2015–2019: Beginnings Carson initially joined
808 Mafia in 2015 as a rapper after meeting fellow record producer
TM88, and began releasing music on
SoundCloud in 2017. After gaining popularity in the underground rap scene, he was 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 with Opium in 2019, Carson released two extended plays—
Boy Barbie and
Teen X—the following year. At the start of 2021, he released his third EP, titled
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 second studio album
2 Alive. He released his second studio album,
X, on July 8, 2022. It peaked at number 115 on the
Billboard 200 and reached number 50 on
Billboard's
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. 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, titled
Xtended, alongside a music video on YouTube for his song "MDMA" featuring
Destroy Lonely. On June 13, 2024, the song was certified
Gold by the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
2023–present: A Great Chaos and More Chaos Carson released the single "I Need U" on
February 14, 2023. On May 5, 2023, Carson featured on his
Opium labelmate
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 album's release. Carson performed the tracks "
Fighting My Demons," "Lose It," "Hardcore," "Singapore," and "Paranoid" alongside Destroy Lonely, before bringing out fellow rapper and Opium founder
Playboi Carti to perform songs from the rapper's latest album, "Stop Breathing" from
Whole Lotta Red (2020), and "
Fein" from
Travis Scott's fourth studio album,
Utopia (2023). On July 5, 2024, he released the deluxe edition of
A Great Chaos, containing seven additional tracks, including the single "
Overseas," which was released on April 12, 2024. The single became his first entry on the
Billboard Hot 100, debuting at number 79. On November 1, 2024, Carson released the single "Delusional" in promotion of his fourth studio album
More Chaos. The single debuted at number 49 on the US
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. He would eventually release the album on his twenty-fifth birthday, April 11, 2025, and became his first album to reach the number 1 spot on the
Billboard 200 and the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, earning 59,500 album-equivalent units in its first week. six days later, on November 6, Carson would follow through with his next single, titled "Catastrophe". On November 13, Carson would release "
Margiela". On November 17, Carson was featured in a
Skims ad, where the brand was doing a collaboration with
Cactus Plant Flea Market. On December 12, he released "
The Acronym" featuring Destroy Lonely after having previewed it the month before. ==Musical style==