For nearly 1 1/2 years, Ken Carson fans waited for Carson’s new album to release. From the date of Carson’s last release on Oct. 13, 2023, to the release of More Chaos on April 11, 2025, Carson fans anticipated something new and special from the enigmatic artist.
Was what the fans received uncreative and repetitive, or was it the continuation of a storyline? After releasing A Great Chaos in October of 2023, fans seemed underwhelmed after seeing the new album name of More Chaos. However, for others, the repetition of music style in the new album served as a parallel to the indirect repetition of the album name.
After signing for Playboi Carti’s record label, OPIUM, in 2019, Carson seems to have taken some inspiration from Carti himself by extending the time in between his album releases. Although Ken Carson originally teased a Halloween 2024 drop for More Chaos, the project was delayed. Instead, he released a standalone single, “Delusional,” on Nov. 1. A few months later, in January 2025, streamer Kai Cenat revealed the official release date, April 11, during a live stream, backed by a text confirmation from Carson himself.
For more than a year, Carson left his fans unaware of what his future album plans were. This mysteriousness adds to Carson’s personality expressed in songs on More Chaos such as “Xposed,” and “Root of All Evil.” The mysterious theme is expressed in these songs by delving into hidden truths and touching on moral decay respectively.
Because Carson maintains his signature energetic, base-heavy, aggressive music-style, he is able to express other themes such as trendsetting and cultish in More Chaos. “Lord of Chaos,” expresses trendsetting vibes through its glitching tone which he definitely helped popularize. “Lord of Chaos,” also expresses cultish vibes as the song paints Carson to be a dark figurehead leading a chaotic movement. A trendsetting theme is also seen in “Going Live,” because the focus on digital clout taps into Carson’s influence digitally. The cultish vibe is again seen in “LiveLeak,” where Carson repeatedly sings the line, “I can’t feel my face, I can’t feel my face.” The repetition of this line continues the vibe of a cult through a chanting-like line.
More Chaos thrives on the energy created through its loudness, and the most hyped tracks sever deeper cuts through the showcasing of Carson’s artistry. The most overrated songs in More Chaos are “Money Spread,” and “Off the Meter.” While “Money Spread” continues to grab millions of listens, its ideas and sound are at best surface-level. Although “Off the Meter” features big names such as Playboi Carti and Destroy Lonely, the abnormal and non-eardrum-rattling beat is not convincing. An underrated song is “Diamonds.” Its haunting production along with its chaotic relationship metaphor is quite thought-provoking.
The album name poorly encapsulates the overall emotion of fans’ reactions to the album’s songs. There seems to be no in between as each track of the album is either very good or mediocre.
Ken Carson underwhelms in new album
May 16, 2025
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Rookie Writer Evan Yepuri