Die Lit | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | May 11, 2018 | |||
Recorded | 2017–2018 | |||
Studio | Means Street (Atlanta) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 57:39 | |||
Label | ||||
Producer |
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Playboi Carti chronology | ||||
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Die Lit is the debut studio album by American rapper Playboi Carti. It was released through AWGE and Interscope Records on May 11, 2018. The album consists of 19 tracks and features a wide range of guest appearances from artists including Skepta, Travis Scott, Lil Uzi Vert, Pi'erre Bourne, Nicki Minaj, Bryson Tiller, Chief Keef, Gunna, Red Coldhearted, Young Thug, and Young Nudy. Production was executively handled by Pi'erre Bourne, alongside several other record producers, including Don Cannon, IndigoChildRick, Maaly Raw, Art Dealer and Playboi Carti himself. The album serves as a follow-up to his debut self-titled mixtape (2017).
Die Lit received generally positive reviews, with critics praising its appeal and production. Although Die Lit was marketed with no radio play or much press coverage, it was a commercial success and was positively reviewed by several publications. It debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200, with 61,000 album-equivalent units earned in its first week, and has been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album was supported by the promotional single "Love Hurts" (featuring Travis Scott), released on May 2, 2018, exclusively on SoundCloud.
In December 2017, a video showed Playboi Carti behind a mixing board, presumably listening to new material with the caption "Album Mode".[2] In March 2018, Pi'erre Bourne teased that the project had been finalized via Twitter.[3][4] On May 2, 2018, Carti released "Love Hurts", featuring American rapper Travis Scott, as a promotional single for the album, being released exclusively on SoundCloud.[5][6] On May 10, 2018, Carti announced the album's release date via Twitter.[3] On the same day, ASAP Rocky revealed the album's artwork.[7] Upon release, the album was briefly released exclusively via Tidal, before showing up on other streaming services.[8]
Aggregate scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 71/100[9] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [10] |
Exclaim! | 6/10[11] |
Highsnobiety | 4.0/5[12] |
HipHopDX | 3.0/5[13] |
HotNewHipHop | 79%[14] |
Pitchfork | 8.5/10[15] |
Spectrum Culture | [16] |
Sputnikmusic | 3.8/5[17] |
Tiny Mix Tapes | 4/5[18] |
Die Lit was met with generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 71, based on seven reviews.[9]
Evan Rytlewski of Pitchfork stated that Die Lit is "an album that works almost completely from its own lunatic script. It is a perversely infectious sugar high, rap that fundamentally recalibrates the brain's reward centers", praising the production and simplicity.[15] Corrigan B of Tiny Mix Tapes said, "Like its predecessor, it's an album of party records; these are songs that will be played ad infinitum at functions until the hooks, the breaks, and, of course, the bass are burned into the brain of every attendee".[18] Maxwell Cavaseno of HotNewHipHop concluded that Die Lit "feels like the closest to a fully realized album as Carti is ever going to come close to achieving" and that it "should, at the very least, be respected for doing so much while doing so very little".[14] Online publication Sputnikmusic stated: "A lot of the gratification of this record is in the production, which takes the age-old hip-hop trick of taking a fractional melodic idea, barely a song by itself, and spinning out of it a thick sonic weave."[17]
A. Harmony from Exclaim! criticized the album for having a lack of variety, saying "It's fun enough but, save for a few keepers, has the lifespan of a mayfly. Rock to it for the summer and forget most of it by September".[11] Riley Wallace of HipHopDX stated, "Through a more respectable body of work—is unlikely to win over any naysayers".[13] Neil Z. Yeung of AllMusic said, "Like Rae Sremmurd and Migos, these big-bass trap anthems owe much to their club-friendly vibe, but offer little in terms of substance or lasting impact".[10]
Publication | List | Rank | Ref. |
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Complex | 50 Best Albums of 2018 | 45
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Fact | The 50 Best Albums of 2018 | 35
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Highsnobiety | The 25 Best Albums of 2018 | 17
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Noisey | Noisey's 100 Best Albums of 2018 | 23
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Pitchfork | The 50 Best Albums of 2018 | 25
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Spin | 51 Best Albums of 2018 | 18
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Die Lit debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 chart, earning 61,000 album-equivalent units (including 5,000 copies as pure album sales) in its first week.[25] On July 31, 2019, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and streams in excess of 500,000 units in the United States.[26] As of January 2021, the album has earned 1.1 million album-equivalent units and net 1.67 billion on-demand streams for its tracks.[27]
All tracks written by Jordan Carter and Jordan Jenks, and produced by Pi'erre Bourne, except where noted.[28]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Long Time (Intro)" |
| Art Dealer | 3:31 |
2. | "R.I.P." |
| 3:12 | |
3. | "Lean 4 Real" (featuring Skepta) |
| IndigoChildRick | 2:57 |
4. | "Old Money" | 2:15 | ||
5. | "Love Hurts" (featuring Travis Scott) |
|
| 3:00 |
6. | "Shoota" (featuring Lil Uzi Vert) |
| Maaly Raw | 2:33 |
7. | "Right Now" (featuring Pi'erre Bourne) | 3:27 | ||
8. | "Poke It Out" (with Nicki Minaj) |
| 4:29 | |
9. | "Home (KOD)" | 2:42 | ||
10. | "Fell in Luv" (featuring Bryson Tiller) |
| 3:26 | |
11. | "Foreign" | 2:22 | ||
12. | "Pull Up" | 3:36 | ||
13. | "Mileage" (featuring Chief Keef) |
| 2:29 | |
14. | "FlatBed Freestyle" | 3:13 | ||
15. | "No Time" (featuring Gunna) |
|
| 3:39 |
16. | "Middle of the Summer" (featuring Red Coldhearted) |
| 2:17 | |
17. | "Choppa Won't Miss" (featuring Young Thug) |
| 3:37 | |
18. | "R.I.P. Fredo (Notice Me)" (featuring Young Nudy) |
| 2:41 | |
19. | "Top" (featuring Pi'erre Bourne) |
| 2:13 | |
Total length: | 57:39 |
Notes
Sample credits
Weekly charts[edit]
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Year-end charts[edit]
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Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Poland (ZPAV)[45] | Platinum | 20,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI)[46] | Gold | 100,000‡ |
United States (RIAA)[26] | Gold | 500,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |