Web Sensation
A legion of followers comply with Ken Carson’s each transfer due to his alliance with Playboi Carti. The advantages are aplenty, however the Atlanta native is climbing to new heights on his personal.
Phrases: Grant Rindner
Editor’s Be aware: This story seems within the Summer time 2024 concern of XXL Journal, on stands now.
Within the span of some years, Ken Carson has cultivated the form of engaged, younger fan base that A&Rs and report executives spend hours in conferences making an attempt to drum up for his or her artists. The Atlanta-born rapper signed with Playboi Carti’s Opium report label in 2020. Carson launched his Boy Barbie EP the identical 12 months, then produced “Beno!” from Carti’s essential hit Complete Lotta Purple, and scored certainly one of his first crossover tracks with “Yale.”
Carson’s standing as a torch bearer for the gleefully harmful rage rap sound has made him a real youth icon. The subreddit on Reddit devoted to the rapper boasts 45,000 members, simply dwarfing the subreddits of Scorching 100 mainstays like Lil Durk, Gunna and 21 Savage. Although not a catch-all metric of success, it makes one thing very clear: Ken Carson followers don’t simply love listening to Ken Carson; they actually need to speak about Ken Carson, share memes of Ken Carson and speculate about what’s subsequent for Ken Carson. It’s a rabid degree of fascination and engagement, clearly within the mildew of his mentor Carti’s fan base. Nonetheless, Carson has labored diligently over his profession to determine himself as extra than simply an apostle of the baby-voiced rhymer.
Although simply 24, Carson has been round Atlanta’s key hip-hop gamers since he was a youngster. His childhood greatest buddy was producer Lil88, nephew of 808 Mafia member TM88. As soon as Ken, born Kenyatta Frazier, discovered concerning the connection, he started spending time with the influential producer collective and says that for a second in 2017, he even lived with Younger Thug. On the time, Carson admits, “F**okay no, I wasn’t making sh*t,” however shares that watching artists like Thug and Carti report was extraordinarily helpful to him.
“That’s the way you be taught, although,” he explains. “That’s how I discovered, personally. I bought to see it, ‘Oh, I can do this.’ Strive it; it labored. Hold making an attempt.”
Whereas that early face time with Thug, Carti and 808 Mafia might level to an Virtually Well-known-style, superstar-studded origin story, Carson’s love for music got here in essentially the most relatable means. Waking up early earlier than faculty, he’d watch AMTV, studying about artists like Inexperienced Day, The All-American Rejects and Purple Scorching Chili Peppers. He really served as tour help for the latter group on three dates in late Might and early June of this 12 months.
The exhibits represented a big threat for Ken, as he was rapping in large venues in entrance of an unfamiliar viewers, and reactions had been a mixture of confusion and pleasure earlier than and after he carried out. These units didn’t precisely replicate the raucous full crowd mosh pit impact that his solo units have. Nonetheless, he acknowledges the significance of broadening his viewers and studying to thrive in numerous efficiency environments. The choice was a no brainer for Carson, who answered, “Who wouldn’t?” when requested about becoming a member of the tour.
If hip-hop had been a highschool, Carson can be a type of children who went to the favored events, however typically spent lunch alone. He’s an understated case examine. If somebody thinks too arduous about why Ken Carson is cool, they’re lacking the purpose.
Regardless of his easygoing, nonplussed demeanor, Carson takes his stay present severely. Between the Chili Peppers slots, summer season festivals and his personal run of exhibits throughout the U.S. and Europe for the Chaos World Tour, Carson is spending almost all of 2024 on the street. He stresses the significance of staying in cardio form, noting how his units have modified from these early days as an unknown.
“At first, the exhibits had been about quarter-hour, then it bought as much as 45,” he recollects. “Now it’s 45, and also you would possibly get an hour and 10 [minutes]. You bought to be in form for that.”
Carson has launched three initiatives by Opium to this point: Undertaking X, X and A Nice Chaos. The latter two had been dropped in partnership with Interscope Data. A Nice Chaos debuted at No. 11 on the Billboard 200 in 2023, and likewise has carried out properly in Europe and Canada. Brandon Brown, former Vice President of A&R at Interscope Data, served because the A&R for that album and signed Ken to the label.
“I really feel like he’s grown sonically, and among the subject material and songs has modified,” Brown says about Ken. “He’s speaking about completely different experiences, completely different phases of issues he’s experiencing now, from pre-signing to being signed and extra well-known. He’s snug in his new scheme as a profitable artist.”
Each charting and streaming success have led followers to return out in droves for Ken’s exhibits. The proof is within the sold-out dates. “He’s completed a fantastic job of constructing his personal group,” Brown continues. “You would possibly see different artists with Billboard [hits] or half a billion streams on a tune, however can those self same individuals get actual individuals to return out and promote out a venue? Ken can.”
Carson is undeniably a post-Carti artist. His beats usually appear sampled from badly broken PlayStation 2 discs, his lyrics are often secondary to memorable ad-libs, and his supply is much less about matching the raucous nature of his instrumentals than it’s contrasting in opposition to them.
The rhymer isn’t the form of artist who will brag about his artistic course of, however he has a wry reply when requested concerning the development proven between his three initiatives to this point. “I am going to the studio each night time,” he says. “It could be a f**king disgrace to go to the studio for 3 to 4 years straight and drop thrice, and also you by no means get higher inside these thrice. That might simply be a waste of time.”
Ken appears to attract extra instantly from the 2010’s Atlanta rap lineage (final 12 months’s “Me N My Kup” feels like a non secular sequel to Younger Thug’s 1017 Thug mixtape) than among the different Opium artists, together with his woozy melodies and fewer forays into the world of spooky voices.
He’s had a meteoric ascent within the three years since releasing Undertaking X in 2021, however he doesn’t present any indicators of whiplash and even shock. The one second that he does admit to being awed by? Final November, when his collaboration with musical polymath 070 Shake got here out. “That’s one thing I need to inform my youthful self like, ‘Boy, you bought a tune with 070 Shake,’” he remembers fondly.
Whereas Opium’s expertise roster hails virtually solely from Atlanta—Carson, Carti, Destroy Lonely and the duo Homixide Gang all grew up within the southern rap mecca—they’ve carved out an alternate area of interest for themselves. The music of Opium feels respectful to town’s hip-hop lineage and present-day affect, however much less geographically sure. Carson exhibits his love of Atlanta rap in his tunes, however even his sound feels extra knowledgeable by the diffusion of rap on-line.
“It’s lots of muthaf**kas from Atlanta who’re rappers, but it surely’s lots of muthaf**kas from Atlanta who’re rappers who sound precisely the identical,” Carson expresses. “So, us simply
[venturing] off as an entire is a plus.”
His ascent from underground favourite to burgeoning mainstream star has been additional cemented with the crossover success of his single “Abroad,” Carson’s first single to seem on the Billboard Scorching 100. It debuted at No. 79 this previous April. That monitor, with its Heath Ledger Joker-inspired cowl artwork, shimmering beat and delicate melody, is a becoming introduction to the world of Ken Carson. The rapper says he didn’t essentially sense that the tune would have this impression, however he did really feel that the circumstances round it had been best.
“Identical to all the things, it’s good timing,” he insists. “I feel I dropped it on my birthday. Once I drop music, I don’t actually anticipate something. So, all the things is a plus, actually. I’m not occupied with numbers or one thing. If I really like a tune sufficient, it’ll come out.”
“Abroad” is coproduced by Lucian, an Atlanta-based beatmaker, and is certainly one of Ken Carson’s most frequent collaborators, who additionally labored on Lil Yachty’s meme sensation “Poland” and tracks for Carti, Yeat and Destroy Lonely. The producer cites “Jennifer’s Physique” from A Nice Chaos because the archetypal Lucian-Ken Carson collaboration and says that Carson’s dedication to “pushing his sound” is why their artistic relationship has remained so fruitful.
For “Abroad,” Lucian particulars how the instrumental immediately related with Carson, and earlier than Lucian and the opposite producers knew it, the star of the present had an concept that had been hashed out and was able to report.
“He hears the beat [and] he’ll immediately know what to do on it,” Lucian describes of Ken. “One take, he’ll simply go within the sales space, come out in 20 minutes. He’s a perfectionist. He undoubtedly takes his time, however he is aware of what he’s doing.”
The Darkish Knight-inspired Joker scars on Carson’s visage for the “Abroad” single art work is simply the newest and most overt image of the rapper’s love for cinema’s gory and grim. The music movies from A Nice Chaos usually recall the eerie, lo-fi aesthetic of one other latest Batman villain: Paul Dano’s Riddler within the 2022 franchise reboot. Don’t inform the MC that, although; he’s beforehand expressed his dislike for Matt Reeves’ film within the media. Carson has referenced Rob Zombie in his music movies, used the cult basic movie Jennifer’s Physique as inspiration for his final album’s greatest tune, and has repeatedly known as the maximalist crime biopic The Satan’s Double his favourite movie.
Lucian says their studio periods usually function scary motion pictures enjoying within the background to assist create a temper. It’s simple to think about Ken Carson curating a soundtrack for a significant studio thriller or horror film within the vein of what Kendrick Lamar did with Black Panther or Future did with Superfly. (“I need to do all that,” Ken insists. “All that.”)
When requested what resonates so arduous about these style movies particularly, Carson particulars, “The truth that it’s not actual and it seems actual,” with a way of frustration and envy. Hip-hop, in any case, has by no means been allowed the identical creative license as movie, literature and even another musical genres. Although their lyrical content material differs from that of the horrorcore rappers who made the subgenre well-known within the Nineties, Ken Carson and Opium may be clearly traced to that lineage.
Like many rock stars whose aesthetic he has drawn inspiration from, Carson has confronted notable and regarding authorized bother all through his rise. In 2021, he was arrested and charged with battery (home violence) in Florida and had an altercation with police
at a Lil Uzi Vert present in 2023. The battery case was closed a month after the incident. (That is an unlucky by line with Opium, as Destroy Lonely was reportedly arrested for easy battery final 12 months, and Carti has been arrested for felony assault, reckless driving and drug possession at completely different instances throughout his profession.)
“Yeah, in fact,” Carson says about transferring in a different way after studying from his personal experiences. “I’m positive everyone is making an attempt to remain out of bother.” When requested a follow-up query about an internet doc indicating that the 2021 case was dropped, Carson’s PR stepped in to maneuver together with the interview.
In comparison with Playboi Carti, Ken Carson scans as extra of an everyman, much less enigmatic, and extra aligned with the common rap-loving 24-year-old. He’s conscious of the mysterious aura that Opium has cultivated, actually coming from the top of the snake. However Carson insists that isn’t a calculated transfer to breed thriller; it’s a product of the truth that the tight-knit cohort is doing the work. Primarily based on his personal schedule, which incorporates the deluxe version of A Nice Chaos he dropped in July and the aforementioned grueling run of exhibits, he’s on a very continuous tempo.
“You wouldn’t need us to be posting on Instagram all day, [on] Twitter all day,” Carson maintains. “That’s not working. What are you doing? Go within the studio.”
Learn Ken Carson’s interview within the Freshman concern, on newsstands now. Along with interviews with the 2024 Freshman Class and producer Southside, there are additionally conversations with Sexyy Purple, Mustard, Ski Masks The Stoop God, Rubi Rose, Ken Carson, Ghostface Killah, Lola Brooke and extra, plus, a glance again at what the 2023 XXL Freshman Class has been doing. Additionally, there are tales on the continued scamming and fraud plaguing hip-hop and the way podcasters and streamers are enjoying a significant position in rap beef. The problem is on sale right here, together with some unique Freshman merch.
See the 2024 XXL Freshman Class Artists and Producer
