Ken Carson

Kenyatta Lee Frazier Jr. (born April 11, 2000), known professionally as Ken Carson, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He rose to prominence following the release of his second studio album X (2022), which became his first entry on the Billboard 200. His third studio album, A Great Chaos (2023) reached number 11 on the chart. Carson signed to Playboi Carti's record label Opium, an imprint of Interscope Records in 2019.

Prior, Carson released his extended play Teen X (2020) and debut studio album Project X (2021). Songs from the latter, namely "Rock N Roll" and "Run + Ran", gained wide popularity on the platform TikTok. He is closely affiliated with Opium labelmate, frequent collaborator, and fellow Georgia native Destroy Lonely.

Career

2015–2019: Beginnings

Carson initially joined 808 Mafia in 2015 as a rapper after meeting fellow record producer TM88, and would begin releasing music on SoundCloud as early as 2017. After gaining popularity in the underground rap scene, he would be discovered by fellow Atlanta rapper Playboi Carti and signed to his label Opium in 2019. Carson was also the first to be signed to Opium out of Destroy Lonely, and Homixide Gang.

2020–2022: Teen X, Project X and X

After signing to Opium in 2019, Carson would release two extended plays in 2020, Boy Barbie and Teen X.

At the start of 2021, he would release a sequel EP called Teen X: Relapsed, before releasing his debut studio album Project X later that year. In February 2022, he appeared as a guest on the track "Gëek high" off American rapper Yeat's album, 2 Alive. He released his second studio album X on July 8, 2022. It peaked at number 115 on the Billboard 200.

In October 2022, he and fellow Atlanta rapper SoFaygo released a single titled "Hell Yeah" for SoFaygo's debut studio album Pink Heartz with an accompanying music video. On October 31, 2022, Ken Carson released a deluxe version of his X album named Xtended, alongside a music video on YouTube for his song "MDMA" featuring Destroy Lonely.

2023–present: A Great Chaos

Carson released the single "I Need U" on February 14, 2023. On May 5, 2023, Carson featured on Destroy Lonely's debut studio album, If Looks Could Kill, on the song "Money & Sex". In June 2023, Carson produced the song "x2" from Lil Uzi Vert's third studio album, Pink Tape. On October 6, 2023, Carson tweeted a pre-save link for his third studio album A Great Chaos, indicating that the project would be released on October 13 with a tracklist of 18 songs; three days later, nearly the entire album leaked online after several tracks were shared on a Discord server. On October 12, an album launch party was held at the Silo dance club in Brooklyn to commemorate the project's release. Carson performed tracks "Fighting My Demons", "Lose It", "Hardcore", "Singapore", and "Paranoid" alongside his Opium labelmate, Destroy Lonely, before bringing out fellow rapper and the aforementioned label's founder, Playboi Carti, to perform songs from the rapper's latest album,"Stop Breathing" from Whole Lotta Red (2020), and "Fe!n" from Travis Scott's fourth studio album Utopia (2023).

Musical style

Carson's musical style has been described as "[having] electronic production that is energetic in nature" and having "focused flows." He has been compared to his mentor Playboi Carti, especially his 2020 album Whole Lotta Red as well as to Lil Uzi Vert for his flow and mentality.

Discography

Studio albums

• Project X (2021)
• X (2022)
• A Great Chaos (2023)

Tours

Headlining

• The X Man Tour (2022)

Co-headlining

• Antagonist Tour – (with Playboi Carti, Destroy Lonely and Homixide Gang) (2024)