Who’s really surprised here? 2024 seemingly came and went with no fulfilled promises of the full-length “2024 music” that Playboi Carti teased on the track “2024.” Did we mention the year enough? Sure, we still have a few days left before we enter 2025, but people really thought that he would do a traditional album release on the last Friday of the year (December 27). Of course, this wasn’t the case, and fans reacted accordingly on social media with their best jokes, most heartfelt frustrations, and a lot of disdain for the Atlanta rapper despite their love for his music. In fact, some die-hards even spread the word on social media of a mass unfollowing spree so that they can “leave Carti in 2024.”

But again, at the end of the day, fans partially have themselves to blame for this disappointment, as they know exactly how Playboi Carti operates… Or rather, they’re all equally as confused or in the dark about it. Still, precedent doesn’t always establish tradition, and a lot of them hoped that this time around would be different. We remember when that gas-station-set, Kanye West-featuring music video came out a year ago and how excited we felt, so we understand folks who had more optimistic perspectives.

However, as we hinted at before, there are still a few days left of 2024, and Playboi Carti fans have a couple of delusional reasons to think that the new album could still drop. Maybe he decides to do a New Year’s rollout for I AM MUSIC rather than the Christmas gift that was Whole Lotta Red, or perhaps he will drop the project later today and we’re all just quick to react in the morning.

Sadly, the likelihood of these two options is next to zero, although we would be very happy to be wrong about this. Playboi Carti might never explain why I AM MUSIC – or whatever this new album is – faced all these problems, which might be what frustrates fans the most. But maybe we should just appreciate the singles that we got and leave the idea of a new album in the past.