Ken Carson, ‘A Great Chaos’ – Image credits given to Wikipedia

On October 13th, Atlanta singer and songwriter, and one of Opium’s main faces, Ken Carson, released A Great Chaos. (His third studio album)

 It came off a disappointing Sophomore release in X, and the Soundcloud Exclusive, Lost Files 4. Ken attempts to master this captivating sound of rage music which has been in  the underground rap scene for around 2 years. Which followed ever since Playboi Carti’s Whole Lotta Red; making huge commercial success.

Following in his predecessor’s footsteps, this album has its delays and pushbacks. On June 2nd, Carson said that the album would release July 17th. This tracklist was to feature multiple big name artists and was leaked online. This 14-track project was inevitably scrapped and Opium artists alleged to be included were Lil Uzi Vert, and Destroy Lonely. The first lead track was ‘i need u,’ and was released on Valentines’ Day. Its second lead single, ‘It’s Over’ was intended to be featured in part of this project. Once ‘i need you’ was released on Spotify, following its success, the hit-single streamed over 25,000,000 times. 

With nonstop energy throughout the project, Ken presents improved enhancements since X, and possesses deeper vocals in Lost Files 4.  The intro track, ‘Green Room’ shows Ken tapped into his more melodic side. There’s a change from his typical violent rage sound. The following months after, the next track, ‘Jennifer’s Body’ is considered a popular leak, and has been in high demand. This song was even co-signed by Drake, who featured it on his Instagram story. One of the better tracks Carson has released, was ‘Fighting My Demons.’ Ken and Starboy produced instrumentals that are grimey and consist of disgusting amounts of bass. Additionally, Destroy Lonely and Ken Carson produced ‘Singapore,’ and together, they took turns sharing some pretty memorable verses. 

The next track, however, ‘Lose It’ is just too much. This beat is unbelievably distorted and you can barely even hear Ken say anything. It’s like pouring multiple types of drinks together then expecting the best aspects of each drink to come. Unfortunately though, those turn yucky and a mess in general. Aside from that, ‘Hardcore’ is an overall repetitive track, with the chorus just being: ‘Hardcore, I’m going gore,’ but eight times in a row. ‘Me And My Kup’ is an overall crazy track. Its instrumental is wild, repetitive, and the non-stop flow from Ken boosts this track even more. ‘It’s Over’ feels like ‘Lose It’ had an older mature big brother, but you’d still prefer to avoid both siblings. Another song that feels like another throwaway from X is the track, ‘Succubus.’

The second track featuring Destroy Lonely, is ‘Paranoid,’ however, it doesn’t top ‘Singapore’ even. ‘Paranoid’ is still a tolerably replayable track regardless. ‘P.O.T.S.’ is a good track, and has some amount of replay value. ‘Like This’ features both Lonely and Lil Uzi, and it isn’t the track you would expect from the trio. There are some questionable lines with not much replay value, and it’s an overall disappointing track. ‘Vampire Hour’ sounds like another remastered song from X. ‘Nightcore’ and ‘Nightcore 2,’’ despite the names, sound like different tracks. The original has a very high energy, while the latter is calmed on the energy, but still is entertaining. ‘Rockstar Lifestyle’ is probably a top five song that Ken has ever released. The relentless energy and dirty instrumental make this song a fun listen. The lead single, ‘i need u’ is high-energy, and digs into his melodic side shown all the way back in Track 1 of ‘Green Room.’

Overall Review                                                                                                                                                        71% out of 100%

Ken Carson never fails making hooks that are fun, catchy, and easily get stuck in your head. A Great Chaos gives Project X a good challenge for the best Ken album. However, I would prefer Project X as a whole because it shows more versatility and melodic flows than A Great Chaos. This project is rated a 7.1/10.