME and PopMatters highlighting their throwback appeal.^[13][16] "Control" reveals a vulnerable side, with Carti exploring love over a glossy hyper-pop beat, while "Punk Monk" reflects on industry pressures and exhaustion, with HipHopDX and Pitchfork praising these introspective moments.^[2][3]

Carti's vocal performance is the album's cornerstone, largely sidelining his "baby voice"—heard on "Teen X" and "New N3on"—for a raspier, breathless delivery brimming with intensity.^[14][3] On "M3tamorphosis", featuring Kid Cudi, Carti exudes bravado with lines like "When you feel like this, can't nobody tell you shit", backed by eerie, goblin-like harmonies.^[13][11] Lyrically, Carti prioritizes vibe over narrative, with his "King Vamp" persona steeped in hedonism, paranoia, and rockstar bravado.^[2][14] The album's loose, frenetic structure contributes to its divisive reception. Pitchfork emphasized how tracks like "New Tank" cram multiple chorus-like fragments into a single whirlwind, maintaining a relentless pace.^[3] This high-octane energy, particularly in the early tracks, fuels the album's pulse, but songs like "M3tamorphosis" and "Punk Monk" were faulted for dragging, with NME and Pitchfork critiquing their overlong execution.^[13][3]

Artwork and aesthetic

On December 22, 2020, Playboi Carti unveiled the cover art for Whole Lotta Red on social media. The cover was designed by Jung "Art Dealer" Chung and features a black-and-white image of Carti outlined in white, with the word "Red" displayed in bold red letters at the top.^[17] The design is an homage to the cover of the late 1970s punk-rock magazine Slash, which once featured David Vanian of the band the Damned on its cover.^[18][19] In addition, the left side of Carti's cover, beside the parental advisory label, reads "Volume One Number One Of Red", referencing a fictional magazine from Carti's Opium imprint.^[19][20]

The album's visual aesthetic, as well as the accompanying merchandise designs, have been described by journalists for their influence from heavy metal imagery, further contributing to the rebellious, punk-inspired vibe of the project. Throughout Whole Lotta Red, Carti adopts the persona of a vampire rock star, complementing the album's dark and gothic themes. Despite shifting his vocal approach at times on the album, Carti still incorporates his signature "baby voice" style across various tracks, reinforcing his distinctive sound and artistic identity.^[14]

Release and promotion

On April 14, 2020, Playboi Carti began teasing the single "@ Meh" by sharing its cover art on Twitter, with the track officially released two days later on April 16 as the anticipated lead single for Whole Lotta Red.^[21][22] The song, featuring Carti's signature "baby voice",^[23] achieved commercial success, peaking at number 35 on the US Billboard Hot 100, marking Carti's second top 40 entry as a lead artist.^[24] Alongside the single's release, its music video, co-directed by Carti and Nick Walker, debuted the same day.^[25]

Following a period of social media inactivity, Carti returned on November 23, 2020, posting blurry photos of himself and announcing that Whole Lotta Red had been submitted to his label.^[26] In the lead-up to the album's release, Carti heightened anticipation by teasing collaborations with artists including Kanye West, Kid Cudi, Travis Scott, and Future, while also hinting at potential features from Post Malone and Pharrell Williams.^[27][28][29] Media personality DJ Akademiks tweeted that Whole Lotta Red was set to release on Christmas Day and would be executively produced by Kanye West, claiming he "nearly sold his soul" for the information.^[30]

On December 21, 2020, Carti officially unveiled the album's cover art, release date, and pre-order details for merchandise.^[31] Whole Lotta Red, executively produced by Kanye West, was released on December 25, 2020.^{[32][33][34][35]} On the same day, the music video for the track "M3tamorphosis", featuring Kid Cudi, was released, directed by Nico Ballesteros.^[36][37] On April 2, 2021, Carti released the music video for "Sky", the nineteenth track from Whole Lotta Red.^[38][39] Directed by Nick Walker and produced by Chad Tennies and Rachel Walden, the video features Carti and his crew causing chaos in a grocery store, knocking over shelves, spilling products, and riding carts, with a distinctive green-tinted aesthetic and faux security camera footage.^[40] The video, which includes a cameo from a fellow Opium signee, Destroy Lonely,^[41] reflects the album's punk-inspired aesthetic and has garnered over 100 million views on YouTube as of April 2025.^[42]

Critical reception

Whole Lotta Red ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	6.6/10[43]
Metacritic	75/100[44]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[11]
And It Don't Stop	[45]
Beats Per Minute	27%[15]
HipHopDX	4.4/5[2]
NME	[13]
Pitchfork	8.3/10[3]
PopMatters	7/10[16]
Rolling Stone	[14]
Spectrum Culture	80%[46]

Whole Lotta Red was met with generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 75, based on seven reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[44] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 6.6 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.^[43]

Fred Thomas reviewed the album for AllMusic, lauding the "blown-out instrumentals" and "demonic vocal performances".^[11] Paul A. Thompson of Pitchfork described Whole Lotta Red as "both wildly innovative and strikingly consistent", praising the "bright and serrated beats" and Carti's "outré, expressive" vocals.^[3] Danny Schwartz from Rolling Stone enjoyed the album, saying, "Playboi Carti—Gen Z's answer to Nosferatu—performs emotions, toggles between them, and disguises them with a disquieting ease. He has never been more enigmatic".^[14] Reviewing the album for PopMatters, Semassa Boko stated, "Whole Lotta Red demonstrates Playboi Carti's commitment to dynamic growth and experimentation. However, it's painfully apparent that Carti needs more features".^[16] Colin Dempsey of Spectrum Culture praised the album, stating, "Carti comes into his own by stepping into the coffin of a vampire, scoffing at every critique tossed towards his vaudeville fangs".^[46] Vivian Medithi of HipHopDX said, "Semi-automatic dracos are made in Romania and Dracula was too. Whole Lotta Red is the sound of a new legend dying to be born. It'll be album of the year in 2022".^[2]

In a mixed review, NME's Kyann-Sian Williams said, "Initially, you might be disappointed to have waited two years for what at first sounds like an underworked collection of throwaways. In places, though, the record rewards repeat listens. [...] But there's no getting away from the fact that at 24 tracks long, there's not a lot of variety on 'Whole Lotta Red', and the biggest take away here is perhaps that perennial rap fan favorite: less is most definitely more".^[13] In a negative review, Beats Per Minute's Mimi Kenny stated: "Whole Lotta Red has a vibe the same way a TGI Fridays has an atmosphere; it just rides a wave of different shades of lifeless trap, an endless TikTok dance in purgatory. [...] The problem is Whole Lotta Red hardly ever gives Carti a chance to be real. He puts on vapid personas like 'rock star' and 'vampire' like he's at Halloween Express. Tracks are Seinfeldian in their nothingness."^[15] Critic Robert Christgau highlighted "Rockstar Made" and "Punk Monk" while conceding that Playboi Carti "sounds like nobody else", but concluded that he "means as little as any rapper of consequence ever".^[45] Pitchfork and NME critiqued tracks like "New N3on" and "Over", describing them as filler compared to the album's stronger cuts.^[3][16] Guest appearances, including Kanye West on "Go2DaMoon" and Future on "Teen X", were seen as lackluster by Pitchfork and PopMatters, with critics noting they failed to match Carti's commanding presence.^[3][16]

Rankings

Select rankings of Whole Lotta Red

Publication	List	Rank	Ref.
The Fader	The 50 Best Albums of 2021	45	[47]
The New York Times	Jon Caramanica's Best Albums of 2020	9	[48]
Pitchfork	The 50 Best Albums of 2021	9	[49]
	The 100 Best Albums of the 2020s So Far	2	[50]
Rolling Stone	The 50 Best Albums of 2021	11	[51]
	The 20 Best Hip-Hop Albums of 2021	1	[52]
	The 200 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time	129	[53]
Stereogum	The 10 Best Rap Albums of 2021	5	[54]
The Washington Post	Best Music of 2021	1	[55]

Commercial performance

Whole Lotta Red debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with 100,000 album-equivalent units (including 10,000 pure album sales) in its first week.^[56] This became Carti's first US number-one debut and his second top 10 album.^[56] The album also accumulated a total of 126.43 million on-demand streams for its tracks, in the week ending December 31, 2020.^[56] On January 11, 2022, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and streams in excess of 500,000 units in the United States.^[57]

Track listing

Whole Lotta Red track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Rockstar Made"	Jordan Carter Richard Ortiz Jonah Abraham	F1lthy Abraham	3:13
2.	"Go2DaMoon" (featuring Kanye West)	Carter Kanye West Wesley Glass Tobias Dekker	Wheezy Outtatown	1:59
3.	"Stop Breathing"	Carter Ortiz Pierre Thevenot Thomas Ross	F1lthy Lukrative Ssort	3:38
4.	"Beno!"	Carter Dekker Jalan Lowe	Outtatown Lil 88	2:33
5.	"JumpOutTheHouse"	Carter Tony Sun	Richie Souf	1:33
6.	"M3tamorphosis" (featuring Kid Cudi)	Carter Scott Mescudi Ortiz Gabriel Rousseau	F1lthy Gab3	5:12
7.	"Slay3r"	Carter Roark Bailey Jeffrey Shannon	Bailey Juberlee	2:44
8.	"No Sl33p"	Carter Kenneth Pannu	KP Beatz Abraham	1:28
9.	"New Tank"	Carter Ortiz Abraham	F1lthy Abraham	1:29
10.	"Teen X" (featuring Future)	Carter Nayvadius Wilburn Jamaal Henry	Maaly Raw	3:25
11.	"Meh"	Carter Dekker Jung Cho Anton Mendo	Outtatown Art Dealer Star Boy	1:58
12.	"Vamp Anthem"	Carter Pannu Jasper Harris	KP Beatz Harris	2:04
13.	"New N3on"	Carter Henry	Maaly Raw	1:56
14.	"Control"	Carter Dekker Cho Mendo	Outtatown Art Dealer Star Boy	3:17
15.	"Punk Monk"	Carter Ortiz Thevenot Ștefan Cișmigiu	F1lthy Lukrative Lucian	3:49
16.	"On That Time"	Carter Ortiz Mark Williams Raul Cubina	F1lthy Ojivolta	1:42
17.	"King Vamp"	Carter Cho	Art Dealer Outtatown Star Boy	3:06
18.	"Place"	Carter Jordan Jenks	Pi'erre Bourne	1:57
19.	"Sky"	Carter Cho	Art Dealer	3:13
20.	"Over"	Carter Cho	Art Dealer	2:46
21.	"ILoveUIHateU"	Carter Jenks	Pi'erre Bourne	2:15
22.	"Die4Guy"	Carter Cho	Art Dealer Outtatown Star Boy	2:11
23.	"Not PLaying"	Carter Cho	Art Dealer	2:10
24.	"F33l Lik3 Dyin"	Carter Bailey Sun Justin Vernon James Blake Rob Moose Bradley Cook Michael Lewis Michael Noyce Brandon Burton Jeremy Nutzman Channy Leaneagh Glass Josh Berg	Bailey Richie Souf	3:24
Total length:				62:12

Sample credits

• "Go2DaMoon" contains an uncredited sample from "Soul of Bobby Theme, Pt. 2", written by Laxmikant Shantaram Kudalkar and Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma.^[58]
• "Stop Breathing" contains an uncredited interpolation from "Shirt Off", written by Radric Davis, Xavier Dotson, Nyquan Malphurs and Greg Hogan, and performed by Gucci Mane, Wooh da Kid and Frenchie.^[16]
• "Vamp Anthem" contains an uncredited interpolation from the Toccata and Fugue in D minor, attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach.^[13]
• "Control" features an uncredited vocal sample of DJ Akademiks.^[14]
• "F33l Lik3 Dyin" contains a sample from "iMi", written by Justin Vernon, James Blake, Rob Moose, Bradley Cook, Michael Lewis, Michael Noyce, Brandon Burton, Jeremy Nutzman, Channy Leaneagh, Wesley Glass and Josh Berg, as performed by Bon Iver.

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes and Tidal.^[59][60]

• Kanye West – executive producer
• Matthew Williams – executive producer
• Marcus Fritz – mixer (all tracks), recording engineer (1–4, 6–9, 11, 12, 14–17, 19, 20, 22–24)
• Roark Bailey – mixer (all tracks), recording engineer (5, 7, 10, 13, 21)
• William J. Sullivan – mixer (6)
• Collin Leonard – mastering engineer
• Josh Berg – recording engineer (2)
• Liz Robson – recording engineer (18)
• Pi'erre Bourne – recording engineer (18)

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance of Whole Lotta Red Chart (2020–2021) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[61] 15 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[62] 49 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[63] 18 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[64] 74 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[65] 2 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[66] 7 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[67] 11 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[68] 45 Irish Albums (OCC)[69] 18 Lithuanian Albums (AGATA)[70] 2 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[71] 8 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[72] 5 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[73] 37 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[74] 4 UK Albums (OCC)[75] 17 US Billboard 200[76] 1 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[77] 1

Year-end charts 2021 year-end chart performance for Whole Lotta Red Chart (2021) Position US Billboard 200[78] 91 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[79] 60 2022 year-end chart performance for Whole Lotta Red Chart (2022) Position Lithuanian Albums (AGATA)[80] 91 US Billboard 200[81] 88 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[82] 67 2023 year-end chart performance for Whole Lotta Red Chart (2023) Position US Billboard 200[83] 160

Certifications

Certifications for Whole Lotta Red

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[84]	Gold	10,000‡
Poland (ZPAV)[85]	2× Platinum	40,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[86]	Gold	100,000‡
United States (RIAA)[57]	Gold	500,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Release history for Whole Lotta Red

Region	Date	Label(s)	Format(s)	Edition	Ref.
Various	December 25, 2020	AWGE Interscope	Digital download streaming	Standard	[87]
	May 28, 2021		LP		[88]
	April 25, 2025		2LP		[89]

See also

• List of Billboard 200 number-one albums of 2021