NEWS
Could it be? Playboi Carti has been keeping fans on the ropes for most of the 2020s. He has flirted with the idea of dropping his legendary I AM MUSIC album over and over again, and then changed his mind. There have been too many snippets to count, and too many rumored release dates to recount. But it all changed on March 12. At least, it seems like things changed. Playboi Carti spent the entire day teasing a big announcement, and he made good on it. The rapper has finally, definitively confirmed a release date for I AM MUSIC.
For a rollout that has been predicated on rumors and speculation, Playboi Carti's announcement was somewhat anticlimactic. No big explanation, just one word. The rapper hopped on Twitter and simply wrote: "FRIDAY." There you have it. Playboi Carti's I AM MUSIC, the album that never was, and some thought never would be, will drop March 14. He followed up the tweet announcement with a video on Instagram. The video showed a man walking the street and shouting out the crucial details over car horns and traffic.
"New Carti album," he shouted at the top of his lungs. "This Friday!" The social media announcements prove that all the clues leading up to the Friday announcement were legit. Playboi Carti teamed up with Spotify to release a video teaser with the album's title. Then, while fans were still unpacking what it could mean, billboards starting popping up. Multiple billboards showed up in Times Square in New York, all with the phrase: "streets ready." These two points would have been enough to fuel the Playboi Carti fanbase for weeks, but it didn't stop there. The rapper then cleared his Instagram account, all but confirming the new era of Carti was finally here.
I AM MUSIC was first teased in 2020. The rapper confirmed he had new music on the way, which he elaborated on during a 2022 interview with XXL. He told the outlet that he planned to rap about all the events that have taken place in his life since the release of Whole Lotta Red. "Love. Sex. Drugs. Changes in my life," Carti explained. "I've been rapping about going to rehab. I want to go to rehab because I think I’m bipolar... want everybody to feel free. I want this album to make everyone feel free." Well, once I AM MUSIC is out, fans will definitely feel a similar sense of freedom.
NEWS
Lorde returned to Governor’s Ball for the first time in nine years and gave fans a unique take on her collaboration with Charli XCX, ‘Girl, So Confusing’.
The New Zealand singer made her long awaited comeback to the New York festival on Friday (June 5), where she headlined the opening night.
Speaking to the crowd about stepping back onto the Governor’s Ball stage after almost a decade away, Lorde admitted it was “the most nervous I’ve been for a show in a while”. She then treated fans to a string of beloved tracks including ‘Royals’, ‘What Was That’, and ‘Hammer’.
One of the standout highlights of the evening arrived near the end of her 21 song performance when she performed ‘Girl, So Confusing’, the track she later reworked alongside Charli XCX.
The song first appeared on Charli XCX’s hugely successful 2024 album ‘Brat’ without Lorde’s involvement, though it was inspired by her. In the lyrics, Charli reflected on the complicated feelings between the two artists and revealed she had once felt “super jealous” of the New Zealander’s achievements during her early career.
The pair later teamed up for a remix after Charli shared the song’s meaning with Lorde ahead of the release of ‘Brat’. Following that conversation, Lorde proposed creating a collaborative version together.
At Governor’s Ball, Lorde performed the remix adaptation during the closing section of her set and added her own personal touch to the track.
Charli was not present for the performance, leaving Lorde to deliver the song on her own. The moment stood out even more because the track had only appeared sparingly throughout Lorde’s recent ‘Ultrasound’ tour. More footage from the show can be seen below.
In addition to revisiting fan favourites and reimagining ‘Girl, So Confusing’, Lorde also surprised the audience with a preview of brand new material.
Early in the set, she introduced a portion of an unreleased song from the side of the stage. Standing behind a synthesizer setup, she sang: “Don’t look for me now that I’m gone/ Don’t look for me, I’m gone.”
Lorde’s festival appearances this summer follow her recent ‘Ultrasound’ tour, which was launched in support of her newest album, ‘Virgin’.
Released last June, the record earned a four star review from NME, which stated: “‘Virgin’ is a vibrant combination of Lorde’s best qualities, and then some.”
“With her newfound candour, the record combines the emotional whirlwind of ‘Melodrama’, the chilling minimalism of ‘Pure Heroine’ and the breezy freedom of ‘Solar Power’,” it added. “This might be called ‘Virgin’, but Lorde proves she’s not afraid to strip herself bare.”
While ‘Girl, So Confusing’ was not a regular feature during the ‘Ultrasound’ tour, Lorde did perform it at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles last October, where she surprised fans by bringing Charli XCX on stage.
Since releasing ‘Virgin’ and launching the accompanying tour, Lorde has contributed more than $200,000 from merchandise sales to Minnesota immigrant funds. She has also been announced as a headliner for All Points East 2026 in London, where PinkPantheress, Zara Larsson and additional artists are also set to appear.
