Playboi Carti Talks With Kid Cudi About Kanye's Work on 'Whole Lotta Red' Album: 'He Opened My Eyes'

Carti spoke with his "M3tamorphosis" collaborator Kid Cudi about his excitement for the 'WLR' live experience, working with 'Ye, his love of punk, and more.

carti
Getty

Image via Getty/Prince Williams/Wireimage

carti

Who better than “M3tamorphosis” guest star Kid Cudi could chop it up in a magazine format with the King Vamp himself, Playboi Carti?

On Tuesday, the two linked up for an Interview Magazinefeature boasting photography by Shamshawan Scott. In it, the Whole Lotta Red world-crafter made good use of the Andy Warhol and John Wilcock-founded publication’s wide-ranging discussion format.

Most notable, perhaps, are the thoughts Carti shared when asked by Cudi to detail what executive producer Kanye West brought to the table during the WLR experience.

“Kanye is the OG,” Carti told Cudi. “He opened my eyes to some shit. When I got around him, I realized why I love him so much. You get what I’m saying? When I get around you, I realize why I love you so much. I even appreciate ‘Ye for introducing me and you. 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. I didn’t feel like a loner. The world I’m trying to build, he already got it going on. ‘Ye is on this king vamp shit. Cudi is on this king vamp shit. Y’all already on that.”

Carti also spoke on his goals for WLR, which he defined as only consisting of two things: picking the right songs and ensuring those songs would translate well to a live show. As for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic halting any possibly of giving fans the true WLR experience any time soon, Carti expressed frustration while also tossing in some optimism centered around the possibilities brought on by fans continuing to grow into the record in the meantime.

“It drives me crazy, honestly, but I’m giving them time to marinate,” Carti said. “By the time I start performing this motherfucker, they’re going to know every word. If you don’t understand now, you will later.”

Elsewhere, Carti shouted out Lil Wayne for influencing his vocal style, defined himself as a “full rock star” who makes music “for people who feel themselves,” the inspiration vampire movies have on his aesthetic, and his love for 1970s punk. He also addressed his decision to only include three features on WLR, explaining that he aimed to only work with “the people I’m trying to impress.”

Read the full thing here.

Whole Lotta Red opened at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart back in December. And while a proper WLR live experience—mosh pits and all—indeed remains unlikely for the foreseeable future, Carti was generous enough to give fans a glimpse at what that might look like by way of a New Year’s Eve livestream event and a recent performance of “Slay3r” on The Tonight Show which presumably (and hilariously) perplexed normies nationwide.

Revisit the latter below:

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

Latest in Music