Meet 20 year old rapper, producer, singer and songwriter Jordan Terrell Carter. Name doesn’t ring a bell? That’s because you may be more familiar with his stage name, Playboi Carti.
While Playboi first started rapping in 2011 (when he went by the name $ir Cartier), his first big hit didn’t arrive until 2015 when he released “Broke Boi” on Soundcloud.
Playboi decided he would only release Broke Boi and one other track on Soundcloud. The fans were wanting more though! Throughout the years following, he was continuously approached by record labels. With a loyal and impatient fan base, Playboi kept everyone intrigued in his projects by releasing short song snippets, which fans could memorize the lyrics to. He wanted to make sure that he had a unique and consistent sound before dropping his first official mixtape.
In April 2017, the world was finally graced with Playboi’s self-titled debut mixtape, which featured vocal appearances by Lil Uzi Vert, A$AP Rocky and Leven Kali. With the help of write ups from major music publications such as PopMatters, Spin, Pitchfork and XXL, the EP sold over 28,000 units in its first week of release and so far, has hit #47 on Complex’s Best Albums Of The Year!
Although he did not want to move away from the Soundcloud platform, Playboi said that:
“To be successful, [he] got to. It’s not even about being mainstream. As an artist, you [never want to] forget where you come from. A lot of [his] fans come from the Soundcloud platform. [He] just want[s] to make both crowds happy.”
One of the EP’s biggest hits “wokeuplikethis”, features Lil Uzi Vert and has charted at #76 on the Billboard Top 100. It has also already acquired over 33 MILLION Spotify streams – insane. And, want to know how the song came to be? Producer Pierre Bourne was sitting in the back of an Uber when he created and produced the beat, which he then later posted to Instagram. Playboi fell on the post and asked if he could vocalize the track with Lil Uzi. CRAZY!
Playboi Carti – “wokeuplikethis”
On his sound, Playboi says it is “lazy but confident”, gathering inspiration from artists such as Lil Wayne, Gucci Mane, A$AP Rocky and Wiz Khalifa. He also says that, what makes him stand out as an artist is “the vibes” and that “the music is there and it’s great…[he’s] for the youth, for the culture”.
On his goals, Playboi says:
“I want my impact to be legendary. I want everyone to remember me as just a mogul – a young dude that just lit forever.”
We’re completely on board with that, and we think that Playboi is on the right track to achieving it! In the past, Playboi has been brought out on stage by The Weeknd & Drake, and has even been seen by Jay-Z as being an inspiration. Besides, he was named as one of the “10 Artists You Need To Know For June” by Rolling Stones, and was featured in XXL Mag’s “2017 Freshman Class” as one of 10 artists to watch.
For one of his first TV appearances (which was on Jimmy Kimmel Live!), Playboi performed one of his new tracks, “Magnolia”.
Want to check out his entire mixtape? Feel free to do so below:
Playboi Carti – Playboi Carti
Follow Playboi on social media:
Faceboook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Soundcloud | Website
Are you as into Playboi as we are? Let us know what you think by commenting/reacting below or tweeting us, @umusic! 🙂