Playboi Carti and Kanye West were once a popular duo, but after Ye was left off MUSIC, it seems their relationship is irreparable.
On March 14, Playboi Carti released his long-awaited third album, MUSIC. The album featured a long line of collaborators, including Lil Uzi Vert and three different appearances from Kendrick Lamar. However, one big name was conspicuously absent from the tracklist: Kanye West. West co-produced the song “BACKD00R,” a track that featured Lamar and Jhene Aiko. He did not rap on the album, which he attributed to Carti's fear of including him after his latest string of hateful activity on X.
Following a back-and-forth that included Iggy Azalea (the mother of Carti’s son) asking West not to name-drop her and Carti’s young son and Carti telling Ye to “STFU” in an X post that’s since garnered over 750,000 likes, it seems that a once-productive relationship is no more. But, how did we get here? How did their creative partnership, which resulted in several hit singles and platinum records, turn so sour, so quickly? Let’s take a look at their history and what led to such an explosive fallout.
Their First Encounter
After Playboi Carti relocated to New York City in 2016, he signed with AWGE and joined A$AP Mob. Joining A$AP Mob and working with de facto collective leader A$AP Rocky proved to be his way into more mainstream music circles, as he was still an aspiring artist with a cult following before that meeting. The following year, Kanye West, who Carti called a “fashion inspiration” in a Vogue Magazine interview shortly after releasing his self-titled debut mixtape, cast him as a model for his popular Yeezy clothing brand, marking the first time the two ever crossed paths.
The Whole Lotta Red Era
On December 25, 2020, Playboi Carti released Whole Lotta Red, his second album. Carti experienced viral success ahead of the album’s release, with the unreleased track “Pissy Pamper” dominating TikTok in 2019 and 2020. He also appeared on the song “Pain 1993,” a collaboration with Drake. Carti had expectations to deliver on, and one of the men who helped him meet those expectations was Kanye West.
West, who was deep into his short-lived rebrand as a Christian rapper, was the executive producer of Whole Lotta Red. In a conversation with Kid Cudi forInterview Magazine, Carti called West “the OG.” He showed his appreciation for West and how he operated. “Being able to talk to somebody who understands what I’m saying, I got that from his whole camp. I felt that energy from everybody he deals with.” Carti also called him the “ultimate big bro.”
Whole Lotta Red divided fans initially, with the new aesthetic being much different from his self-titled mixtape and Die Lit. Despite that, fans quickly latched onto “Go2DaMoon,” the track with West. Despite his growing list of controversies, as well as the potential hypocrisy of being a self-professed “Christian rapper” and having such a large role in the creation of a Playboi Carti album, West was among the most celebrated hip-hop artists of the 21st century. His co-signs mattered. Whole Lotta Red is still a divisive release, but nearly five years later, it’s a foundational recording in the rage subgenre of trap music.
The Donda & Vultures Collaborations
In 2021, Kanye West released Donda, his tenth album. The song “Off The Grid,” featuring contributions from Playboi Carti and Fivio Foreign, immediately became a fan favorite. Fans and critics called it one of the best hip-hop songs of 2021. The track also experienced success numbers-wise, peaking at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and going platinum.
To open 2024, West and Carti reunited for several more songs, which appeared on West and Ty Dolla $ign’s Vultures collaborative albums. Of the several songs they made, “CARNIVAL,” from Vultures 1, was the topic of most discussions. West received most of the criticism for calling himself “Ye Kelly” and making references to Bill Cosby, Diddy, and Jesus. Carti received praise for his verse and energy on the track, one of the highlights on an album met with an otherwise lukewarm response. “CARNIVAL” became far and away the biggest hit of the Ye-Carti partnership. It was West’s fifth #1 single on the Hot 100 and Carti’s first. It’s also been certified double platinum. Even as West’s already precarious public image continued to deteriorate, he and Carti continued to find success musically.
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Red Hot Chili Peppers clarify they were not creatively involved in upcoming doc
Earlier on Friday, Jan. 30, news reports announced an upcoming Netflix documentary exploring the early years and success of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the impact of the band’s original guitarist Hillel Slovak, who died in 1988 of an accidental heroin overdose.
Directed by Ben Feldman, Variety reported that The Rise of the Red Hot Chili Peppers includes input from members Anthony Kiedis and Flea and is set to premiere on March 20. “At its heart, this is a deeply relatable story — about the friendships that shape our identities and the lasting power of the bonds forged in adolescence,” Feldman said in a statement at the time. “What’s less relatable, of course, is that here those friends went on to create one of the greatest rock bands in history. I’m profoundly grateful to the band and to Hillel’s family for their trust and generosity, and to Netflix for helping bring this story to the world stage.”
However, following the announcement, the band later released their own statement distancing themselves from the project. “About a year ago, we were asked to be interviewed for a documentary about Hillel Slovak. He was a founding member of the group, a great guitarist, and friend. We agreed to be interviewed out of love and respect for Hillel and his memory,” wrote the band in a post shared on social media. “However, this documentary is now being advertised as a Red Hot Chili Peppers documentary, which it is not,” they clarified. “We had nothing to do with it creatively. We have yet to make a Red Hot Chili Peppers documentary. The central subject of this current Netflix special is Hillel Slovak and we hope it sparks interest in his work.”
The group originally encompassed Slovak, Kiedis, Flea, and drummer Jack Irons. It has since gone through several iterations following Slovak’s tragic death, with Irons leaving the group soon after.
