Re-review: PC2 - Whole Lotta Red

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PC2 - Whole Lotta Red

Release Date: 12/25/2020

Label: AWGE/Interscope

Length: 24 tracks, 1h3m

Background: hello everyone and welcome back to another one of my creatively desolate and boring reviews of an album that you have not only heard, but have seen me review before. as time has passed since the release of this album, i have kept it in rotation for the simple fact that after such a long wait i felt like i needed to get something out of it. at this point, i feel i have; my opinions on many of the tracks have changed, some pretty significantly. whole lotta red for me, like many others, was this mythical project that eluded release for so long and when it finally came out, it was not only not what i was expecting but also not what i hoped for. over the past few months, i have tried to see this album for what it is, rather than what i wanted it to be, and in this re-review are my (final) thoughts on it.

Tracks:

1. Rockstar Made

- in the context of me having relistened to this album several times since my initial review of it, the song now sounds and plays much better to me. i have become a bit more of a fan of F1LTHY's production on this album, and i enjoy the production here which definitely turned me off of this song initially. i appreciate that it's bold, and it grabs your attention the way that an intro track should in my mind. it also introduces the new sound that carti went with on this album, which i've come to like more over time. still don't love the raspy voice but it's not as unappealing as it was when i first heard the album or when i reviewed it.

original rating: 4/10
updated rating: 6.5/10

2. Go2DaMoon (feat. Kanye West)

- this track will never be as fulfilling as i want it to be, and my feelings on it really haven't changed much. i enjoy the contributions from both kanye and carti here, but i also feel as if the structure of the song does it absolutely no justice. i also find myself wanting more from both artists, carti in particular. kanye and carti are without a doubt two of my favorite artists, and although i like the idea of this song a lot, i feel the place kanye is in right now didn't lend well to him fitting in on this track or album. really like the instrumental, but this song came off as kanye (feat. carti) more than the other way around.

original rating: 5/10
updated rating: 6/10

3. Stop Breathing

- still not a huge fan of this track. my main critique on the original release was that i didn't like the production, and that's not totally true anymore. i don't dislike it as much, but it's my least favorite track that F1LTHY produced on the album. i didn't really find the song to be as catchy as i look for carti's songs to be, and that was the main pitfall here. still feel pretty much the same about the vocals as i did when i initially reviewed the song, but the production sounds better to be now than it did before.

initial rating: 5.5/10
updated rating: 6.5/10

4. Beno!

- still catchy, still fun, still better than @meh. 808 mafia did a really good job of creating a fun, catchy vibe here. carti's vocals are pretty good the whole track, and it feels much more cohesive and well put together than it did the first few listens. i like this track significantly better than i initally did.

original rating: 6/10
updated rating: 8/10

5. JumpOutTheHouse

- still think the repetition was overdone here, but the production and vocal inflection sound much better. i still don't really like this song very much and i don't listen to it either, but i do think it sounds better than it did on release. there's nothing so glaringly horrendous about it that i can say it's worthless, but at the same time it's still not very good. i definitely gave it too low of a score the first time around, but the rating only went up so much because i was too hard on it the first time.

original rating: 3/10
updated rating: 5/10

6. M3tamorphasis (feat. Kid Cudi)

- i still think this song is pretty good, but i was into it for the cudi feature more than anything initially. don't find myself coming back to it as much as i thought it would, mainly because this song has no business being as long as it is given what it is. i was definitely a little too high on this song, and it fell out of rotation really fast which was disappointing. if it was a minute, maybe a minute and a half shorter i think it would be better.

original rating: 7/10
updated rating: 6/10

7. Slay3r

- i still like this song. it's one of the more unique songs on the album which i appreciate, but it's not overblown or overdone like M3tamorphasis is. my feelings haven't changed on it much, if at all really.

original rating: 7/10
updated rating: 7/10

8. No Sl33p

- still don't really like this song very much. i think the production sounds better a few months after release than it did when the album dropped, and the chorus plays the same way for me. still not a fan of the verses, but definitely not as bad as the score that i initially gave.

original rating: 4/10
updated rating: 5/10

9. New Tank

- you know what, after listening to this song practically a million times it sounds better than it did. i think the issue i had with this song was that i listened to it sitting down in my room, in front of my laptop, and trying to apply serious logic to why i did or didn't like it. i overthought it. after listening to it while i worked out, i definitely like it more now than i did.

original rating: 5/10
updated rating: 8/10

10. Teen X (feat. Future)

- i'm not even gonna bullshit you, this song is still trash to me. i didn't like it, i don't like it, and i honestly can't see myself genuinely enjoying it in the future. did it deserve a zero the first time? no. i see this song in the same sort of way that i see JOTH, that i was too hard on it and i gave it too low of a rating in regards to what i actually think of it. it's still not good, but it's also not a zero.

original rating: 0/10
updated rating: 5/10

11. Meh

- i think i was a far too high on this song originally. idk what the lead on this song is but it kinda sounds like a xylophone and it got stale really fast. carti definitely has a point with what he says on the chorus, but outside of that i really don't enjoy it much anymore for any reason whatsoever.

original rating: 7/10
updated rating: 5.5/10

12. Vamp Anthem

- the sample flip here is still cool, and i don't think i gave this song quite enough credit the first time around. i'm pretty sure i deducted a half point just for the fact that he calls himself a vampire on this song, and i've come to get over the little intro that shows you where the organs are sampled from. honestly this ended up being a pretty decent song in the end.

original rating: 6.5/10
updated rating: 7.5/10


13. New N3on

- definitely jumped the gun on this one. before i relistened to the album prior to the first review i believe i had this song listed as a 10. either way, i definitely still listen to this song a decent amount just because it was one of the first carti leaks that i ever heard and i had (and still do have) quite a bit of nostalgia for it. it's still a very good song, but i had blinders on when i reviewed this song no doubt.

original rating: 9/10
updated rating: 7.5/10

14. Control

- i still think the akademiks intro on this song sucks and i don't think i'm alone in that. the production on this song still sounds really good and i listen to it whenever it comes on shuffle. it has a good amount of replay value if you cut the intro off, but i think it takes away from the value of the song a good amount because it's pretty long and i just don't want to listen to it all the time.

original rating: 8/10
updated rating: 7/10

15. Punk Monk

- i still really don't like this song at all. it sounds like a slightly more pop-ish instrumental from The Fame by Lady Gaga but instead of Lady Gaga, you have carti talking about how he's the king of the vampires and it just doesn't fit at all. cringe the first time, cringe the first review, and cringe now. generally i have gotten over the vampire shit when he just references it but this is just too much for one track imo.

original rating: 4.5/10
updated rating: 4.5/10

16. On That Time

- this was the most forgettable song on the album for me. i completely forgot what it sounded like until i relistened to make this re-review. not horrible but it's just another song that comes off as filler that i'll never listen to again.

original rating: 6.5/10
updated rating: 5.5/10

17. King Vamp

- really don't like this as much as i did initially. as much as i've gotten past the vampire thing, it's really just not something i found to be musically appealing over time. it has no replay value to me and i just feel like there's something more that could've been done with this song to make it better. it clearly has potential, like much of the rest of the album, but at the same time it falls short sonically and it leaves me wishing it didn't feel so rushed.

original rating: 7.5/10
updated rating: 5/10

18. Place

- definitely gave this song too high of a rating the first time around just because i was waiting on it for so long. the pause on the intro is still there a few months after release and that kinda makes the song feel lazy to me, despite the fact that it has become a meme in and of itself. this song is barely 2 minutes long, which sucks because it sounds good so i wish it was longer.

original rating: 9/10
updated rating: 7.5/10

19. Sky

- this is probably the only song i've had no change in opinion on out of all 24 tracks. went hard the first time i heard it, went hard at the time of the first review, and still goes hard now. i said in my original review that this song would be in rotation for me for quite a while and it still is, and it looks like it's going to be for the forseeable future.

original rating: 9.5/10
updated rating: 9.5/10

20. Over

- i originally thought this song was interesting because of the comparisons to long time from die lit. it's still a decent listen but the nostalgia it gave me for long time has faded and i really don't listen to the song much at all at this point.

original rating: 7/10
updated rating: 6.5/10

21. ILoveUIHateU

- this song kinda fits into the same place that place does, what's there is good but it's definitely too short for my liking and that's made me listen to it less and less over time.

original rating: 9/10
updated rating: 8/10

22. Die4Guy

- i don't listen to this song very much at this point, but it's one of the better songs on the album. i think i was searching really hard for some saving grace towards the end of this album and that's part of why i overrated this song. i wanted to love this album so bad that i started justifying things that i didn't like on these tracks towards the end. listenable? yes. does it have replay value? not much.

original rating: 8.5/10
updated rating: 6.5/10

23. Not PLaying

- i really enjoy the instrumental to this song and i find the vocal cadence to be catchy and the inflection to be easy to listen to. the song as a whole does sound kinda gimmicky at times and it lost a bit of its novelty, but other than that i still do listen to it somewhat regularly.

original rating: 8/10
updated rating: 7.5/10

24. F33l Lik3 Dyin

- vocals on this track sound pretty bad to me now, they've definitely come to sound worse since release. the sample is cool and the instrumental is still great but the song has fallen out of rotation almost entirely. listenable but not all that i cracked it up to be initially.

original rating: 8/10
updated rating: 6.5/10

afterthoughts:
i definitely jumped the gun in making big claims about this album. it hadn't been out long enough for me to fully digest it, and on top of this i don't think that i listened to it the right way. i do most of my reviews in my room, at my desk with my headphones on and try to really digest the music. that was my biggest mistake with this album. some songs got better over the couple of months, some songs got worse, and a few stayed the same. my overall feelings about this album haven't changed too much; i still think it was lacking in the execution department quite a bit. i still see a sonic divide between the first and second half of the album, but my preference for the second half has tailed off in that same breath. i have come to appreciate this album more by listening to it the way it was meant to be listened to instead of analyzing every line and aspect of the beat with a microscope. of course playboi carti's music isn't going to hold up to criticism when you're looking at lyrics and details because that was never the point to begin with. this album is more about the vibe and the feeling that the songs bring; it's not meant to connect with you on a deeper level outside of the songs fitting feelings that you may have. it's not meant to touch your heart or to be relatable, it's meant to create moods and feelings that are tailored towards performance and a concert setting. it is far better fit for that purpose than to be this extensively complex work of art that's packed with technicality and social commentary. whole lotta red was never mean to be looked at under a microscope, it was meant to be played and enjoyed on a larger scale. until that is a reality, it will be impossible to truly get a gauge of just how good (or bad) this album really is. at this point, i still don't feel that i've had a proper opportunity to form an opinion on the album in the context in which it was created to be played, and i won't until carti tours for it and i get to experience it in the way that he meant for it to be enjoyed. i hate to make this anticlimactic, but generally i don't enjoy the album much more than i did to begin with; the difference is that i have come to enjoy some songs that i didn't like initially more by listening to them in a different setting and come to enjoy others that i did initially enjoy less because the novelty and hype has worn off. like i said, i don't think anyone can truly call this album one way or the other until it has been experienced in a concert setting, but given that i've now had more than a few weeks to digest it i can say that i have taken it in and that i have a more thorough experience with it. my biggest general complaints about the album at this point are that most of the songs come off as filler, and that it feels rushed in the context of when it was released in reference to when the album was announced. the initial score that i gave was a 6, and i haven't come to see this album as a masterpiece since. i have, however, come to enjoy it more as i've had the opportunity to listen to it in different places and at different times. the general experience i've had with that has helped me to appreciate the album a bit more, and for that i am going to give the album an updated (and final) rating of 7/10.
 
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10. Teen X (feat. Future)
- 40 seconds of baby voice to open up the song. horrible vocal inflections, production is not catchy. i don't like future to begin with, but when he tries to copy carti and the baby voice on a song where he already doesn't belong it does not end well. some of the songs on this album may be filler or subpar, but this is the one and only unlistenable song that has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. if they took this off the album post-release it would make the album better. this is also more evidence that future is washed. literal dogpiss, wish i could unlisten to it.
0/10
Drink cyanide
 
Now that we're over a month removed from the release of this album, I think it's safe to give it a proper review. Admittedly, when the album first dropped my view of it was a bit clouded by the hype surrounding it. I feel this review is fair and comprehensive, encapsulating all of the good, the bad, and the mid that this album has to offer.

PC2 - Whole Lotta Red

Release Date: 12/25/2020
Label: AWGE/Interscope
Length: 24 tracks, 1h3m

Background: This album needs no introduction. Its name has become a true cultural phenomenon, and the official release of this album felt like a historic event in the music industry. The story surrounding the delay of this LP is a cloudy one, and one that I'm sure we're all familiar with at this point. What's more important is the album itself, which screams Carti from front to back. From the reference to Slash Magazine made on the cover, to the unmistakable and unique punk sound that Carti has developed since his debut LP in May of 2018 with Die Lit, there's no question this album is his through and through. After years of anticipation and a whole lotta waiting, we finally have it: Whole Lotta Red.

Tracks:

1. Rockstar Made
- really poor way to start off the album imo. F1LTHY's production here is kinda bland overall and the vocal inflections that carti went with were really strange to the point where they didn't add much to the track. the first time i listened to this album i was genuinely concerned both for the quality of the rest of the album and carti's mental health when i heard this as the opening track. terrible opener in comparison to long time and location. overall disappointing cut.
4/10

2. Go2DaMoon (feat. Kanye West)
- this was one of the biggest letdowns on the album for me. kanye's bars were mid at best in comparison to even his newer work. had they kept the original verse from 2018 with the line about talking kim into a threeway and that raw, profane energy, i feel like the song would've gone over better. wish they'd made this into a real song instead of a verse and a weird outro posing as one, the beat had some real potential and carti x ye is something i've been waiting to hear forever. my hopes were so high for this and it pisses me off that it isn't better.
5/10

3. Stop Breathing
- i have a feeling that this song will be used more for memes than anything else. some of the bars in here aren't horrible, and this was the first time that i thought that carti's vocals did a track justice. i really didn't like anything F1LTHY did on this album and this song is not an exception, the bass is fucking obnoxious and it makes the song harder to listen to than it already is. the punk aesthetic really shined through on the latter half of this track, and i think the most important lyric here was the mf doom namedrop. unfortunately it ended up being very relevant, but the song was still bland. best song so far but definitely not good.
5.5/10

4. Beno!
- this song sounds like @meh's more talented, cooler older sibling. luckily you can actually understand carti on this track whereas you couldn't on @meh, and i think 808 mafia did a better job of creating the vibe that jetson was going for on the single. it sounds good, it's catchy; that's as much as i can really ask for to be satisfied with a carti song.
6/10

5. JumpOutTheHouse
- just when i thought things were on a bit of an upswing, we got whatever this song is. people shit on thug for having a 15 second adlib on barter 3, but carti repeated the same 4 words for the first 30 seconds of this song and i think that's worse by quite a bit. the production was alright but the lyrics themselves as well as the inflections used on them were bad. probably the second worst song on the album as a whole.
3/10

6. M3tamorphasis (feat. Kid Cudi)
- the production on this song is actually really good and how that cudi hum fit with it was the first thing on the album that really impressed me sonically. carti's energy and vocals were good, and cudi's bars and harmonies went over well too. this is the first good song on the album, although it did not need to be five minutes long which is my biggest complaint.
7/10

7. Slay3r
- the production on this song is standout and as meaningless as the lyrics generally are on carti songs, they were a highlight here. the energy that this song has was exactly what i was looking for in this album because it's distinctly carti but it's not similar to die lit or st.
7/10

8. No Sl33p
- production is good but that's about it for me. too repetitive even for carti, kinda reminded me of JOTH but with better production. if it wasn't for this review i never would've listened to this song again, but here we are.
4/10

9. New Tank
- more F1LTHY production that i could've gone without (but his best on the album). this was one of two main snippets that carti used to preview the album on ig live when the rollout started and i definitely got snippet syndrome for it. it sounded really good in the small clips but the whole song is relatively boring and it's one of those weird songs that sounds better in dogshit quality than it does in cdq like green and purple does. not horrible, but i'd never willingly listen to it.
5/10

10. Teen X (feat. Future)
- 40 seconds of baby voice to open up the song. horrible vocal inflections, production is not catchy. i don't like future to begin with, but when he tries to copy carti and the baby voice on a song where he already doesn't belong it does not end well. some of the songs on this album may be filler or subpar, but this is the one and only unlistenable song that has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. if they took this off the album post-release it would make the album better. this is also more evidence that future is washed. literal dogpiss, wish i could unlisten to it.
0/10

11. Meh
- man thank god this song is decent because if it was anything like teen x i would've shut the album off and scrapped the review. production is solid, the lyrics may not be great but the point of the song is valid, and overall this is a song that i both enjoyed and can see myself coming back to because it's fun and relatively unique.
7/10

12. Vamp Anthem
- i personally think the whole vampire thing is really cringe, so much so that i changed the title of this song to "Anthem" on my personal digital copy. i have to admit that i was really confused when i heard the intro to this song for the first time, but overall as much as i think this is gimmicky and weird they did a good job of flipping this sample and making the song into something polished. if i didn't know the sample i'd be more inclined to listen to it more just because i feel like that was trying too hard for the whole vampire thing, but the track itself isn't bad. i just feel like the sample would've been better served as a hidden detail. a little over the top but everything else on the song was at least decent.
6.5/10

13. New N3on
- i'm still dumbfounded that this shit made the album. this is one of two songs that made it all the way from wlr v1 onto the final and it's still one of my favorite songs. maaly raw's production on this song is actually fucking sick, carti did his thing, and there's not much else left to say. this is literally the ideal carti song. mind you, the rating of a song is within the context of the album it is on and the artist it was created by.
9/10

14. Control
- if it wasn't for that horrible spoken akademiks intro then this would be one of the best songs on the album. production goes hard, and this is a really good example of carti pushing his sound into different realms and even genres because this isn't a trap song. i really like the energy and how open the lyrics are, and it was pretty refreshing to see because the album was starting to get monotonous at this point and this was like a breath of fresh air.
8/10

15. Punk Monk
- this song was really disappointing because it just felt like more of the same, but it wasn't as bad as some other songs that won't be named but might be the intro and the tenth songs. it just came off like filler to me, which was my biggest fear when i got news that the album was going to be really long. it is what it is.
4.5/10

16. On That Time
- at least ten people are going to get killed moshing to this song. it just goes hard for no reason. perfect punk aesthetic in a trap song, just a little too repetitive thematically for me but what else can you expect from carti?
6.5/10

17. King Vamp
- again with the cringe vampire shit. if this song didn't have that element to it in the lyrics or title it would be just as good as control. the inclusion was minimal so the decuction is minimal; the production and flow of the song are really good and this is another example of carti successfully bending genres on this album.
7.5/10

18. Place
- the only thing that i didn't like about this song was the 5 second pause in the beginning, and i'm more confused than mad. this is the other song that made it from wlr v1 and although it's the closest to his old sound, it's still good and distinct from his other projects. if anything, it sounds like an updated take on a st song. everything i love carti for is on this song. if the pause is intentional then it needs to be taken out and if not then it should be fixed anyway. either way, standout
song.
9/10

19. Sky
- this song bangs, no two ways about it. it was a weird mix of production, style, and deeper meaning that connected with me for some odd reason. definitely one of the best songs on the album, this song will be in rotation for quite a while.
9.5/10

20. Over
- you know that meme from that disney movie where the food critic eats some shit and it brings him back to his childhood? same thing happened to me when i heard this song for the first time but with long time from die lit. it sounds like an updated version of that song. stylistically relevant while still tastefully derivitave. i normally don't like part 2s or reworks of songs but this is just reminiscent enough to be cool while not crossing that line.
7/10

21. ILoveUIHateU
- the beat on this song is disgusting, the lyrics are deeper than you'd expect when you listen to them, and overall this song is fucking heat. definitely my favorite song on the album, my only complaint is that it's not longer but what is there
is great.
9/10

22. Die4Guy
- this is a very strange fusion of punk music, early 2000s sounding synth pop, and rap and i'm not exacty sure why but i like it a lot. it's really catchy, and i think it's the best example on the album of that weird new voice going over well. not what i was expecting but definitely a very good song nonetheless.
8.5/10

23. Not PLaying
- sonically this song is very out of place and the only reason i don't really mind it is because it was kinda teased in the previous song. if you played me this beat i'd tell you it was from some forgotten 2007 radio hit, but no it's the second to last song on a progressive trap abum. i personally like the song a lot, but it seems like quite the reach from the style that this album has overall. this gets a confused thumbs up from me.
8/10

24. F33l Lik3 Dyin
- never did i think i'd hear carti over a chopped and chipped soul sample, but i'm not complaining. the sample for this song comes from the song iMi from u,u by Bon Iver, which was originally intended for Kanye's 2017/2018 LP Love Everyone. if this would've been kanye's only direct contribution as executive producer i would've been happy. it wraps up the album in a very contrasting yet appropriate way given all the shit that carti had to go through to finally get this shit out, a la bound 2. the only thing i didn't love about this song was the autotuned crooning carti did on the words "girls", "world", and "learned" towards the beginning of the song. good closer.
8/10


afterthoughts: in one word, this album is wild.
So according to your grades, 6.14533333333333 is overall rating for this album.
 
5. JumpOutTheHouse
- just when i thought things were on a bit of an upswing, we got whatever this song is. people shit on thug for having a 15 second adlib on barter 3, but carti repeated the same 4 words for the first 30 seconds of this song and i think that's worse by quite a bit. the production was alright but the lyrics themselves as well as the inflections used on them were bad. probably the second worst song on the album as a whole.
3/10


Except for the slower songs this album was made to wild out, turn up, break shit, pop shit. I know for a fact most mfks that didn't like it* listened to this shit alone in their room

People overthink it, I see mfks talking bout lyrics too like bruh if you listen to carti for lyrics you off and lost

???
 
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So according to your grades, 6.14533333333333 is overall rating for this album.
i actually planned on writing more for the afterthoughts and giving a rating. i didn't realize that i marked it as finished, but i gave it a 6. i partially rewrote some of the review bc i first wrote this up the night that the album dropped and i gave it an 8 but the hype died down and i feel like that's a more solid representation of what i think. and it's just that, what i think so obviously nobody is gonna outwardly agree with me but yeah you're pretty much spot on.
 
Your opinions are mostly correct in my opinion, but Teen X though :/

I have to give credit to you though. It's hard to make an opinionated article on something so controversial, so props to you for that.

Word of advice from one writer to another, I recommend staying away from opinionated articles in the future (especially on this site, everyone loves invoking their opinions to an unhealthy degree on here), or be prepared for some sort of backlash.
 
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