Ken Carson, the Opium protégé, has taken the nation by storm in the past couple of years, most notably with the release of his sophomore studio album “A Great Chaos” in 2023. With his unique music, Ken and the Opium label also pushed a certain aesthetic, consisting of all-black clothing and upside-down cross chains. I, for one, see many people copying this look every day and that very much strengthens my opinion on how influential Ken is on the youth. “A Great Chaos” was the blueprint for Ken’s sound, blasting distorted 808s on top of scary, synthy melodies, paired with Ken’s ability to abuse Auto-Tune and make anthems you couldn’t survive against in a mosh pit. AGC was very well received by fans and TikTok as a whole, pushing certain songs like “Fighting My Demons,” “i need u,” and “Jennifer’s Body.”
With the way things are going, Ken is on his way to becoming an established artist in the rap game. His momentum right now is unmatched, and he is not letting the hype go to waste. On April 11th, 2025, Ken dropped the sequel to AGC, simply titled “More Chaos.” The 22-track project is definitely an upgrade to AGC, adding more flavor to his bass-boosted sound and tweaking Ken’s vocal performances for the better. He sounds less bored than usual, and with the help of catchy beat switches throughout the album, (See “Blakk Rokkstar,” “LiveLeak,” “Diamonds”) the songs develop structure, something that wasn’t as used in AGC.
My favorite part of the album is the beats. The producers on this project, like F1LTHY, Pi’erre Bourne, star boy, ivvys (Shouts out to Stepteam) legion, Lil 88 and more, find ways to manipulate 808s so well and work with Ken’s delivery and flow. The dystopian, futuristic melodies imply Ken is really basking in the chaos and just being real with people. Ken’s use of transitions and beat switches is good too. Hearing a beat deconstruct itself and reform is satisfying, especially when Ken starts rapping again and you are left wondering what just happened.
You would think Ken would be making and releasing songs with the biggest stars right now given his newfound popularity, but the only features on “More Chaos” are his Opium labelmates, Destroy Lonely and Playboi Carti. The impactful trio’s “Off The Meter,” which is the outro track, sounds like something from 2022 at least. The beat, and especially Ken’s vocals, reminds me of his Project X era a lot. I can say the same with Lone, too. The flows from both of them are clean and the delivery is light-hearted. Carti’s part, with Swamp Izzo’s help, is definitely a “newer” recording, relying on his deep-voice cadence that he has popularized lately. Carti’s verse was all right, but I don’t think the deep-voice was the right choice for this song.
“More Chaos” is interesting to me because it leaves me wondering if Ken is just going to stay in the same lane for the rest of his career or try something different with the next release. I personally don’t mind either choice, just as long as the music is good and not all hope is lost. The Atlanta soldier proves time and time again that he and his sound can turn up a crowd ten times quicker and easier than any rapper possessing his style can.
