# Playboi Carti (mixtape)
*Playboi Carti* is the debut commercial mixtape by the American rapper [Playboi Carti](https://www.edgepedia.org/playboi-carti) (born Jordan Terrell Carter in Atlanta in 1996), released on April 14, 2017 through AWGE Records and [Interscope Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/interscope-records). The 15-track, roughly 47-minute project features guest appearances from A$AP Rocky, Lil Uzi Vert (on two songs), and Leven Kali, and it introduced the producer [Pi'erre Bourne](https://www.edgepedia.org/pierre-bourne)'s melodic, video-game-flavored beat style to a mass audience through the breakout hit "Magnolia".[1](https://www.thefader.com/2017/04/13/playboi-carti-debut-mixtape) • [2](https://www.thefader.com/2017/06/30/pierre-bourne-beat-construction-interview-magnolia) • [3](https://music.apple.com/us/album/playboi-carti/1440887343)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | April 14, 2017, AWGE/Interscope; 15 tracks, about 47 minutes[1](https://www.thefader.com/2017/04/13/playboi-carti-debut-mixtape) • [4](https://www.allmusic.com/album/release/playboi-carti-mr0004706493) |
| Chart debut | No. 12 on the Billboard 200, Carti's first chart entry, with 28,000 album-equivalent units in its first week[5](https://playboi-carti.fandom.com/wiki/Playboi_Carti_%28mixtape%29) |
| Lead single | "Magnolia," produced by Pi'erre Bourne, peaked at No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was later certified Platinum by the RIAA[6](https://codamusic.me/articles/playboi-carti-magnolia-pierre-bourne) • [7](https://www.riaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/first-time_pdf_122017a.pdf?source=post_page---------------------------) |
| Main producer | Pi'erre Bourne produced six of the 15 tracks, including "Magnolia" and "wokeuplikethis*"[2](https://www.thefader.com/2017/06/30/pierre-bourne-beat-construction-interview-magnolia) |
| Other producers | Harry Fraud, Southside, Hit-Boy, Roark Bailey, and others[8](https://www.xxlmag.com/listen-playboi-carti-debut-mixtape/) |
| Critical scores | Metascore 69 on Metacritic; Pitchfork 7.3, with the mixtape ranked No. 7 on the site's Best Rap Albums of 2017 list[9](https://www.metacritic.com/music/playboi-carti-mixtape/playboi-carti) • [10](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/23196-playboi-carti/) • [11](https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/the-20-best-rap-albums-of-2017/?page=1) |
## Background
Carti had built his reputation without a full-length release. His 2015 [SoundCloud](https://www.edgepedia.org/soundcloud) single "Broke Boi" was his best-known song, and after moving from Atlanta's Awful Records circle to [A$AP Mob](https://www.edgepedia.org/asap-mob) and signing with Interscope, he had spent roughly two years releasing only loose tracks and guest verses while anticipation for a project grew into what Pitchfork's Briana Younger called near-mythological anticipation.[12](https://www.complex.com/music/a/ross-scarano/playboi-carti-interview) • [10](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/23196-playboi-carti/) The mixtape finally arrived on the night of April 13–14, 2017, premiered through the app AmpMe after a countdown clock appeared on Carti's website, and it shared its release date with [Kendrick Lamar](https://www.edgepedia.org/kendrick-lamar)'s album *DAMN.*[1](https://www.thefader.com/2017/04/13/playboi-carti-debut-mixtape) • [13](https://thekonews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/May-2017-KO-News.pdf)
The full tracklist runs: "Location," "Magnolia," "Lookin" (feat. [Lil Uzi Vert](https://www.edgepedia.org/lil-uzi-vert)), "wokeuplikethis*" (feat. Lil Uzi Vert), "Let It Go," "Half & Half," "New Choppa" (feat. A$AP Rocky), "Other Shit," "NO. 9," "dothatshit!", "Lame Niggaz," "Yah Mean," "Flex" (feat. Leven Kali), "Kelly K," and "Had 2".[8](https://www.xxlmag.com/listen-playboi-carti-debut-mixtape/)
## Production
**Pi'erre Bourne's arrival.** The South Carolina-born producer Jordan Jenks, known as Pi'erre Bourne, had made his name producing most of [Young Nudy](https://www.edgepedia.org/young-nudy)'s 2016 mixtape *Slimeball* before a beat pack passed through [Lil Yachty](https://www.edgepedia.org/lil-yachty)'s collaborator K$upreme reached Carti in early 2017. Bourne ended up producing six of the tape's 15 tracks, including "Magnolia" and "wokeuplikethis*", and his tag, "Yo Pi'erre, you wanna come out here?" sampled from *The Jamie Foxx Show*, opens "Magnolia".[2](https://www.thefader.com/2017/06/30/pierre-bourne-beat-construction-interview-magnolia) • [14](https://www.thefader.com/2018/12/04/pierre-bourne-the-life-of-pierre-magnolia-interview) • [6](https://codamusic.me/articles/playboi-carti-magnolia-pierre-bourne) The rest of the tape draws on a wider bench: Harry Fraud produced the sluggish opener "Location," Southside handled "Half & Half" and "Kelly K," and Hit-Boy produced "Other Shit".[8](https://www.xxlmag.com/listen-playboi-carti-debut-mixtape/)
The sound is hazy and atmospheric, built on synths and hard-hitting 808 drums, and it holds a consistent mood across the tape's runtime.[13](https://thekonews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/May-2017-KO-News.pdf) Carti's vocal approach is deliberately minimal: short, repetitive bars, heavy use of ad-libs such as his hiccuped "WHAT," and hooks built from chanted phrases rather than dense lyrics. Pitchfork described the tape as an exercise in efficiency in which ad-libs become parts of hooks and sometimes simply are the lyrics.[10](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/23196-playboi-carti/)
## Singles and commercial performance
Two songs carried the tape onto the charts. "wokeuplikethis*" featuring Lil Uzi Vert had been released before the mixtape, and "Magnolia," with its "In New York I milly rock, hide it in my sock" hook, became Carti's mainstream breakthrough; Pitchfork named it Best New Track within five days of release.[8](https://www.xxlmag.com/listen-playboi-carti-debut-mixtape/) • [6](https://codamusic.me/articles/playboi-carti-magnolia-pierre-bourne) In mid-May 2017, Forbes reported that "Magnolia" had climbed to No. 63 on the Billboard Hot 100 from a debut at No. 91, while "Woke Up Like This" reached No. 80; the song later peaked at No. 29 on the Hot 100 and was certified Platinum by the RIAA.[15](https://www.forbes.com/sites/garysuarez/2017/05/17/playboi-carti-magnolia/) • [6](https://codamusic.me/articles/playboi-carti-magnolia-pierre-bourne) • [7](https://www.riaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/first-time_pdf_122017a.pdf?source=post_page---------------------------)
The mixtape debuted at No. 12 on the Billboard 200 with 28,000 album-equivalent units in its first week, Carti's first entry on the chart.[5](https://playboi-carti.fandom.com/wiki/Playboi_Carti_%28mixtape%29)
## Critical reception
Reviews were generally favorable. Metacritic assigned a Metascore of 69 based on five critic reviews, with three positive and two mixed.[9](https://www.metacritic.com/music/playboi-carti-mixtape/playboi-carti) Pitchfork scored it 7.3, calling it a cloudy, economical record whose appeal rests on Carti's magnetic confidence, and later placed it at No. 7 on its 20 Best Rap Albums of 2017 list, crediting the partnership with Bourne as the tape's core strength.[10](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/23196-playboi-carti/) • [11](https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/the-20-best-rap-albums-of-2017/?page=1) XXL gave it 80, reading the consistency of Carti's sound as a strength, while PopMatters at 60 compared the record to a worker breezing through on personality alone.[9](https://www.metacritic.com/music/playboi-carti-mixtape/playboi-carti) The New York Times, reviewing it at 70, described the release as erratic, sometimes transfixingly so.[9](https://www.metacritic.com/music/playboi-carti-mixtape/playboi-carti)
## Legacy
The mixtape established the Carti-Bourne formula of bouncy 808 patterns and bright, video-game-inspired melodies that became widely imitated in internet rap, and "Magnolia" in particular is frequently cited as one of the defining trap songs of its era.[14](https://www.thefader.com/2018/12/04/pierre-bourne-the-life-of-pierre-magnolia-interview) • [16](https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/the-100-best-songs-of-2017/?page=8) Pitchfork's review of the 2018 follow-up *Die Lit* noted that the self-titled project was technically a mixtape even though *Die Lit* was marketed as Carti's official debut album.[17](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/playboi-carti-die-lit/) Later retrospectives have placed the tape at the start of Carti's evolution from the cloudy, minimal sound heard here toward the aggressive rage style of *Whole Lotta Red* (2020), with Pitchfork describing the 2017 debut as positively tranquilized by comparison.[18](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/playboi-carti-whole-lotta-red/)
## References
1. [Listen To Playboi Carti's Self-Titled Debut Mixtape, The FADER](https://www.thefader.com/2017/04/13/playboi-carti-debut-mixtape)
2. [Meet Pi'erre Bourne, The "Magnolia" Producer Who Always Trusts His Gut, The FADER](https://www.thefader.com/2017/06/30/pierre-bourne-beat-construction-interview-magnolia)
3. [Playboi Carti - Album by Playboi Carti, Apple Music](https://music.apple.com/us/album/playboi-carti/1440887343)
4. [Playboi Carti Release Info, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/release/playboi-carti-mr0004706493)
5. [Playboi Carti (mixtape), Playboi Carti Wiki](https://playboi-carti.fandom.com/wiki/Playboi_Carti_%28mixtape%29)
6. ["Magnolia" Encoded the Aesthetic Grammar of Rage Rap, Coda Music](https://codamusic.me/articles/playboi-carti-magnolia-pierre-bourne)
7. [RIAA certifications, December 2017](https://www.riaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/first-time_pdf_122017a.pdf?source=post_page---------------------------)
8. [Listen to Playboi Carti's Self-Titled Debut Mixtape, XXL](https://www.xxlmag.com/listen-playboi-carti-debut-mixtape/)
9. [Playboi Carti [Mixtape] Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/music/playboi-carti-mixtape/playboi-carti)
10. [Playboi Carti: Playboi Carti Album Review, Pitchfork](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/23196-playboi-carti/)
11. [The 20 Best Rap Albums of 2017, Pitchfork](https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/the-20-best-rap-albums-of-2017/?page=1)
12. [Almost Famous: Playboi Carti Talks His Come Up, Complex](https://www.complex.com/music/a/ross-scarano/playboi-carti-interview)
13. [Music Review: Playboi Carti delivers with eponymous debut, KO News](https://thekonews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/May-2017-KO-News.pdf)
14. [The life of Pi'erre Bourne, The FADER](https://www.thefader.com/2018/12/04/pierre-bourne-the-life-of-pierre-magnolia-interview)
15. [Playboi Carti Flexes Out Of The Underground And Onto The Billboard Charts, Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/sites/garysuarez/2017/05/17/playboi-carti-magnolia/)
16. [The 100 Best Songs of 2017, Pitchfork](https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/the-100-best-songs-of-2017/?page=8)
17. [Playboi Carti: Die Lit Album Review, Pitchfork](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/playboi-carti-die-lit/)
18. [Playboi Carti: Whole Lotta Red Album Review, Pitchfork](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/playboi-carti-whole-lotta-red/)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Albums and recorded releases › EPs, mixtapes, and short-form releases › Hip-hop mixtapes*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license