Rapper Ken Carson released his fourth album “More Chaos” on April 11. At 21 songs long, the album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, despite being announced just a week before its release.
Released by Opium, an imprint of label Interscope Records, the album serves as the sequel to Carson’s 2023 album produced by F1lthy, titled “A Great Chaos.”
“A Great Chaos”, Carson’s rage rap opus earned traction online from a handful of successful singles including “Fighting My Demons” and “overseas.”
Carson continues to build on the sound of his previous album, using pummeling rage beats and aggressive lyricism to prove why he is at the forefront of the rage rap genre. Taking some influence from similar rappers in the genre, “More Chaos” proves to be a more entertaining listen.
The album opens with the aptly titled “Lord Of Chaos,” which sees Carson immediately put his foot down, and shows how nobody else compares to his energy and status at the top: “I am the lord of chaos, I got the mosh pit under control. When I signed to the label, ha, they struck gold.”
Tracks such as “Trap Jump” or “LiveLeak” see Carson diversifying his selection of beats, opting for more glitch-oriented techno inspired rhythms seen more in underground rap styles found on Soundcloud today. The latter of the two features a beat switch effectively splitting the track into two halves, with the second half introducing more bass and louder percussion.
The album takes a brief pause from its tense nature on the track “Down2Earth” where Carson embraces his singing voice. The change in vocals also features a different style of songwriting, hearing his qualms about a relationship he misses. Admittedly an admirable attempt in vocals, it sticks out as the most boring and least cohesive song on the album, not fitting the overall theme.
The most standout track of the entire album has to be the closing song “Off the Meter,” which features a more laid-back beat focused on Carson’s catchy flow on the song’s chorus.
“Off the Meter” is the only song to feature any other collaborative artists on the album with Carson. Fellow Opium labelmate and frequent collaborator, Destroy Lonely handles verse two, giving the track his signature over the top lyrics on style: “I spent 400 on all my tees. It’s Rick on my shoes and my jeans dog.”
The track also features a verse from Carson’s mentor and Opium label founder, Playboi Carti. This marks the two rappers first collaboration together since Carti had signed Carson to Opium in 2019. Carti’s verse features his new deep voice flow, as well as the expected call out tags from Atlanta radio personality, Swamp Izzo.
Although Carti provides a fun verse, the abrupt use of Swamp Izzo’s producer tag disrupts the flow of the song. For a release that he wasn’t a part of, outside this song, the tag doesn’t make any sense.
Overall, Carson expands the sound of his previous album providing a more dynamic and engaging listen than the previous release. He continues his endeavor with the sound of “A Great Chaos” with a more focused idea. More concise concepts and slightly dabbling with new beat sounds make the album a refreshing and enjoyable listen.