I’ve played these games before is what comes to mind when Playboi Carti says he’s dropping a new album. When MUSIC finally arrived on March 14 (after five years of silence), Carti wasted no time teasing his next project, BABY BOI. Literally the same day, he pinned an IG comment saying, “Carti u wanna give us back 2 back albums since u love us so much.”
And just like that, we’re back on the hamster wheel of Carti fandom—surviving on “soon,” “otw,” and empty promises. It’s hard to spot the real precursor to the album’s release amongst the sea of pump fake rollouts.
Still, not all hope is lost. When Carti’s about to drop, he won’t tell anyone, but there will be signs, and lately there’s been a lot of signs.
Carti hinted at a specific month during a recent show for The Weeknd’s After Hours til Dawn tour, and that same week, news was leaked about two major upcoming events that would coincide perfectly with a drop. Below, we break down why we think BABY BOI is still dropping before the end of the year (maybe even before Halloween).
The first signs of Carti’s ‘BABY BOI’ album
“Back 2 back” may have been the first hint, but it wasn’t the last comment Carti would pin, breadcrumbing fans who just broke their five-year fast since Whole Lotta Red. There have been four more pinned comments about BABY BOI that, altogether, humorously read like diary entries. Fitting, considering each user probably took note of the date to remember it as “the day Playboi Carti acknowledged my existence.”
- March 15: all u gotta do is drop bro like this and we gone stream (no glaze)
- April 1: we deserve dis shit bby boi otw
- May 10: 2 albums in 1 year from Carti is gonna be iconic
And then there’s my personal fave from June 7—pure Shakespeare:
twin
wat happened to the back-to-back album?
drop it
If it’s up den it’s up?
Wat? U scared?
Poetry. Put it in the Library of Congress.
Opium affiliates say ‘BABY BOI’ is done
Every Opium affiliate talking about BABY BOI is standard rage bait during a Carti rollout. Does each hint still capture the minds, hearts, and social feeds of fans? Absolutely. More than the actual news headlines that day.
On April 4, DJ Swamp Izzo told Complex that Carti “got over 50, 60 songs done” for BABY BOI. To avoid full perjury, he immediately clarified, “Completed to his liking? I couldn’t say. But they’re done.” Translation: Carti hates 59 of them.
On April 21, Opium affiliate @somewrongwithme posted a concept album cover for BABY BOI that started making the rounds on fan pages. Probably not the real thing, but it does prove the Opium thought machine is at least… thinking.
On May 10, producer F1LTHY replied to a fan on X that said the album is gonna get scrapped. “Album already finished watch this,” followed by “Shit already done we still pushing I am tho,” for the double double lie.
And finally, on May 29, Carti’s rumored girlfriend Gio said, “It’s done, it’s on the way, he just keep tryna make sure it drops at the right time I guess.”
All signs point to a fall 2025 release
“Done” is to Opium affiliates what “five minutes” is to girls getting ready—think five minutes in the 4th quarter of game 7 and both teams have all their timeouts. Multiply that by a thousand and you’ve got Carti time.
That’s why the only reason to believe BABY BOI might drop soon (by normal metrics) is when you start seeing real-world rollout signs—stuff involving external partners, not just Carti’s circle.
On August 15, Carti repeatedly said “September,” during a stop on The Weeknd’s After Hours til Dawn tour hinting at something coming next month. After the show, DJ Swamp Izzo told a fan outside that “Baby boi about to drop.” Yes, we’ve been here before, but still—noted.
Then, on August 18, Ticketmaster accidentally leaked an upcoming Opium tour. Pre-sale dates were briefly visible, showing shows from early October through November. Similar to the scrapped 2023 Antagonist tour, all Opium artists are on the bill.
And on August 20, rumors started swirling that Carti would be the next face of Supreme’s FW25 photo tee. The very next day, Supreme confirmed it, posting a Gunner Stahl-shot photo of Carti in a box logo tee. Full-circle moment—Carti’s been locked in with Supreme since the early 2010s, and pieces from that era, like the 2016 Anorak jacket he wore at the VFILES show, are now considered grails.
Nothing is ever guaranteed with a Carti drop, but history says he lines his releases up with big cultural moments. The “I AM MUSIC MF” Spotify billboards popped up less than a month before MUSIC dropped. His first-ever performance of it at Rolling Loud LA —two days after release—wasn’t an accident either.
If an Opium tour, a Supreme collab, and a new album all hit in the same window, fans would combust. Supreme posters of Carti in New York are already getting ripped off the walls the same day they dropped—and that’s before an album even exists. Tyler, the Creator just dropped two albums in under a year for the first time ever. All I’m saying is…it’s possible.
