Five songs were premiered during his headlining performance at the Rolling Loud music festival at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida on December 15, 2024.

[9] On December 25, 2022, the second anniversary of Whole Lotta Red, Carti reignited speculation by posting what appeared to be new cover art on Instagram and tweeting, "love all my supporters it's time".

[11] In a November 2023 interview with Numéro Berlin, Carti emphasized the personal significance of the album, describing it as his most important work to date.

[13][14] The next day, after headlining Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival on November 18, Carti revealed that the album will feature no guest appearances from other artists, stating "I'm tryna do this by myself".

Later that day, DJ Akademiks announced that Carti's album was expected to drop in January 2024, hyping it as "the greatest thing you ever heard".

On December 8, 2023, Carti escalated the promotion by releasing the song "Different Day" through the Opium Instagram account, accompanied by a full-length music video.

[26] Throughout 2024, Carti continued to tease fans with snippets of new material during live performances, including a preview of the tracks "All Red" and "Fuck on My DJ" at the Lyrical Lemonade Summer Smash festival in June.

[27] Throughout the year, Carti started teasing the release date to be in 2024, with him and other close sources, including DJ Akademics and Opium members, saying "2024 Music" on social media.

Initially, he hinted at the title Narcissist in a Twitter post where he shared a screenshot from an iMessage group chat, boldly proclaiming, “Forget about sample clearances.

This speculation arose from the canceled world tour that was initially set to feature artists such as Ken Carson, Destroy Lonely, and Homixide Gang.

[49] Alongside this announcement, he introduced digital pre-orders for the album and showcased nine different CD designs, three of which were available for purchase as part of exclusive merchandise bundles.