Die Lit received generally positive reviews, with critics praising its appeal and production but criticizing its lack of variety and lasting impact. The album was also a commercial success, debuting at number three on the US Billboard 200, with 61,000 album-equivalent units earned in its first week; in July 2019, it was 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. An accompanying tour began in July 2018.
Background and release
In April 2017, Playboi Carti released his debut commercial self-titled mixtape, through AWGE and Interscope Records.[1] The project included the breakout hit "Magnolia" and helped establish Carti's signature minimalist style and ad-lib-heavy delivery.[2][3] He began working on Die Lit in December 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 surprise-released on May 11, 2018, premiering on Tidal before becoming available on other streaming platforms.[12] The cover photo, photographed by Nick Walker, depicts Carti diving into a crowd based off a reference photo of an old punk show, intended to capture the raw, rebellious energy that characterizes his music.[13] The cover also became the subject of online speculation due to two prominent figures in the crowd—a woman with a mohawk and a bearded man who many fans mistakenly identified as Foo Fighters lead vocalist Dave Grohl. In 2023, the man was identified as actor Francisco Marcano, who was unaware his image would be used for the album artwork.[14] A music video for the track "R.I.P." was released on June 12, 2018,[15] featuring cameo from Marcano.[14] 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.[16] To support the album, Carti embarked on the Die Lit Tour during the summer of 2018, performing across various cities in North America.[17][18][19]
Composition
Die Lit is a trap[20] and mumble rap[21][22] album characterized by its use of distorted 808 drums[23][24] and ethereal synthesizer melodies.[25] The album's production, primarily handled by Pi'erre Bourne,[24] incorporates elements of cloud rap to create an atmospheric soundscape[25] that complements Carti's vocal style.[26] The production, led by Bourne, creates a "rich and inviting" sonic world built from "rumbling basslines and lofty clouds of 8-bit ice cream synth swirls", with Carti's ad-libs and layered vocals blending seamlessly into the beats.[27][26][23] Carti cited the "crazy" energy of his live shows as an influence on his music following the release of Playboi Carti; Thom Bettridge of 032c likewise viewed the album as an attempt to incorporate punk influences into his sound.[28]
Musically, Die Lit has been described as a "sugar high" of fragmented melodies and looping hooks, featuring experimental sound choices from Bourne, IndigoChildRick, and Maaly Raw.[20][26] According to Pitchfork, Bourne's production utilizes "hacked Game Boys, busted subwoofers, and chopped and screwed snippets of Ratatat records", constructing a hyperactive atmosphere where Carti's ad-libs and mumbling function as rhythmic instruments rather than traditional verses.[26]HipHopDX described that the album's distorted bass and surreal vocal layering on "R.I.P." give the project its chaotic, high-energy identity.[23]HotNewHipHop observed that Pi'erre's executive production ensured a consistent sonic palette despite the album's length, maintaining a cohesive mood even with its variety of featured artists.[24]
Vocally, Carti employs his signature "baby voice", using high-pitched tones, repetition, and expressive ad-libs in place of complex lyricism.[29] His lyrics explore themes of luxury, hedonism,[20] and street culture,[23][20] presented through fragmented phrases and melodic cadences.[30][26][25]Exclaim! described Carti's performances as "post-verbal bangers" designed more to evoke feeling than meaning, arguing that Die Lit functions more as a series of moods than a lyrical narrative.[30] Similarly, Sputnikmusic wrote that the album "appears like an apparition of what rap music could look like emptied of lyrical content", but praised Carti's ability to create "tiny word-hooks that combust like ants under a magnifying glass", highlighting how his minimalist style achieves a hypnotic effect.[25] Several tracks, such as "FlatBed Freestyle" and "Love Hurts", showcase Carti's evolution of his vocal style, pushing further into abstract and experimental territory.[21]
Lyrical content aside, critics generally emphasized the album's sonic innovation. Pitchfork called Die Lit "an album that fundamentally recalibrates the brain's reward centers", likening its maximalist trap production to a carnival of sound where chaos becomes structure.[26]HipHopDX highlighted the chemistry between Carti and Bourne, describing their collaboration as "specific and undeniable", and suggesting that Carti's focus on energy over lyricism defines his appeal.[23]AllMusic echoed this sentiment, describing Die Lit as a "collection of big-bass trap anthems" whose impact lies in its atmosphere rather than substance.[20] Guest features play a notable role in expanding the album's sound. HotNewHipHop highlighted how collaborations with artists like Skepta on "Lean 4 Real", Nicki Minaj on "Poke It Out", and Bryson Tiller on "Fell in Luv" either contrast or complement Carti's minimalism, noting that the features bring "new dimensions" to the tracks.[24] Meanwhile, Pitchfork viewed the inclusion of these guests as "accent pieces", observing that even with major collaborators, the album's surrealist aesthetic remains intact.[26]
On review aggregator website Metacritic, Die Lit holds a score of 71 out of 100, based on reviews from seven critics, which indicates "generally favorable 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.[26]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".[34]
Sputnikmusic echoed this sentiment, highlighting the hypnotic effect of the production and its ability to transform minimal melodic fragments into "a thick sonic weave".[25] 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.[25] 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".[24] 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".[20] 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.[23] 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.[30]
Die Lit has been cited as an early influence on the emergence of the rage microgenre of trap music in the early 2020s. Gabriel Bras Nevares of HotNewHipHop described the album as laying "the foundation for rage with 2018's Die Lit, building on Playboi Carti's minimalist and ad-lib driven hedonism with woozy synths and an emphasis on vibes over substance", highlighting tracks such as "Love Hurts" and "Foreign" as early examples of the sound's development.[41] Bras Nevares also stated that while earlier artists such as Lil Uzi Vert and Kanye West had introduced experimental synth textures into hip-hop, Die Lit represented "the first sign of trap and the SoundCloud scene evolving into something else".[41]
In 2025, Will Schube of Complex described Die Lit as "one of the most influential rap records of the past decade", crediting it with shaping the sound and aesthetic of the contemporary underground scene and influencing Whole Lotta Red (2020). Schube further identified the album as the point where Carti refined his "baby voice" delivery, which became one of his defining stylistic trademarks.[14] The same year, Rolling Stone ranked Die Lit at number 144 on their "The 250 Greatest Albums of the 21st Century So Far" list, with writer Jeff Ihaza crediting the album with "[ushering] the SoundCloud rap era into the mainstream" and calling it the "blueprint for the rap in the modern era."[42]
Commercial performance
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.[43] 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.[44] As of January 2021, the album has earned 1.1million album-equivalent units and net 1.67billion on-demand streams for its tracks.[45]
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