Playboi Carti

Carti began rapping at an early age under the name Sir Cartier in 2011. He changed it to Playboi Carti in 2013. He began uploading songs on SoundCloud in 2011.[4] In 2014, after meeting producer Ethereal, he joined Awful Records.[20] Carti credits Ethereal with helping him find his sound.[21] Once Carti chose to pursue music full-time, he made the decision to move to New York City with some family.[15]

While in New York City, Carti stayed at his drug dealer's house,[22] and members of ASAP Mob frequented the house. Carti ran into ASAP Bari, who introduced him to ASAP Rocky.[22] Carti decided to go to Texas with ASAP Rocky.[15][8] He began to attract attention in 2015 with his singles "Broke Boi" and "Fetti" featuring Da$h and Maxo Kream, both of which were published to SoundCloud.[23]

Around this time, Carti frequently collaborated with artists in Atlanta's underground rap scene, including UnoTheActivist, Thouxanbanfauni,[24] Yung Bans, Lil Yachty, Ethereal, and producers MexikoDro, and ICYTWAT. He began to tour with ASAP Ferg and Lil Uzi Vert, and he signed a deal with Interscope Records.[8]

In 2016, he was featured on the A$AP Mob's single "Telephone Calls" from their album Cozy Tapes Vol. 1: Friends.[25] The same year, Carti signed to the A$AP Mob's AWGE imprint.

Carti released his eponymous debut mixtape in April 2017.[26] The release gained attention from various music publications, including XXL,[10] Pitchfork,[27] Spin,[11] HotNewHipHop,[28] and PopMatters,[29] and reached No. 12 on the Billboard 200.[30] The mixtape spawned two successful singles: "Magnolia", which reached number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100,[30] and "wokeuplikethis*" featuring Lil Uzi Vert, which reached number 76.[30]

Accompanying the mixtape's release, Carti embarked on a tour with Gucci Mane and Dreezy.[31] In June 2017, Playboi Carti was named as one of the ten of XXL's "2017 Freshman Class".[32] Around this time, he was featured on A$AP Mob's single "Raf" from their album Cozy Tapes Vol. 2: Too Cozy and Lana Del Rey's single "Summer Bummer" from her album Lust for Life.

In May 2018, Carti released his debut full-length album Die Lit, which peaked at number 3 on the US Billboard 200. Months later, in August 2018, Carti announced his second studio album Whole Lotta Red.

Carti began work on his second album Whole Lotta Red late in 2018.[33][34] Over the next two years, many of Carti's songs were leaked onto the internet and accumulated tens of millions of streams. He did not release any original music, instead being featured on numerous singles, including "Baguettes in the Face" featuring NAV and A Boogie wit da Hoodie from DJ Mustard's album and "Earfquake" by Tyler the Creator. In April 2020, Carti released his first new music since 2018 with the song "@ Meh", which peaked at number 35 on the Hot 100.

The following month, he was featured on the single "Pain 1993" by Drake, which debuted at number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became Carti's first top-ten on the chart. In November 2020, Carti announced that Whole Lotta Red was complete and had been submitted to his label. On Thanksgiving Day, 2020, Carti was featured on Lil Yachty's deluxe album Lil Boat 3.5 on the song "Flex Up" with Future. The following month, hip-hop commentator DJ Akademiks announced that Whole Lotta Red was scheduled for a Christmas Day release. Carter confirmed the Christmas release date on December 21, 2020. On December 25, 2020, Carti released the 24-track long album Whole Lotta Red.[35][36]

It debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, becoming Carti's first chart-topping release. In June 2021, Carti was featured on rapper Lil 1 DTE's single, "Homixide" from his self-titled mixtape. In August 2021, Playboi Carti was featured on the songs "Off the Grid", "Junya", and "Junya, Pt. 2" in Kanye West's album Donda.

On December 25, 2022, Carti came back to Twitter after over a year, making tweets, like "Hello Twitter",[37] and "love all my supporters it's time",[38] possibly hinting at another Christmas Day release alike to his second studio album, Whole Lotta Red in 2020.

On February 21, 2023, Atlanta DJ Swamp Izzo talked about Carter's next album in an interview, stating: "Playboi Carti album is done". And that it would be getting released in the Summer.

On March 3, 2023, Carti started day 1 of Rolling Loud California. During the set he performed "Rockstar", an unreleased track off Music.

Carter's fashion style is one of the main features of his public image. He has called himself a "thrift store kid" and often prefers vintage garments.[19] GQ has defined Carter as the "leader of a youth style", and said that he represents a stylistic midpoint between the "fashion gloss of A$AP Mob, the punk-rock attitude of Uzi Vert, and the playful camp of Yachty."[39]

Carter's favorite designer label is Balmain and his favorite designer is Raf Simons, whom he met at a 2017 fashion show in New York City.[40] Carter is featured on the song "RAF" by A$AP Mob, which was dedicated to Raf Simons. The music video for the song included Carter, A$AP Rocky, and Quavo wearing rare Raf Simons-designed clothing.[41] In 2017, Carter told Vogue that he considers Kanye West and A$AP Rocky his fashion inspirations.[42]

Carter has modeled numerous times, including Louis Vuitton at Paris Fashion Week,[43] Kanye West's Yeezy Season 5,[44][45] VFiles,[46][47] and Drake's OVO Lookbook alongside Ian Connor and John Ross.[48]

• Die Lit (2018)
• Whole Lotta Red (2020)
• TBA[82] (2023)

• Playboi Carti Tour (2017)
• Die Lit Tour (2018)
• Neon Tour (2018)
• King Vamp/Narcissist Tour (2021–2022)
• Rolling Loud (2023)
• Wireless Festival (2023)

• ASAP Rocky – Injured Generation Tour (2019)
• Wiz Khalifa – Decent Exposure Summer Tour (2019)