A Great Chaos

“A Great Chaos,” -Ken Carson

by Nasif Afif

Ken Carson may come off as a lot of things, Playboi Carti’s understudy, a TikTok “meme,” another member of the infamous record label, “Opium.” However, many do not know that he might have released the best Hip-Hop/Rap album of 2023. “I was just expressing a lot of energy, a lot of it,” said Carson when being interviewed by Clash Music. 

The album was announced by Carson in June of 2023, and was set to release in August. However, it did not release in August, and that had fans riled up. Fans were saying the hype for the album was dead. It was a dark time for fans of the Opium music group. Music was not being dropped consistently by any member, and fans were losing hope. Then, Carson broke the silence on October 6th, 2023, saying it was set to release on October 13th, 2023. When it was released, it completely thwarted expectations . Some claimed it “blew them away,” and it “was the best album they’ve heard in months.” 

“Huh, huh, huh, huh, huh,” he muttered on the first song in the album, “Green Room.” The instrumental, produced by F1LTHY, Lucrative, and Lucian, delivered the energy expected by fans on this song. Like most of his songs, he expressed his materialistic values, and his “come-up.” His soft voice contrasted with the loud, trap rage beat. You can see different variations of these types of beats all throughout the album on hit songs, “Fighting My Demons,” “Jennifer’s Body,”"Succubus,” and "Paranoid.” 

Many fans expressed their love for the features on this album, the only two being Destroy Lonely (who is a fellow “Opium” member,) and Lil Uzi Vert. These collaborators added depth and an added level of enjoyment to the album, and gave fans the liberty of listening to different voices and flows on a track. 

Amongst many positive things about the album, there are some flaws. Towards the end of the album, the songs seem to dip in quality and production, with beats and lyrics that seem recycled. Even subtle things, such as the tone of his voice, and the title of the songs make the album look “cheaper.” The prime examples of this are in the songs “Nightcore,” and “Nightcore 2.” Not only are the titles extremely similar, the flow, beats, and lyrics seem extremely redundant. These production issues seem to be occurring in many different “trap rage” artists, such as Yeat, Summrs, Autumn , and Kankan. Most recently, fans have called Yeat’s 3rd studio album, “AfterLyfe,” things such as “mid,” and “boring.” The backlash for this album was a result of the extreme repetitiveness, making each song sound extremely similar. 

In the end, Ken Carson did not disappoint with “A Great Chaos.” This album is exactly what Rick Owens, and “Opium” obsessed teenagers deserve.