Playboi Carti Asserts Opium Dominance With Record-Breaking Sixth Headlining Set at Rolling Loud Orlando: ‘F—k the Budget’

Perched about 100 feet in the sky without a harness, Playboi Carti dangles atop a gothic staircase in front of over 60,000 fans locked in on his every move.

Rocking a Michael Jackson-esque outfit with a white dress shirt, leather pants and a YSL black suit jacket with tassels, which is accessorized in Carti fashion with star diamond earrings, piercings, a glistening chain, sunglasses and a du-rag, King Vamp is at home.

Carti returned to Rolling Loud Orlando to perform on Saturday night (May 9) for his record-breaking sixth headlining set. He took the stage around 10 p.m. ET as temperatures cooled off at the festival to “HBA,” which sent the Opium-favoring crowd into a frenzy.

Carti came out swinging with fan-favorites to kick off the set like “Pop Out,” “Evil J0rdan,” “Stop Breathing” and “Sky,” which led into the moshpits and chaos of “FE!N,” as plenty of pyrotechnics lit up the Under Armour Stage.

MUSIC topped the Billboard 200 upon its arrival in March of last year, and Carti’s album has remained on the album chart for all 59 weeks since being released.

It’s all about Opium this weekend at Rolling Loud, as Destroy Lonely and HXG performed ahead of Playboi Carti’s set, while Ken Carson is filling in for NBA YoungBoy as Sunday’s (May 10) headliner.

The Opium family reunited on stage as Carti stood alongside his mentees, which made for a heartwarming moment and a snapshot of who’s dominating rap when it comes to crews in 2026.

Carson actually premiered a rage-filled unreleased track, which could be a taste of what’s to come on the Lord of Chaos’ The Xperiment album. Carti got back in the driver’s seat while running through “Rockstar Made,” “OPM BABI,” “K Pop” and “Like Weezy.”

A standout moment came when Carti took it back to the intro of his 2017 self-titled mixtape with “Location” and there would’ve been tremors that registered on the Richter scale if Lil Uzi Vert popped out for “Shoota.” At one point, Carti even took off his belt and began whipping the railing in between screeches.

While he never went to college, graduation was weighing heavily on the Atlanta rap titan’s mind throughout the set, as he shouted out those who graduated during this academic year a few times. “Congratulations, you made it, b—h,” he said while performing “Long Time.” “Congratulations to the class of 2026. Congratulations to everyone who graduated. You made it.”

As the 11 p.m. ET curfew neared, Carti insisted he would blow past that and deal with whatever financial consequences would come after. “I got too many songs, just do it. F—k the budget,” he relayed to DJ Swamp Izzo before leading into “Rather Lie.”

There weren’t many surprises in the 30-year-old’s set, but he shocked fans when performing the Vory-assisted “24 Songs.” The vulnerable track has traces to the top of the 2020s and leaked in full back in 2023.

Down the stretch, the set lost a bit of steam, as unpredictability can be a bit of a gift and a curse for King Vamp. He mustered up the energy needed to close out with “Crank” and stamp his king of Rolling Loud title, but it was DJ Swamp Izzo who had the last word and had fans’ ears perked up. “Baby Boi on the way,” he teased of Carti’s rumored upcoming project.

Carti vanished into the darkness around 11:15 p.m. ET.