Rapper Ken Carson’s Rise To The Top Of The Charts
by Artur Andrusko
Rise to fame
Kenyatta Lee Frazier Jr. aka Ken Carson is a hip-hop artist specifically known for his work in the rage and pluggnb subgenres. Him and multiple others have gained popularity with their new take on music, and their popularity is not stopping.
Carson made his presence clear in 2020 with his popular release “Teen X”. Teen X quickly became popular for its unique and catchy flow, even receiving Carson’s first RIAA certification for the song “Yale” (RIAA). Yale quickly became viral on social media, finally giving Carson a taste of popularity among his success. But Carson knew he did not want to be a one-hit wonder. He wanted to prove his presence in the long term.
After his single song hit in 2020, Carson wanted to prove himself as an artist. He knew he had more to give, and nothing would stop him from giving it. Ken Carson’s beat selection, label sound, and creativity simply set his music on a different level than other artists.
Opium
The Opium label enabled Carson to develop his sound through their funding, producers, and artists. Carson met Playboi Carti in 2018 through one of their producers, TM88 (RollingloudRotterdam). Previous to meeting Carti Carson had not released any music despite making music since 2014 when he was only 13. For the next two years, Carson remained in contact with Carti. Carti saw potential and eventually signed Carson to his record label “Opium” in 2019.
Carson recognized this incredible opportunity with the legendary rapper’s label and joined with other artists such as Destroy Lonely and Homoxide Gang.
Unlike most other labels, Opium has a very popularized and distinct sound. As mentioned before, they only make music that qualifies for the plugging or rage genre, but they take it to another level. Their producers such as F1lthy and KP Beatz use the narrow amount of sounds and harsh synths that create an undying atmosphere around their music. Harsh 808 bass and squeaky plucks create a very melodic and punchy or soft charisma that is only reinforced by the rapper’s voices.
At first, although he was already signed to Opium, Carson released multiple projects not under the Opium label that did not gain popularity because of Carson’s overall performative delivery. One of the projects includes the album “Boy Barbie”, which was released in 2020.
Boy Barbie includes a variety of beats that span from mellow and chill sounds to hard and aggressive-sounding tracks. Despite the wonderful sounding beats and top-tier production, Carson fails to deliver in a way that would be able to satisfy the Opium fanbase. This was reflected by the album’s run in Album of The Year, where it was labeled “incredibly average” (Album Of The Year).
Only months after Boy Barbie, Carson Released Teen X, which was also not particularly recognized by the Opium fanbase or critics either. Personally, every track from Teen X lacks something that brings Carson’s charisma and personality to the beat. The entire album contained original sounds that were just tainted by Carson’s attempts to make them sound good. Even Yale, Carson’s most popular song on this album and his most popular song ever fails to demonstrate what he is capable of.
The Transition
Carson’s disappointing projects however did not stop him. Carson began to captivate what he wanted to sound like, what his music should sound like to set him apart from other rappers. Considering Carson’s extremely long uprising, he kept fighting to develop his music and delivery by use of his label, beat selection, but mainly his creative intellect.
He began to grasp his potential with his popular release “X”, and its deluxe version “XTENDED”. Selecting beats mainly from Southside and TM88, Carson chose a harsh-sounding beat to accompany his harsh-sounding delivery, which resulted in gaining an incredible amount of new fans, but the vast majority of people were disappointed by the project. Critics simply did not like this project even as much as his older records.
The project resembles a band with the way everything comes together. The sounds align perfectly, the textures provide the record with personality, and Carson ties it together with his hard, almost angry, delivery. The issue is, that this is nearly all the record has to offer. Carson focused mostly on one aspect of his music and neglected the others which ended up being his mistake. It is also apparent that Carson may have drawn too much inspiration from his label because this record sounds hugely similar to Playboi Carti’s most recent album Whole Lotta Red, but worse. Carson’s unoriginal performance was covered by the loud and powerful beats that he chose, meaning that his beats were possibly more intriguing than his performance.
“For rappers like Ken Car$on, without a drip of charisma, the loud and busy sounds of a production style that has been classified as “rage” makes a good cloak to hide behind. It’s a bad sign for Car$on that even still, the album is as forgettable as it is faceless.”, says revered reviewer Alphonse Pierre in a Pitchfork review on the Album.
At the time of the release, it was apparent that Carson might be receding into his starting days. His music was not widely believed to be good, but despite this, his diehard fan base supported him for the following year before his next release. But his next release was not expected to be a classic. Nobody expected his development to step up so much in one year that he created a timeless masterpiece that sold 49,000 copies in the first month.
A Great Chaos
18 songs, 46 minutes. 18 songs that permanently solidified Carson as an enigma of the rap scene. A Great Chaos established Carson as more than anyone ever expected. The project was and is liked by critics, new fans, and old fans, and is continuously growing. It was truly a creative breakthrough that will have repercussions on the rap and music scene for years to come, possibly influencing larger artists to adapt Carson’s sounds.
A Great Chaos is a multi-emotional record that consists of a wide scope of inspiration drawn primarily from Opium and other rage artist. Keeping a focus on making music that carries Carson’s personality and charisma, the music he made on this record did not fail to go viral even before it was released.
The signature opening pauses of Jenifer’s Body prepare you for what this song has to come, an array of complex synths, pads, and plucks accompanied by Carson’s signature punchline. “Two things I ain’t ever seen”, a quote that most people on TikTok have heard at least once opens the listeners of this song for a dynamic mix of incredible vocal performance and magnificent production by Lucian and KP Beatz. Carson floats on the harmony of the track with his punchy voice and lines that get stuck in my head every time I listen to it. Lightly resembling other hits such as FEIN by Travis Scott, the track has a unique and catchy charisma that cannot be fully replicated by other artists, and that is why it had such great success.
Jennifer’s Body is not however the only up-beat song on the album. Paranoid (feat. Destroy Lonely) carries a similar sound that is further strengthened by the shared chemistry of the two rappers and the two producers. Whenever F1lthy and Carson make a song together they create a masterpiece, and they most certainly did not fail to do exactly that on this track. On Paranoid, F1lthy, Lukrative, and Lucian create a stage of synths and drums that sound like they were meant for Carson and Destroy Lonely. Their voice falls into the charismatic sound of the beat with Destroy Lonely’s voice also fitting into the rest of the track perfectly. Paranoid has the most positive atmosphere to it, and that is why it has quickly become many people’s favorite song on the album.
Nonetheless, Carson and Destroy Lonely were not done after only one song, as Destroy Lonely was featured on the project three times. One of those times was in the song Singapore (feat. Destroy Lonely), referencing the city-country Singapore in southern Asia. The hard-hitting beat produced by lil88, Tm88, Nick Spiders, and LBW was once again a group effort for perfection, and they most certainly did not disappoint. Despite the beat already being spectacular, the energy was just further reinforced by Carson rapping effortlessly with his feature, Destroy Lonely. Once again, their chemistry leads the track above what either of them is capable of doing alone, as their verses accommodate different types of energy that match perfectly.
One of Ken Carson’s keys to success is his producers and beat selection, this is why there is a song on the album that is especially known for how complicated and remarkable the beat is. Arguably the most complex beats of the past decade, Me N My Kup can have multiple interpretations by listeners as it contains such a complex array of sounds that nobody has been able to recreate. Starboy, lil88, OUTTATOWN, Warren Hunter, and Legion perform an unbelievable act of production mastery with this beat, possibly pushing the limits of what producers are used to while making music. It has been acknowledged as a piece of art rather than just a beat, and Carson’s vocals do not taint it whatsoever. Despite this song not containing the most lyrical performance Carson was capable of putting up, the notes he hits and the key he is in make the beat sound even more melodic. His delivery makes the track sound like it has a story behind it or as if it belonged in a movie, which draws the listener in and creates a connection between the song and the audience.
To finish this experience, Carson uses a song that was released before the album as a single. The intoxicating sounds of i need u attack you from every angle as soon as the track is on, yet they create a stage for Carson’s high-pitched voice to take your attention away. The beat and Carson somehow have a connection, and this is possibly what Ken Carson was trying to convey with this track. He is mostly talking about his partner/s and how much they do together. It is possible that Carson heard the beat and to him, the synths sounded like he felt with his partners. The chemistry and charisma-packed beat enabled Carson to have an incredible vocal performance and this is why this track quickly rose to popularity.
Conclusion
Ken Carson’s development from a non-energetic and unoriginal-sounding artist reaching the very bottom of the charts to being one of the biggest names in hip-hop is an example of how developing characters can change anything. While Ken Carson’s early work might have not been satisfying to most people, his positive development is undeniably something that should be observed. In the music industry, pushing through challenges and criticisms is the key to success. With the use of spectacular beat selection, label sound, and development Ken Carson managed to climb to the top of the charts with a well-deserved conclusion. A Great Chaos is a record that should be listened to by anyone who has an open mind to hip hop, as it is an acquired taste, but I advocate the readers of this article to listen to it whenever they can.