The Atlanta native and his girlfriend, the rapper Iggy Azalea, have been living here for the past six months, having relocated from Los Angeles. The family photos are Iggy’s — Carti says she handled the interior decorating: “I ain’t do all this, that was her” — but there are a few clear signs that he lives here too. On the wall near the refrigerator, there’s a framed gun range target sheet with a cluster of mostly accurate bullet holes in the outlined head and chest. Carti says the gun range is one of the few activities that gets him out of the house. Besides going to the studio, there isn’t much for him to do in his hometown. He likes it that way.

When I first arrived at the house, at around 5 p.m., Carti was still waking up. In between back-to-back weekends of Coachella performances, he had been up for days recording in L.A. with Metro Boomin. Though the two have known each other for years, this was their first time working together one-on-one. “I got a whole ‘nother tape with this nigga,” Carti says. “That’s why my head’s fucked up. This shit could go on my album, but if it goes on the album, then we gotta change the whole thing.”

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The album he’s talking about is Whole Lotta Red, his highly anticipated third full-length and second studio album. It’s been a year since his last release, 2018’s Die Lit, and his fans have been clamoring for new music. On social media, accounts dedicated to covering the rapper’s every move have been diligently ripping previews of unreleased music from Instagram, reproducing the beats, and leaking songs when they can get their hands on them. After he debuted his new red hair at the second weekend of Coachella, fans posted pictures on the Playboi Carti Reddit page, speculating that it was a sign of the album’s imminent release.

Outside, as the rain falls in thicker drops, Carti walks to the end of the porch and looks down to the side of the house.The black Lamborghini Huracán Iggy bought him last Christmas is safely parked in a covered garage, away from the storm. When I ask if him if Whole Lotta Red is finished, he shrugs: “I could be done if I wanted to. I’m just trying to top shit. I might make the hardest song ever tomorrow.”