A short literary analysis of the first verse of 'Had 2', by Playboi Carti

During this short essay, the works of Playboi Carti's eponymous debut mixtape shall be examined - in particular the track 'Had 2', in which Carti opens up the closing track of his first record with a powerful seven line repetition of the prosodic unit 'Boss up on these ♥♥♥♥♥♥'; the reoccurance of which creates peripheral imagery of a young and success-driven Carti proclaiming his goal to become the best of his art form and to strive for the cementation of his status. The semantics of Carti's lexicon are of particular interest; by way of illustration the term 'boss' is utilised, indicating his desire to become the boss of his counterparts and with respect to this a racial epithet is also deployed, demonstrating Carti's disregard to his contemporaries - not viewing them as his equal but rather as someone below both his social and artistic standing. As stated by Judy (1994, pg. 217), this appellation originally came from a means of dehumanisation of African-Americans during the era of slavery, and Carti's usage of it serves as a very potent means of showing that he simply does not care for the artists who he deems lower than him. This short yet compelling introduction is then closed by the simplistic utterance 'Aye oh', allowing listeners to engage themselves for his first verse.

Carti then commences by intimately discussing his upbringing, stating that he 'was brought up different, so [his] vision different' - referring to his upraisal in South Atlanta, which at the time according to the Atlanta Magazine (2014) was plagued with violent crime, with murder rates peaking in 1990. This means that due to the way he was brought up, he developed a higher level of ambition than most, proclaiming that he has different goals to the masses. He then digresses to his new found popularity and subsequent female attention, mentioning that as a result of this he must drive ''round tinted', creating visceral imagery of a budding and youthful artist travelling in privacy, away from the glitz and glamour of the world he has newly entered into. His next lines draw on the proclivities of this newfound prestige, moreso focusing on the drawbacks of it - the fact that he finds himself no longer able to put up with the people who he assumes to be unnecessary in his life; then subsequently claiming that he 'can't ♥♥♥♥ with ♥♥♥♥♥♥' because he goes to 'get it ♥♥♥♥♥' - meaning that he can no longer stand the people in his life who do not share his interest in making it in his respective art, and instead brushes off these phoney former acquaintances in favour of honing his craft.

However, claims are made against Carti that he has changed, having 'went and copped a chain' and 'them thangs', alluding to the new luxury items he has been able to purchase due to his financial situation having already received nominal attention due to previous musical ventures. He however does not respond to these allegations, a dominant avowal that silence is sometimes stronger than a response - implying that he does not consider these outlandish claims to even be worth answering to, and naturally resuming his path of success. Carti then finishes his verse strongly by drawing back to his reference of the women in his life, repeating a common theme within his music of how women often only want to engage in sexual activities with him purely because of his fame and wealth, announcing that these females merely want to '♥♥♥♥ me for my fame'. The recurrence of this thematic aspect evokes strong emotion in the listener, who has previously heard him aforemention in songs such as 'wokeuplikethis*' that these females 'just wanna ♥♥♥♥ me for my clout, ♥♥♥♥', creating an element of sympathy and possible relation to these real life complications.

Judy, R. (1994). On the Question of ♥♥♥♥♥ Authenticity. Boundary 2, 21(3), 211-230. doi:10.2307/303605

Cronan, B. (2014, May). The Homicide Report. Atlanta Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.atlantamagazine.com/crime-city/the-homicide-report/