Playboi Carti has had fans in a chokehold, wondering when he’ll finally drop his followup to his first-career No. 1 album, Whole Lotta Red, which arrived on Christmas Day in 2020. Last Christmas, Carti returned to social media and appeared to tease that new music was imminent. It wasn’t until last week that he released a new song, “2024,” but fans didn’t have to wait another year for the next development.
On Tuesday, December 19, Carti posted a video to Instagram Story. It features someone screaming (to put it lightly), “CARTI DROPPIN’ AGAIN [EXPLETIVE] TONIGHT!” Written atop the video is, “9:00 PARENTAL ADVISORY EXPLICIT CONTENT TUESDAY.”
THIS IS NOT A DRILL PLAYBOI CARTI IS DROPPING NEW MUSIC TN pic.twitter.com/8zj8ZrTids
— red (@lottareds) December 19, 2023
Shortly thereafter, Carti reshared an Instagram Reel posted by Opium, captioned, “H00DBYAIR #IAMMUSIC.”
Toward the end of the song, Carti raps, “I was 24 when I had lil Onyx / 27 when I had Eve.” As pointed out by XXL, people are assuming that the bar serves as an announcement that Carti has welcomed a baby named Eve. Carti welcomed Onyx, his son with ex Iggy Azalea, in 2020. It must be noted that Carti was arrested for allegedly choking his pregnant girlfriend last December, as reported by TMZ.
“According to the arrest affidavit, obtained by TMZ, the woman told police the rapper grabbed her by her throat and pushed her, holding her neck until she could barely breathe,” the outlet reported in February. “She even told cops she thought she was going to die. Police say the woman told officers she’s been in a relationship with Playboi Carti for two years, has lived with him since July 2022 and was 14 weeks pregnant at the time of the alleged incident on December 20.”
The “H00DByAir” video features appearances by Destroy Lonely, Homixide Gang, and Ken Carson — fellow Opium Collective members and openers on Carti’s Antagonist Tour, which was postponed in August to 2024.
New Carti snippet
Ken Carson, Destroy Lonely, and Homixide Gang also appear in the video…
— Complex Music (@ComplexMusic) December 13, 2023
The “#IAMMUSIC” hashtag all but confirms what was already widely accepted as fact. Carti is reportedly gearing up to release an album “early next year (currently with a tentative release date in January),” per Hypebeast. Earlier this month, Carti posted a word graphic to a since-expired Instagram story reading, “I AM MUSIC,” which currently serves as Carti’s Instagram profile picture, so it’s believed that I Am Music is the album’s title.
Watch the “H00DByAir” video and other posts about the song below.
OVER A MILL VIEWS IN MINUTES ITS A 4 LETTER WORD EVERY RAPPER TAKE
NOTES pic.twitter.com/4wckKyEm6F— red (@lottareds) December 20, 2023
playboi carti casually going 3/3 after years needs to be studied FOREVER pic.twitter.com/66aElxvJhW
— red (@lottareds) December 20, 2023