Building on the minimalist sound of his debut commercial mixtape, Die Lit is a trap and mumble rap album that embraces lo-fi aesthetics, punk-inspired energy, and experimental song structures. Produced primarily by Bourne, the album features loop-driven beats, distorted bass, and sparse melodies that prioritize vibe over complexity.
Die Lit received generally positive reviews, with critics praising its appeal and production. Although Die Lit was marketed with no radio play or much press coverage, it was a commercial success and was positively reviewed by several publications. It debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200, with 61,000 album-equivalent units earned in its first week, and has been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album was supported by the promotional single "Love Hurts" (featuring Travis Scott), released on May 2, 2018, exclusively on SoundCloud.
Background and release
In April 2017, Playboi Carti released his debut commercial self-titled mixtape, through AWGE and Interscope Records.[2] The project included the breakout hit "Magnolia" and helped establish Carti's signature minimalist style and ad-lib-heavy delivery.[3] He began working on Die Lit in late 2017, teasing its development through a series of studio sessions with Pi'erre Bourne,[4] who served as the album's executive producer.[5] In March 2018, Bourne teased that the project had been finalized via Twitter.[6][7] According to Dazed, much of Die Lit was recorded in Atlanta, where Carti returned to reconnect with the creative energy of his early days.[8] He described working in a stripped-back environment—"white tee on, no jewellery"—and relying on instinct rather than overthinking, stating, "You always got to remember how you got here".[8] Carti emphasized the spontaneous nature of the sessions, often recording five or six tracks in one sitting with Bourne, prioritizing raw energy and emotion over lyrical complexity.[8]
The album was first previewed with the promotional single "Love Hurts" featuring Travis Scott, released on May 2, 2018, exclusively via SoundCloud.[9][10] On May 10, AWGE labelhead ASAP Rocky revealed the album's artwork.[11]Die Lit was officially released on May 11, 2018, premiering on Tidal before becoming available on other streaming platforms.[12] The cover photo, photographed by Nick Walker, showing Carti stage-diving into a punk crowd, visually captured the album's rebellious and distorted aesthetic.[13][14] A music video for the track "R.I.P." was released on June 12, 2018.[15][16][17] The video, directed by Walker, depicts Carti moshing relentlessly in a stark black-and-white moshpit, employing chaotic editing and punk aesthetics to match the album's raw and subversive energy.[18] To support the album, Carti embarked on the Die Lit Tour during the summer of 2018, performing across various cities in North America.[19][20][21]
Composition
Die Lit is characterized by its minimalist trap production, featuring distorted 808 drums, spacious mixing, and ethereal synthesizer melodies.[22] The album's production, primarily handled by Pi'erre Bourne, incorporates elements of cloud rap and psychedelic music, creating atmospheric soundscapes that complement Carti's vocal delivery.[23] The beats often utilize unconventional sound design, with heavily processed samples, bouncy and reverb-heavy percussion arrangements.[24] In a December 2020 interview with 032c, Carti described Die Lit as being driven by the chaos of his live shows and the punk-inspired moshing culture that surrounded them.[25] He explained that the energy from those real-life experiences directly shaped the album's aggressive tone.[25]
Vocally, Playboi Carti employs his signature "baby voice" style throughout the album, a high-pitched delivery that emphasizes ad-libs and melodic vocal inflections over traditional rap cadences.[26] His lyrics primarily focus on themes of luxury lifestyle, romantic relationships, and street life, delivered through fragmented phrases and repetitive hooks.[27] The vocal performances often function as additional musical instruments, with Carti's ad-libs and vocal layering contributing to the overall sonic texture of the tracks.[28] The album's sonic palette draws influence from various sources, including punk rock aesthetics and contemporary Atlanta trap music.[29][28] The production frequently features prominent 808 bass patterns and trap drum programming while experimenting with unconventional song structures.[24] Several tracks, such as "FlatBed Freestyle" and "Love Hurts", showcase Carti's evolution of his vocal style, pushing further into abstract and experimental territory.[30]
Die Lit was met with generally positive reviews from critics, many of whom praised its innovative production, carefree energy, and cohesive aesthetic. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 71, based on seven reviews.[31]
Evan Rytlewski of Pitchfork lauded the album, calling it "an album that works almost completely from its own lunatic script", and described it as "a perversely infectious sugar high, rap that fundamentally recalibrates the brain's reward centers", Rytlewski emphasized the strength of Pi'erre Bourne's production and Carti's embrace of repetition and minimalism as core components of the album's appeal.[35]Tiny Mix Tapes writer Corrigan B praised Die Lit as a natural evolution from Carti's debut, describing it as "an album of party records" and a "perfect encapsulation of the sea change in rap's audience", adding that its tracks are designed to be endlessly looped in social settings until their hooks and bass are "burned into the brain of every attendee".[23]
Sputnikmusic echoed this sentiment, highlighting the hypnotic effect of the production and its ability to transform minimal melodic fragments into "a thick sonic weave".[37] The reviewer also highlighted the sense of cohesion between Carti and his production team, calling the album "ineffably utopian" for the luxurious and effortless mood it creates.[37] Maxwell Cavaseno of HotNewHipHop regarded Die Lit as "the closest to a fully realized album as Carti is ever going to come close to achieving", praising its ability to do "so much while doing so very little".[22] Several reviewers commended the album's atmosphere and texture over its lyrical content. Neil Z. Yeung of AllMusic compared the album's style to that of Rae Sremmurd and Migos, stating that the "big-bass trap anthems owe much to their club-friendly vibe, but offer little in terms of substance or lasting impact".[32] Similarly, Riley Wallace of HipHopDX acknowledged Carti's growing artistry, but wrote that the project was unlikely to sway skeptics, stating that while it is "a more respectable body of work," it wouldn't "win over any naysayers". More critical perspectives highlighted the album's repetitiveness and lack of variety.[28] A. Harmony from Exclaim! called it "fun enough", but argued that it "has the lifespan of a mayfly", suggesting that while enjoyable in the moment, the album may lack long-term replay value.[33]
Die Lit debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 chart, earning 61,000 album-equivalent units (including 5,000 copies as pure album sales) in its first week.[44] On July 31, 2019, 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.[45] As of January 2021, the album has earned 1.1million album-equivalent units and net 1.67billion on-demand streams for its tracks.[46]
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