Steve Vai described him as "the future of exceptional guitar playing",[2] and the website MusicRadar named Plini the best prog guitarist of 2017.

His debut album, Handmade Cities, which Vai described as "one of the finest, forward-thinking, melodic, rhythmically and harmonically deep instrumental guitar records [he has] ever heard",[4] was released in 2016.

Plini stated in an interview, "What I found different in Joe's playing is his ability to craft simple and catchy melodies and phrase them so perfectly that he doesn't have to rely on (but can still bust out) flashy passages and cool tricks to keep the instrumental song format interesting.

"[8] In another interview, Plini stated that Satriani has "been hugely inspirational to me so it's very cool when I'm told people can hear that in there.”[9] Doja Cat's 2020 performance of "Say So" at the MTV Europe Music Awards ceremony was criticized when some viewers noted that the guitar solo in the performance was identical to the one in Plini's 2016 song "Handmade Cities".

[10][11] The next month, Plini reported that Doja Cat left him an apologetic message through social media.