WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.700 On March 14th, 2025, an artist charted 30 different 00:00:04.700 --> 00:00:07.660 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 at the exact same 00:00:07.660 --> 00:00:09.919 time. Which is just, I mean, it's completely 00:00:09.919 --> 00:00:12.400 wild. Right. Just pause and really imagine that 00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:15.259 for a second. You pull up the definitive ranking 00:00:15.259 --> 00:00:17.940 of the most popular music in the country, and 00:00:17.940 --> 00:00:20.300 nearly a third of the entire list is just one 00:00:20.300 --> 00:00:23.859 person. Yeah, it's a level of statistical, basically 00:00:23.859 --> 00:00:26.160 gravitational dominance that completely breaks 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:28.519 the charts. It really does. Yeah. But here's 00:00:28.519 --> 00:00:32.159 the craziest part. to achieve that historic milestone, 00:00:32.840 --> 00:00:35.140 to stand shoulder to shoulder with names like 00:00:35.140 --> 00:00:38.460 Taylor Swift, he had to completely rewrite the 00:00:38.460 --> 00:00:41.219 rules of modern music consumption. Oh, absolutely. 00:00:41.420 --> 00:00:44.159 And at one point he had to almost entirely disappear. 00:00:44.399 --> 00:00:46.780 Yeah, it is a genuinely phenomenal trajectory 00:00:46.780 --> 00:00:48.159 because when you sit down and look at the raw 00:00:48.159 --> 00:00:49.960 data, You quickly realize you aren't just looking 00:00:49.960 --> 00:00:52.859 at a musician's standard release schedule. You 00:00:52.859 --> 00:00:56.539 are looking at a highly calculated, almost weaponized 00:00:56.539 --> 00:00:59.359 architectural blueprint for taking over the digital 00:00:59.359 --> 00:01:02.759 landscape. And what a blueprint it is. For this 00:01:02.759 --> 00:01:05.819 deep dive, we are exploring the discography and 00:01:05.819 --> 00:01:08.359 the astronomical rise of American rapper Playboy 00:01:08.359 --> 00:01:10.959 Party. Yes, we are. We are using his incredibly 00:01:10.959 --> 00:01:13.819 dense Wikipedia discography page as our roadmap 00:01:13.819 --> 00:01:16.459 today. And just to set the stage for you, we 00:01:16.459 --> 00:01:19.319 are looking at a literal mountain of data here. 00:01:19.519 --> 00:01:22.200 A massive amount of data. We are talking three 00:01:22.200 --> 00:01:26.379 studio albums, four mixtapes, one EP, 29 singles, 00:01:26.959 --> 00:01:31.290 and a record -shattering released that genuinely 00:01:31.290 --> 00:01:33.629 tilted the axis of the music industry. It did. 00:01:34.030 --> 00:01:36.069 And it's important to frame this properly right 00:01:36.069 --> 00:01:37.780 from the jump. If you are listening to this, 00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:40.560 we have to view this deep dive not simply as 00:01:40.560 --> 00:01:42.879 a chronological timeline of, you know, when a 00:01:42.879 --> 00:01:44.879 song came out. Right. Instead, we really need 00:01:44.879 --> 00:01:47.000 to treat this as a master class in calculated 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:49.200 artistic evolution and audience building. Like 00:01:49.200 --> 00:01:52.260 a strategy guide. Exactly. Every single release, 00:01:52.519 --> 00:01:55.319 every agonizing hiatus and every strategic collaboration 00:01:55.319 --> 00:01:58.640 serve a very specific structural purpose in the 00:01:58.640 --> 00:02:01.040 broader empire he's built. OK, let's unpack this, 00:02:01.060 --> 00:02:04.379 because to truly understand the chart dominating 00:02:04.379 --> 00:02:08.219 record breaking artist of 2025, we really have 00:02:08.219 --> 00:02:10.780 to look at the grassroots hustle that built his 00:02:10.780 --> 00:02:15.330 core fan base in the first place. You do. Before 00:02:15.330 --> 00:02:17.789 the world knew him as Playboy Cartier, he was 00:02:17.789 --> 00:02:20.270 operating under the alias Sir Cartier. Sir Cartier, 00:02:20.409 --> 00:02:23.349 right. Yeah, between 2011 and 2013, he was just 00:02:23.349 --> 00:02:25.969 grinding, basically self -releasing mixtapes 00:02:25.969 --> 00:02:29.289 on the internet. He dropped THC, The High Chronicle 00:02:29.289 --> 00:02:32.830 in 2011, Young Misfit in 2012, and Sensation 00:02:32.830 --> 00:02:35.650 in 2013. Which, I mean, that's a lot of output 00:02:35.650 --> 00:02:38.050 for a kid. It is. But if we are being honest, 00:02:38.509 --> 00:02:40.710 thousands of kids were dropping raw mixtapes 00:02:40.710 --> 00:02:42.810 on the internet in 2012. Oh, tens of thousands 00:02:42.810 --> 00:02:45.310 them. it was flooded. Exactly. So what was the 00:02:45.310 --> 00:02:47.969 actual mechanism that made his work catch fire 00:02:47.969 --> 00:02:50.189 over the rest? That is the crucial question. 00:02:50.610 --> 00:02:52.870 Those early works are foundational because they 00:02:52.870 --> 00:02:55.229 mark his initial activity in the underground 00:02:55.229 --> 00:02:57.469 rap scene. But you're right, it's a crowded space. 00:02:57.969 --> 00:03:01.050 What set him apart wasn't just lyrical ability. 00:03:01.349 --> 00:03:03.590 It was his curation of a specific aesthetic. 00:03:04.539 --> 00:03:07.699 The real shift, the moment the tectonic plates 00:03:07.699 --> 00:03:11.300 of his career start moving, happens in 2015 during 00:03:11.300 --> 00:03:14.219 the whole SoundCloud explosion. Oh man, the SoundCloud 00:03:14.219 --> 00:03:16.819 era. Yeah, it was a totally unique time. He releases 00:03:16.819 --> 00:03:19.340 singles like Broke Boy and Fetty, and Fetty featured 00:03:19.340 --> 00:03:22.000 Dash and Max O 'Cream by the way. Huge tracks. 00:03:22.360 --> 00:03:24.379 Massive. These tracks didn't just get plays, 00:03:24.460 --> 00:03:26.849 they cultivated a cult following. They had a 00:03:26.849 --> 00:03:30.750 specific, raw, unpolished energy that perfectly 00:03:30.750 --> 00:03:32.530 captured the counterculture of the internet at 00:03:32.530 --> 00:03:34.490 that time. Yeah, they felt authentic. Exactly. 00:03:34.689 --> 00:03:37.289 And that energy leads directly to his debut EP, 00:03:37.530 --> 00:03:40.550 Death in Tune, in May of 2015. You know, the 00:03:40.550 --> 00:03:43.310 way I look at this era, it is exactly like a 00:03:43.310 --> 00:03:45.530 tech startup. Oh, I like that comparison. How 00:03:45.530 --> 00:03:47.949 so? Think about it. You have this founder, right, 00:03:48.110 --> 00:03:50.370 hustling in the proverbial garage, which in this 00:03:50.370 --> 00:03:52.370 case is SoundCloud. Right, right. They are building 00:03:52.370 --> 00:03:56.009 a product, testing it with a highly engaged super 00:03:56.009 --> 00:03:59.090 niche user base and iterating rapidly based on 00:03:59.090 --> 00:04:00.590 what the community responds to. Yeah, getting 00:04:00.590 --> 00:04:03.669 that real -time feedback. Exactly. And then in 00:04:03.669 --> 00:04:06.250 2016, they secure their venture capital funding. 00:04:06.490 --> 00:04:09.490 For Cardi, that meant signing a deal with Interscope 00:04:09.490 --> 00:04:13.469 Records and ACP Rocky's AWGE imprint. Which is 00:04:13.469 --> 00:04:16.170 a huge turning point. A massive deal. Which immediately 00:04:16.170 --> 00:04:18.290 sets up his commercial breakthrough in April 00:04:18.290 --> 00:04:21.810 2017 with his self -titled mixtape. Exactly. 00:04:22.269 --> 00:04:25.250 And the numbers on that commercial debut validate 00:04:25.250 --> 00:04:27.949 that startup scaling perfectly. I mean, the mixtape 00:04:27.949 --> 00:04:31.290 peaked at number 12 on the US Billboard 200. 00:04:31.490 --> 00:04:33.649 Number 12 right out of the gate. Right. It was 00:04:33.649 --> 00:04:36.029 driven by this absolute juggernaut of a single. 00:04:36.569 --> 00:04:39.310 Magnolia, which reached number 29 on the Billboard 00:04:39.310 --> 00:04:42.250 Hot 100 and went triple platinum. Triple platinum. 00:04:42.250 --> 00:04:44.509 Wow. Yeah. And you also had the track Woke Up 00:04:44.509 --> 00:04:47.370 Like This featuring Lil Uzi Vert, which charted 00:04:47.370 --> 00:04:49.829 on the Hot R &B hip hop songs chart. But I want 00:04:49.829 --> 00:04:51.769 to push back on the mechanics of that success 00:04:51.769 --> 00:04:53.509 for a second. Very worth hearing. Looking at 00:04:53.509 --> 00:04:56.870 the data, did the major label deal and the AWGE 00:04:56.870 --> 00:05:00.209 co -sign actually create his success? Or did 00:05:00.209 --> 00:05:02.290 the label just provide a giant microphone for 00:05:02.290 --> 00:05:04.870 a movement that was already completely un -stockable 00:05:04.870 --> 00:05:07.319 by 2017? That's a great point. Because a lot 00:05:07.319 --> 00:05:09.879 of times the industry likes to take credit for 00:05:09.879 --> 00:05:12.819 manufacturing a star. That is the essential tension 00:05:12.819 --> 00:05:15.660 of any underground artist crossing over. And 00:05:15.660 --> 00:05:17.720 the data heavily suggests it was the latter. 00:05:18.740 --> 00:05:21.699 The genius here was maintaining the underground 00:05:21.699 --> 00:05:25.199 mixtape ethos. Like keeping that raw feel? Yeah, 00:05:25.300 --> 00:05:27.560 notice he even called his commercial debut a 00:05:27.560 --> 00:05:31.310 mixtape rather than a studio album. He maintained 00:05:31.310 --> 00:05:34.529 that ethos while simultaneously utilizing major 00:05:34.529 --> 00:05:38.149 label distribution and AWGE's highly curated 00:05:38.149 --> 00:05:40.569 infrastructure. So he didn't sell out, basically? 00:05:40.629 --> 00:05:42.769 No, he didn't reinvent himself for the mainstream 00:05:42.769 --> 00:05:44.810 at all. It was a perfect storm where the underground 00:05:44.810 --> 00:05:46.970 sound was simply plugged into a global server. 00:05:47.470 --> 00:05:49.810 Ah, I see. He didn't change the product to fit 00:05:49.810 --> 00:05:52.329 the mass market. He quite literally forced the 00:05:52.329 --> 00:05:54.649 mass market to adapt to his product. Which is 00:05:54.649 --> 00:05:57.089 incredibly rare. And having achieved that commercial 00:05:57.089 --> 00:05:59.410 breakthrough, he immediately faces the great 00:05:59.339 --> 00:06:01.899 existential threat in the music industry, which 00:06:01.899 --> 00:06:04.259 is the one -hit wonder trap. The dreaded one 00:06:04.259 --> 00:06:07.199 -hit wonder. Seriously. You have a three times 00:06:07.199 --> 00:06:09.920 platinum hit with Magnolia. The entire world 00:06:09.920 --> 00:06:13.819 is watching. The obvious safe industry move is 00:06:13.819 --> 00:06:16.240 to just make Magnolia part two. Just stick to 00:06:16.240 --> 00:06:19.379 the formula that pays. Exactly. But the conversation 00:06:19.379 --> 00:06:21.959 shifts here because he used his studio albums 00:06:21.959 --> 00:06:24.519 to continuously push the sonic boundaries of 00:06:24.519 --> 00:06:27.300 trap music instead of playing it safe. Because 00:06:27.300 --> 00:06:29.459 playing it safe in music is the quickest route 00:06:29.459 --> 00:06:33.079 to obsolescence. Totally. So in May 2018, he 00:06:33.079 --> 00:06:36.800 drops his debut studio album, Die Lit. It debuted 00:06:36.800 --> 00:06:39.279 at number three on the Billboard 200, moving 00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:41.920 61 ,000 album -equivalent units in its first 00:06:41.920 --> 00:06:45.160 week. 61 ,000, that's a solid debut. Very solid. 00:06:45.379 --> 00:06:47.959 It featured the platinum track Shuda, again collaborating 00:06:47.959 --> 00:06:50.959 with Lil Uzi Vert. But the cultural impact was 00:06:50.959 --> 00:06:53.379 way bigger than those 61 ,000 units. How so? 00:06:53.500 --> 00:06:55.920 The critical reception specifically praised its 00:06:55.920 --> 00:06:59.209 innovative approach to trap music. He was actively 00:06:59.209 --> 00:07:01.050 deconstructing the sound that made him famous. 00:07:01.430 --> 00:07:03.050 Okay, for the listener who might not be a music 00:07:03.050 --> 00:07:05.149 theory nerd, what does deconstructing that sound 00:07:05.149 --> 00:07:07.389 actually mean in practice? Like how did he do 00:07:07.389 --> 00:07:09.470 that? He essentially stripped away traditional 00:07:09.470 --> 00:07:12.110 hip -hop structures. Instead of focusing heavily 00:07:12.110 --> 00:07:15.589 on complex, multi -syllabic lyricism, he started 00:07:15.589 --> 00:07:18.009 using his voice as an instrument. Oh, interesting. 00:07:18.189 --> 00:07:21.189 Yeah. He leaned into repetitive, hypnotic vocal 00:07:21.189 --> 00:07:24.269 inflections, ad -libs, and punk -inspired beats. 00:07:24.750 --> 00:07:28.129 It was chaotic, minimalist, and deeply atmospheric. 00:07:28.269 --> 00:07:31.889 So he went completely left field. Exactly. Frustrated 00:07:31.889 --> 00:07:34.129 traditional rap theorists, but it absolutely 00:07:34.129 --> 00:07:36.829 electrified his core fan base because it felt 00:07:36.829 --> 00:07:39.689 entirely new. Here's where it gets really interesting. 00:07:39.949 --> 00:07:42.709 Because after Dilett, after establishing this 00:07:42.709 --> 00:07:46.350 totally avant -garde sound, he essentially vanishes. 00:07:46.569 --> 00:07:49.290 Just poof, gone. Right. Think about the era we 00:07:49.290 --> 00:07:51.689 live in. We are in a hyper -saturated streaming 00:07:51.689 --> 00:07:54.250 landscape where algorithms demand constant feeding. 00:07:54.529 --> 00:07:56.269 Yeah, you have to be posting every single day. 00:07:56.490 --> 00:07:58.129 Artists are terrified that if they don't post 00:07:58.129 --> 00:08:00.649 a TikTok or drop a single for a week, you, the 00:08:00.649 --> 00:08:03.230 listener, will just forget they exist. But Cardi 00:08:03.230 --> 00:08:05.949 takes a massive two -year hiatus. A lifetime 00:08:05.949 --> 00:08:08.889 in internet years. Truly. He breaks the silence 00:08:08.889 --> 00:08:11.829 briefly in April 2020 with the single At Me, 00:08:12.129 --> 00:08:15.029 which debuts at number 35. But then, on Christmas 00:08:15.029 --> 00:08:18.430 Day, December 2020, he drops his second studio 00:08:18.430 --> 00:08:21.209 album, Whole Lotter Red. The Christmas Drop. 00:08:21.370 --> 00:08:24.170 And the growth is staggering. He goes from moving 00:08:24.170 --> 00:08:27.850 61 ,000 units on his first album to 100 ,000 00:08:27.850 --> 00:08:30.060 units on his second. earning his first number 00:08:30.060 --> 00:08:32.919 one album. A two -year gap didn't kill his momentum, 00:08:33.139 --> 00:08:35.500 it multiplied it. What's fascinating here is 00:08:35.500 --> 00:08:39.159 the sheer power of scarcity. In a market where 00:08:39.159 --> 00:08:42.259 everyone is shouting constantly, silence is deafening. 00:08:42.460 --> 00:08:44.659 Attention is the most valuable currency we have. 00:08:44.759 --> 00:08:47.879 So true. By stepping back for two years, he transformed 00:08:47.879 --> 00:08:50.019 himself from a regular hitmaker, someone just 00:08:50.019 --> 00:08:52.279 running on the standard industry treadmill, into 00:08:52.279 --> 00:08:54.519 an event level artist. But how does that actually 00:08:54.519 --> 00:08:56.299 work? If you disappear, why don't people just 00:08:56.299 --> 00:08:58.759 move on to the next artist in their Spotify recommended 00:08:58.759 --> 00:09:00.960 feed? Because he had cultivated such a passionate 00:09:00.960 --> 00:09:03.019 niche community back in the SoundCloud days, 00:09:03.519 --> 00:09:06.440 his absence created a vacuum. Oh, I see. Nature 00:09:06.440 --> 00:09:09.700 abhors a vacuum. Exactly. When he wasn't providing 00:09:09.700 --> 00:09:12.320 music, the fans started creating their own lore. 00:09:13.000 --> 00:09:16.480 They obsessed over leaked snippets, rumors, and 00:09:16.480 --> 00:09:18.379 aesthetic changes. They were doing the marketing 00:09:18.379 --> 00:09:22.620 for. Exactly. He starved the core fan base, which 00:09:22.620 --> 00:09:25.299 forced them to become incredibly vocal online. 00:09:25.960 --> 00:09:29.480 He perfectly timed whole lot of red for maximum 00:09:29.480 --> 00:09:32.580 cultural impact. Wow! And when it dropped, the 00:09:32.580 --> 00:09:34.799 album itself was polarizing initially because 00:09:34.799 --> 00:09:37.360 it was so aggressive, featuring tracks like Go 00:09:37.360 --> 00:09:40.240 To The Moon with Kanye West and the widely acclaimed 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:42.679 Sky. Right. I remember the debates over that 00:09:42.679 --> 00:09:45.360 album. But that polarization was the point. It 00:09:45.360 --> 00:09:47.320 drove endless conversation. You either loved 00:09:47.320 --> 00:09:49.539 it or you hated it, but you had to talk about 00:09:49.539 --> 00:09:52.169 it. It's a brilliant psychological play. If you 00:09:52.169 --> 00:09:54.429 aren't giving people music to passively consume, 00:09:54.690 --> 00:09:57.370 you have to give them a mystery to actively dissect. 00:09:57.669 --> 00:09:59.809 Beautifully put. But it brings up a practical 00:09:59.809 --> 00:10:02.950 logistical issue. How does an artist stay culturally 00:10:02.950 --> 00:10:06.070 ubiquitous? Like, how do they maintain that towering 00:10:06.070 --> 00:10:07.809 presence in the algorithm when they aren't dropping 00:10:07.809 --> 00:10:10.049 their own albums for years at a time? They do 00:10:10.049 --> 00:10:11.750 it by infiltrating everyone else's projects. 00:10:11.809 --> 00:10:14.710 Ah, features. Yes. They become the most highly 00:10:14.710 --> 00:10:17.490 sought after featured artist in the entire industry. 00:10:17.769 --> 00:10:20.240 They build a collaborative empire. Let's map 00:10:20.240 --> 00:10:23.159 out this strategic run of high -profile collaborations 00:10:23.159 --> 00:10:25.899 leading up to 2024, because looking at the timeline, 00:10:26.019 --> 00:10:28.059 it is just staggering. It really is an insane 00:10:28.059 --> 00:10:31.659 run. In May 2021, he is on Miss the Rage with 00:10:31.659 --> 00:10:34.700 Trippie Redd, which debuts at number 11. Later 00:10:34.700 --> 00:10:37.500 that year, he is absolutely stealing the show 00:10:37.500 --> 00:10:40.039 on Kanye West's track Off the Grid from the Donda 00:10:40.039 --> 00:10:43.879 album. An iconic verse. Totally. By 2023, he 00:10:43.879 --> 00:10:47.059 is doing a massive unexpected genre crossing 00:10:47.059 --> 00:10:49.659 feature on the track. popular with The Weeknd 00:10:49.659 --> 00:10:52.000 and Madonna. Which is a crazy lineup, by the 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:54.240 way. Right, Madonna. Yeah, and if we connect 00:10:54.240 --> 00:10:56.659 this to the bigger picture, Cardi is no longer 00:10:56.659 --> 00:10:59.759 just a solo act operating in his own lane. He 00:10:59.759 --> 00:11:01.919 has positioned himself as a structural pillar 00:11:01.919 --> 00:11:04.940 in the modern hip hop and pop ecosystem. So he's 00:11:04.940 --> 00:11:06.840 essential to the whole structure now. Exactly. 00:11:07.000 --> 00:11:09.440 You bring him onto a track when you want to inject 00:11:09.440 --> 00:11:12.299 a very specific, chaotic, high demand energy. 00:11:12.519 --> 00:11:14.679 I was looking at this feature run and I realized 00:11:14.679 --> 00:11:17.039 something. It isn't just a cinematic crossover 00:11:17.039 --> 00:11:19.580 event like the Avengers. No, it's more calculated 00:11:19.580 --> 00:11:22.580 than that. It is actually a brilliant algorithmic 00:11:22.580 --> 00:11:25.460 Trojan Horse strategy. A Trojan Horse, I like 00:11:25.460 --> 00:11:28.259 that. Yeah, every single time Kargy appears on 00:11:28.259 --> 00:11:31.379 another A -listers track, he is cross -pollinating 00:11:31.379 --> 00:11:34.019 audiences on the backend of streaming platforms. 00:11:34.700 --> 00:11:37.779 Think about your own Spotify or Apple Music habits. 00:11:37.919 --> 00:11:40.559 Okay. If you are a massive fan of The Weeknd, 00:11:40.580 --> 00:11:43.710 you listen to Popular. Suddenly, the algorithm 00:11:43.710 --> 00:11:46.570 associates your profile with Playboy Carti. Right, 00:11:46.629 --> 00:11:48.870 because you listened to a track he was on. Exactly. 00:11:49.350 --> 00:11:52.289 He is quietly injecting his artist profile into 00:11:52.289 --> 00:11:54.950 the recommendation feeds of millions of pop fans. 00:11:55.370 --> 00:11:58.350 So when his solo music drops, the algorithm automatically 00:11:58.350 --> 00:12:00.690 serves it to them. That is exactly the mechanism 00:12:00.690 --> 00:12:03.470 at play. He is acquiring new listeners without 00:12:03.470 --> 00:12:05.590 having to spend a dime on traditional marketing. 00:12:05.710 --> 00:12:08.110 It's brilliant. And it all culminates in February 00:12:08.110 --> 00:12:11.970 2024. He collaborates on the track Carnival with 00:12:11.970 --> 00:12:14.629 Kanye West, Ty Dolla Sign, and Rich the Kid. 00:12:15.210 --> 00:12:17.610 This is a monumental milestone for him. Oh, this 00:12:17.610 --> 00:12:20.549 is a huge moment. Carnival becomes Cardi's very 00:12:20.549 --> 00:12:22.649 first number one song on the Billboard Hot 100. 00:12:22.830 --> 00:12:25.289 His first number one. And it wasn't even his 00:12:25.289 --> 00:12:27.649 own song. Right, but that is the inflection point. 00:12:28.220 --> 00:12:30.720 Securing a number one on the Hot 100 as a featured 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:33.360 artist proves that his gravity can push a track 00:12:33.360 --> 00:12:36.059 all the way to the absolute summit of global 00:12:36.059 --> 00:12:38.419 music. He's a kingmaker at that point. Exactly. 00:12:38.639 --> 00:12:41.639 And he didn't stop there in 2024. He was featured 00:12:41.639 --> 00:12:44.059 on Travis Scott's Fane, which goes three times 00:12:44.059 --> 00:12:46.120 platinum and hits number five on the Hot 100. 00:12:46.259 --> 00:12:48.519 Another massive track. Yeah. And then he is on 00:12:48.519 --> 00:12:51.240 Type Shit with future Metro Boomin and Travis 00:12:51.240 --> 00:12:54.559 Scott, which peaks at number two. He is surrounding 00:12:54.559 --> 00:12:57.080 himself with the titans of the industry and proving 00:12:57.080 --> 00:12:59.519 he belongs right there with them. Just dominating 00:12:59.519 --> 00:13:02.700 the charts through proxy. Which sets the stage 00:13:02.700 --> 00:13:05.259 perfectly for his next solo venture. Which brings 00:13:05.259 --> 00:13:07.659 us to the culmination of this entire journey. 00:13:07.919 --> 00:13:11.240 All that underground hustling in the early 2010s, 00:13:11.440 --> 00:13:13.720 all the sonic deconstruction of dialect and whole 00:13:13.720 --> 00:13:16.220 lot of red, the psychological warfare of his 00:13:16.220 --> 00:13:18.860 hiatus, and the Trojan horse feature placements 00:13:18.860 --> 00:13:20.860 over the last few years. Everything led to this. 00:13:21.000 --> 00:13:23.279 It was all building toward a singular historic 00:13:23.279 --> 00:13:25.899 event. The release of his third studio album, 00:13:25.940 --> 00:13:29.860 Music, on March 14th, 2025. The data on this 00:13:29.860 --> 00:13:33.100 release is nothing short of breathtaking. I mean, 00:13:33.179 --> 00:13:35.299 it debuted at number one on the U .S. Billboard 00:13:35.299 --> 00:13:38.379 200, but it's the sheer volume that is shocking. 00:13:38.480 --> 00:13:42.320 Let's hear the numbers. It pulled in 298 ,000 00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:44.659 album equivalent units in its first week, and 00:13:44.659 --> 00:13:48.360 crucially, 103 ,000 of those were pure copies. 00:13:48.539 --> 00:13:50.019 Wait, let's pause and actually explain what that 00:13:50.019 --> 00:13:52.820 means for a second. Sure. In industry terms, 00:13:52.980 --> 00:13:55.100 an album equivalent unit is mostly driven by 00:13:55.100 --> 00:13:57.960 streams. Usually around fifteen hundred song 00:13:57.960 --> 00:14:01.080 streams equals one album sale. So getting two 00:14:01.080 --> 00:14:03.399 hundred ninety eight thousand units is massive. 00:14:03.539 --> 00:14:05.580 It's huge. But one hundred and three thousand 00:14:05.580 --> 00:14:08.779 pure copies in twenty twenty five in an era where 00:14:08.779 --> 00:14:11.320 literally nobody buys music anymore because it's 00:14:11.320 --> 00:14:13.559 all streaming for ten bucks a month. It defies 00:14:13.559 --> 00:14:15.580 all modern logic. His fans actually went out 00:14:15.580 --> 00:14:17.940 and swiped their credit cards to purchase the 00:14:17.940 --> 00:14:20.059 album digitally or physically. That isn't just 00:14:20.059 --> 00:14:22.570 passive streaming, that is active, intentional 00:14:22.570 --> 00:14:24.889 financial investment from his audience. Exactly. 00:14:25.090 --> 00:14:27.669 It shows a level of brand loyalty that completely 00:14:27.669 --> 00:14:30.070 transcends typical modern music consumption. 00:14:30.750 --> 00:14:32.889 Fans aren't just listening to the music, they're 00:14:32.889 --> 00:14:34.889 investing in his success as a badge of honor. 00:14:35.029 --> 00:14:36.710 It's like buying a jersey for your favorite sports 00:14:36.710 --> 00:14:38.789 team. That's a great way to put it. And the runway 00:14:38.789 --> 00:14:42.250 for this album was meticulously paved with promotional 00:14:42.250 --> 00:14:46.370 singles. Yeah, K -Pop, H .B .A. and Evil Jordan. 00:14:46.600 --> 00:14:49.259 just feeding the hype machine. Right. And he 00:14:49.259 --> 00:14:51.480 even released a deluxe edition later that same 00:14:51.480 --> 00:14:54.019 month titled music, sorry, four day with it. 00:14:54.240 --> 00:14:57.179 wait, adding four additional tracks to keep the 00:14:57.179 --> 00:14:59.539 algorithm continually fed and the momentum going. 00:14:59.759 --> 00:15:02.379 And the momentum was a tidal wave. Music wrapped 00:15:02.379 --> 00:15:06.779 up 134 million streams in one single day. Unbelievable. 00:15:06.919 --> 00:15:09.460 It became the most streamed rap album in a single 00:15:09.460 --> 00:15:12.399 day in 2025 and the seventh most streamed album 00:15:12.399 --> 00:15:14.919 in a single day overall. But here is the ultimate 00:15:14.919 --> 00:15:17.440 flex, the stat that just leaps off the page and 00:15:17.440 --> 00:15:19.659 brings us right back to where we started this 00:15:19.659 --> 00:15:22.539 deep dive. Here we go. All 30 songs on the album 00:15:22.539 --> 00:15:25.059 debuted simultaneously on the Billboard Hot 100. 00:15:25.240 --> 00:15:27.340 30 songs. Let me say that again for you listening. 00:15:27.639 --> 00:15:29.379 Every single track on the album charted on the 00:15:29.379 --> 00:15:31.700 Hot 100 at the exact same time. He's the first 00:15:31.700 --> 00:15:33.820 rapper in history to do this and only the third 00:15:33.820 --> 00:15:36.100 artist ever, joining Taylor Swift and Morgan 00:15:36.100 --> 00:15:38.480 Wallen. It's truly a historic achievement. So 00:15:38.480 --> 00:15:41.320 what does this all mean? I want you to truly 00:15:41.320 --> 00:15:44.240 absorb the magnitude of charting 30 songs at 00:15:44.240 --> 00:15:46.830 once. Does a record like that happen because 00:15:46.830 --> 00:15:49.509 every single one of those 30 songs is an undeniable 00:15:49.509 --> 00:15:52.690 standalone perfectly crafted pop hit? Probably 00:15:52.690 --> 00:15:55.250 not. Or does this level of absolute dominance 00:15:55.250 --> 00:15:57.889 happen because of the sheer unavoidable gravity 00:15:57.889 --> 00:16:00.470 of the brand Cardi has built over the last decade? 00:16:00.730 --> 00:16:02.509 This raises an important question about the current 00:16:02.509 --> 00:16:05.190 state of the music industry. When you join the 00:16:05.190 --> 00:16:08.259 ranks of Taylor Swift and Morgan Wallen You are 00:16:08.259 --> 00:16:11.159 no longer just a successful rapper. Right. You 00:16:11.159 --> 00:16:13.740 have transcended your original genre and are 00:16:13.740 --> 00:16:17.179 now operating the very rare tier of global pop 00:16:17.179 --> 00:16:19.879 culture monoliths. To answer your question, it 00:16:19.879 --> 00:16:22.200 is absolutely the gravity of the brand. It has 00:16:22.200 --> 00:16:24.460 to be. An achievement like all 30 songs charting 00:16:24.460 --> 00:16:27.720 simultaneously is a systemic algorithmic takeover. 00:16:28.139 --> 00:16:30.320 It is driven by an audience that is so deeply 00:16:30.320 --> 00:16:33.100 invested in the artist's world that they consume 00:16:33.100 --> 00:16:35.799 the entire body of work en masse repeatedly. 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:38.039 the moment it becomes available. They just devour 00:16:38.039 --> 00:16:41.379 it. Yes. It is a testament to the scarcity he 00:16:41.379 --> 00:16:44.059 practiced, the aesthetics he curated, and the 00:16:44.059 --> 00:16:47.059 anticipation he weaponized. It's not just about 00:16:47.059 --> 00:16:49.879 track 14 being a catchy song. It's about the 00:16:49.879 --> 00:16:52.940 event of consuming the album being a cultural 00:16:52.940 --> 00:16:55.220 requirement for his listeners. It is a complete 00:16:55.220 --> 00:16:57.360 takeover and that is why this journey matters 00:16:57.360 --> 00:16:59.759 so much. Whether you are a casual fan of hip 00:16:59.759 --> 00:17:02.919 -hop trying to understand the charts or a marketing 00:17:02.919 --> 00:17:05.539 executive trying to figure out how to capture 00:17:05.539 --> 00:17:08.319 attention in the 21st century. There's a lesson 00:17:08.319 --> 00:17:11.029 here for everyone. There really is. Playboy Cardi's 00:17:11.029 --> 00:17:13.390 discography isn't just a list of songs. It is 00:17:13.390 --> 00:17:15.730 a literal blueprint on how to build a modern 00:17:15.730 --> 00:17:18.769 empire. You start with a hyper -local, deeply 00:17:18.769 --> 00:17:21.230 passionate niche. Yep, the SoundCloud days. You 00:17:21.230 --> 00:17:23.690 embrace massive sonic risks instead of playing 00:17:23.690 --> 00:17:25.710 it safe when you get your first taste of success. 00:17:26.390 --> 00:17:28.609 You use collaboration strategically to cross 00:17:28.609 --> 00:17:31.150 -pollinate your audience and manipulate the recommendation 00:17:31.150 --> 00:17:33.369 algorithms. Trojan horse. Exactly. And above 00:17:33.369 --> 00:17:35.910 all, you leverage anticipation, you make them 00:17:35.910 --> 00:17:38.440 wait, and you make the wait worth it. And as 00:17:38.440 --> 00:17:40.099 you reflect on everything we've covered today, 00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:42.259 from the SoundCloud trenches to the Billboard 00:17:42.259 --> 00:17:45.059 summits, I want to leave you with a final thought 00:17:45.059 --> 00:17:48.200 to mull over. Go for it. When an artist can chart 00:17:48.200 --> 00:17:52.140 30 songs simultaneously and command 104 million 00:17:52.140 --> 00:17:55.420 streams in a mere 24 hours simply by dropping 00:17:55.420 --> 00:17:58.500 a project, are we actually witnessing the end 00:17:58.500 --> 00:18:01.799 of the traditional album format? Oh, wow. For 00:18:01.799 --> 00:18:04.200 decades, an album was a curated collection of 00:18:04.200 --> 00:18:06.380 songs meant to be experienced as a standalone 00:18:06.380 --> 00:18:09.180 piece of art. Perhaps what we are seeing now 00:18:09.180 --> 00:18:12.460 is the beginning of albums acting as massive 00:18:12.460 --> 00:18:15.799 algorithmic playlist takeovers designed not just 00:18:15.799 --> 00:18:18.519 to be listened to but to entirely monopolize 00:18:18.519 --> 00:18:21.400 the digital ecosystem for weeks at a time. It 00:18:21.400 --> 00:18:23.700 completely reframes how we think about a release 00:18:23.700 --> 00:18:25.619 day. It's no longer just dropping a collection 00:18:25.619 --> 00:18:28.240 of music hoping people like it. It's an orchestrated 00:18:28.240 --> 00:18:30.299 event that rewrites the very rules of modern 00:18:30.299 --> 00:18:32.039 music consumption we talked about at the start. 00:18:32.220 --> 00:18:34.160 It's a completely different game now and right 00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:35.880 now he's the one holding the controller.