Cartel Madras began by releasing songs on their SoundCloud.[6] Their debut mixtape Project Goonda Part 1: Trapistan was released in 2018. The lead single for the mixtape was titled "Pork and Leek".[5] The duo helped develop a collective known as THOTNATION which consists of close collaborators like Jae Sterling, yungkamaji, and Jide.[2][16] Later that year, Cartel Madras played at Pop Montreal, opening for Cupcakke.[5] At a show at Calgary's Sled Island festival, five months after their formation, they caught the attention of Ishmael Butler, a member of the A&R team of the label Sub Pop.[17]
In 2019, Cartel Madras won $10,000 from the Telus Storyhive grant to film a music video for "Eric Andre (Slick Rick James)".[2] The music video featured cameos from K.d. lang and Vivek Shraya and was released in May 2019.[2][18] In June, Sub Pop announced they had signed Cartel Madras and that new music was being worked on.[8] The duo announced an EP, Age of the Goonda, to be released on November 1, 2019.[9] Two singles were released in the lead up to the EP release, "Lil Pump Type Beat" and "Goonda Gold".[19] After the EP release, the duo announced a series of Canadian tour dates, opening for Hollerado, Fetty Wap, and Clipping.[20] Eventually, the song was announced as a part of the EA Sports UFC 4 official game soundtrack.[21] They were included on Vogue India's list of artists set to breakthrough in 2020.[22]
In 2020, Cartel Madras began their first international tour opening for Sudan Archives in North America.[23] Following this tour, it was announced that they would also join Clipping on tour across the United States in May 2020 in support of Clipping's album, There Existed an Addiction to Blood.[24][25] However, this tour would later be postponed due to COVID-19.[24]
In 2020, Cartel Madras released two singles, "WORKING" and "Stay Up All Night", the latter a collaboration with GWS.[26] "WORKING" was later named one of "The most underrated Canadian songs of 2020", by CBC Music.[27] "WORKING" was featured in the soundtrack for the final season of the Hulu series Shrill.[28]
In 2021, the duo released the single, "DRIFT", alongside announcing their forthcoming project The Serpent and The Tiger, which will be the third instalment of their Project Goonda trilogy, after Trapistan (2018) and Age of the Goonda (2019).[29] In May, they also released a single, "Dream Girl Concept" with Jide and Tyris White, alongside a music video that they directed and starred in.[30][31][32] On July 8, they released another single from the upcoming project, "Fear & Loathing", with Dom Dias.[33] The music video for "Fear & Loathing" stars Cartel Madras, Dom Dias, Sheerah, and Sharanya and was directed by Cartel Madras and Jashan Makan.[34] They also participated in the Emerging Wildly project and residency at Yellowknife's Folk on the Rocks festival, along with Partner and Celeigh Cardinal.[35]
