Kicking off the 2nd half of 2026 with the 5th studio LP from Atlanta, Georgia recording artist Ken Carson. Breaking out in the SoundCloud scene & becoming a protege of local trailblazer Playboi Carti as one of the first artists to sign to the latter’s Opium Records, he would go on to drop a total of 5 EPs prior to his full-length debut Project X & coming off the mature sophomore effort X which Anthony Fantano infamously gave a 0. Coming off A Great Chaos & More Chaos however, he’s looking to Xperiment a lot more ahead of Cartunez.
Former 17-time WWE world champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, 5-time WWE United States Champion & 4-time WWE tag team champion John Cena gets referenced on the intro “wheredoistart?” produced by Four3va whereas “deaf note” featuring Playboi Carti finds the 2 detailing their lifestyles. “shadeson” was disappointing since it’s pretty much a remix of “girl” off 2hollis’ major label debut star prior to “gynecologist” making up for it whether it be the instrumental from F1THY of Working on Dying to the lyrics detailing what he’d do if he wasn’t making music.
“wrist” continues from there talking about being in kitchen serving up weight & deceiving a woman into thinking they’re locking in when Ken wants to fuck her friend leading into “edm” addressing the rumors of Xperiment & Cartunez fulfilling his ongoing contractual obligations. “truth” hops over an Art Dealer & Outtatown beat so he can drop a lengthy verse sandwiched between a chorus expressing his sincerest feelings while “outofmybody” talks about being a wireless plug.
As for “the ritual”, we have Ken setting the record straight regarding a woman acting like he’s her man when it’s false & finding a way to always prevail while the “interlude” feels more of a brief freestyle talking about others not being able to reach his high. “ghost” featuring Lil Uzi Vertspeeds up the pace instrumentally so both of them can switch shit up for those moving too slowly while “drug kit” featuring Young Thug details being under the influence of drugs over a celebratory beat from DY & Tre Pounds.
“possession” continues the 2nd half of Xperimenton some more rage-inducing vibes talking about raking money in like a bunch of leaves that’ve fallen off branches while the distorted “fw00” discusses having money on his mind & the fact that he’s been setting trends for some time already. “somanybags” hops over another hypertrap instrumental to talk about being so geeked up where he can’t relax while “shopping” featuring Destroy Lonely prepares us for their collab tape trading the mic back-&-forth.
The song “amandabynes” brings some buzzing synthesizers into the picture talking about falling in love with a woman for who she is as a person & her being attracted to his timing but after “amnesia” runs it back with Art Dealer & Outtatown to confess that he forgot the times he’s seen this chick being addressed, “flamethrower” airs out his grievances towards a an ex-girlfriend whom he did so much for yet she still ended up leaving.
“knocking” brings a hypnotically futuristic sound to the table talking about someone he knew since Day 1 who’s changed so much that he doesn’t even have friends anymore while “addiction” references former WWE United States Champion & WWE tag team champion Logan Paul. The closer “wedidit” featuring Playboi Carti concludes our Xperiment referencing current AEW performer/commentator, former 7-time WWE world champion, 11-time WWE Tag Team Champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, WWE United States Champion & 3-time WWE Hardcore Champion Paul Wight.
Even if it’s not quite experimental as I hoped it would be, Xperiment could still debatably surpass A Great Chaos to become Ken Carson’s greatest full-length & it has me wondering whether or not Cartunez next Friday will join either of those albums in that same conversation. Excluding a small handful of songs that I felt were pointless, rage/trap production’s less watered down than More Chaos last spring & there’s a tight guest list.
Score: 3.5/5
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