Four years have passed since the release of Playboi Carti’s third studio album, setting the example of what a peak Hip-Hop/Rap album sounds like. “MUSIC” has been released with a long rollout involving several lies from the artist and even midnight disappointments. Here’s a timeline from the release of his third album to the long-awaited album, “MUSIC”.

December 26, 2020

A day after the release of his second studio album, “Whole Lotta Red,”  Carti announced a deluxe would be released shortly. Teasing the fans further, the “Whole Lotta Red” star asked fans what song they needed on the deluxe via Twitter.

March 13, 2021

After failing to deliver the deluxe,  Carti announced a follow-up album almost three months after the release of his recent project. Carti’s announcement came from an Instagram post, using his recognizable text style: “LeTs dr0p thiS new Album. w3 noT done.”

August 23, 2021

Playboi Carti announced a new album titled Narcissist, which was the same name as his upcoming tour. “Narcissist” was scheduled to be released on Carti’s birthday, Sept. 13. Similar to the deluxe announcement, this was made official via Instagram; the picture alongside the announcement featured a masked figure beside a warehouse, with multiple clothing pieces on display.

September 13, 2021

“Narcissist” did not drop.

September 14, 2021

Fans were left distraught after the album didn’t release, causing more of a heartbreak with  Carti releasing what fans would call merch on playboicarti.com. “Narcissist”-themed pieces were all available for purchase, with a motorcycle helmet being placed at $5,000. All of this confirmed the awareness of the album “Narcissist,” yet there were no signs of the album or even new music from the artist in general.

April 12, 2022

Months after the alleged “Narcissist” release date, Carti was featured on the cover of XXL. With this, an interview took place. Carti revealed he was working on a new album. “You mentioned you had a new album. What can you say about that?” The reporter questioned. “I was about to name my album Music because that’s where I’m at, you know what I’m saying? Music.” Carti followed with an explanation. “Music because that’s all it is at this point.”

December 25, 2022

Carti tweets: “Love all my supporters it’s time.” Alongside this tweet, Carti posts a mysterious figure selfie via Instagram with a Parental Advisory Sticker in the corner, which is typically used when an album cover is being shown. No caption was provided with the picture, having fans immediately speculate and question the artist’s most recent post.

November 3, 2023

With almost a year since a tease about Carti’s new album, nothing was publicly released other than leaks and snippets throughout the year. An interview with ‘Numero Berlin’ consisted of Carti being on the front cover, whilst revealing more information towards the then-known title, “MUSIC.”

“I’ve been recording in Paris, I love Paris. Amazing. I was recording in a cave, for like three months, and all the music that came out of that is just chaotic and crazy. Then, I’m in a glass house, somewhere in the hills, and the music there is just very good to the ears. And then, I’m in Atlanta, and the tensions are just high, and the music is biting. So, it’s the little things like that that keep me going because I’m just trying to talk to myself.”

December 7, 2023

On Carti’s main Instagram, artwork is teased. Carti hints towards the new album mentioned in a previous interview. Fans immediately speculated that this is the cover for the long-awaited album, as well as the title of it as well. “I AM MUSIC” became Carti’s profile picture and symbolizes the new era of the artist.

December 8, 2023

Carti released a surprise music video under his second account, @opium_00pium. Fans took note of the new tone and new signature rap style, labeling the song provided in the music video “Different Day.” This becomes Carti’s first unofficial single since “@ MEH,” released in 2020.

December 14, 2023

After various teases and snippets hovering over Instagram, Carti releases “2024” via YouTube, which has been revealed to be worked on by Kanye West. In the video, Carti is seen to repeat the phrase “2024 music,” giving fans hope that the album would be released before 2024 ends.

January 1, 2024

New Year strikes down, which tempted Carti to release another single: “Backr00ms” featuring Travis Scott. “Backr00ms” follows along with the infamous “MUSIC” rollout, with this music video released via Carti’s official YouTube channel. In “Backr00ms”, Carti emphasized his new style, offering a dark-themed music video alongside Travis Scott.

January 15, 2024

Carti solidifies his new hollow style with the Instagram exclusive song: “EvilJ0rdan.” The “EvilJ0rdan” music video features Carti and a couple of other individuals roaming around a kitchen, with another background being Carti hovering around a G-Wagon. The production on this song had fans hooked, with people even editing their version of the song; “EvilJ0rdan” was edited with a phrase from The Weeknd’s hit song featuring Carti, “Popular.” Fans added the phrase in the intro, adding a more intense feeling to the previously heavy, coercing song.

March 12, 2024

Carti was on a roll with the music, and the singles didn’t stop there: “Ketamine” was released along with another dark-hearted music video via Carti’s second account. “Ketamine” features Carti in the music video doing usual activities.

March 27, 2024

Unexpectedly, Carti collaborates with Camilla Cabello on “I LUV IT.” The music video to accompany the song offers Carti and Cabello dancing in a gas station with multiple backup dancers. “I LUV IT” has Carti in a different environment, pairing up with an artist in a completely different genre.

June 15, 2024

Cole Bennett’s annual Summer Smash festival allows artists to perform and potentially debut upcoming music, which led to Carti performing his upcoming single, “All Red.”

September 1, 2024

Carti floods his second Instagram account with a photo dump. One picture includes him wearing a Penny Hardaway basketball jersey backward, ultimately starting a trend. Carti catches the attention of many people from around the world, even getting a repost from the NBA team, Orlando Magic. The NBA team reposted Carti’s outfit, even offering a caption for him to view: “drop the album @playboicarti.”

September 12, 2024

Carti becomes active on his main Instagram account for the first time since the first announcement of “Narcissist.” Instead of another false announcement, Carti releases a variety of different “I AM MUSIC” vinyls and CDs, all having different artwork on them. Instead of having fans lingering in Reddit with questions without answers, Carti puts a notable caption underneath the post: “I AM MUSIC / THE ALBUM / LINK IN BIO.”

September 13, 2024

Previously previewed at Summer Smash, “All Red” is released on Carti’s birthday. Fans celebrate all over the world, continuing the trend of wearing NBA jerseys backward. Carti posts artwork for a potential “I AM MUSIC” album cover, paying homage to one of Lil Wayne’s mixtape covers, “Dedication 3.”

September 15, 2024

On Carti’s IG story, a short snippet is released with Carti and a baby listening to an unreleased song. Which is later revealed to be titled: “I SEEEEEE YOU BABY BOI.”

November 20, 2024

Two months passed, with multiple snippets and teases being bounced around. A prominent music video snippet is teased this time, with Ye’s (Kanye West) account being tagged within the post.

December 15, 2024

The Rolling Loud 10 anniversary falls on this date, having Playboi Carti appearing as a headliner; Carti plays multiple classics, even throwing in songs from “Whole Lotta Red”. Along with this, Carti plays recent IG-exclusive songs and unreleased tracks. These unreleased tracks have been formally titled “Crush,” featuring Travis Scott, and “Rather Lie” with The Weeknd.

December 27, 2024

The final Friday of 2024 has fans waiting to hear “MUSIC.” Disappointment flooded around the world as nothing from Carti was released on any form of social media. Fans start to question loyalty and trust within Carti, even mocking him with the phrase “#IAMLIAR.”

March 9, 2025

Carti confirms on his secondary Instagram account that his album is done, leaving the ominous message: “MY ALBUM DONE…”

March 12, 2025

People all around the world await Carti to release his highly anticipated album, “MUSIC.” Fans doubt the artist due to previous lies and disappointments. Although the official Spotify account confirms  Carti has an album to release via X. Spotify tweets: “HAVE FAITH,” tied with a cryptic visualizer.

March 13, 2025

Rumors spread around social media, coming to the conclusion that “MUSIC” will be released at midnight. Unfortunately, the release of “MUSIC” comes later than expected.

March 14, 2025

“MUSIC” is officially released, coming out at a striking 7 a.m. est. “MUSIC” features multiple strong artists that left fans eager for more collections on future releases.

March 25, 2025

A new version of “MUSIC” was released: “MUSIC – SORRY 4 DA WAIT.” After teasing fans, Carti apologized for the overarching four-year-long wait. The new edition of “MUSIC” features multiple finished songs, previously snippeted either via X or on his Instagram account(s).

Carti’s rollout from “Narcissist” to “MUSIC” had fans spiraling, even losing hope within the release at all. Nonetheless, Carti delivers a growing album, having the album debut at number one on the Billboard 200, with an overachieving 302k units within the first week. “MUSIC” has now been marked as the biggest album debut of 2025, leaving Carti no other choice but to continue his legacy as one of the most prominent artists in the music industry.