Green Room -9.3/10
Starting out with a very catchy synth-wave intro going into a very catchy and hard beat, this song is a very strong opener for what will turn out to be an incredible album.
Best line: “How the f*ck you want me now, back then act like you ain’t notice me?” (0:19)
Jennifer’s Body -8.9/10
In Jennifer’s Body, the beat starts out with very aggressive periods of a beat inspired by Playboi Carti’s Whole Lotta Red, with pauses in between the first three periods, and then continuing in loops without pause.
Best line: “Diamonds on my teeth, lil b*tch, I ain’t smiling for nothing.” (1:30)
Fighting My Demons -8/10
This song starts out very aggressively and maintains that feeling throughout the rest of the song, pulling in the listener constantly. This would be a great song for a party or a rave, bringing lots of energy to the listeners.
Best line: “My trigger finger itchin’, I feel like D-Wade with the Heat.” (0:47)
Ken Carson is taking after Babytron, referencing NBA players in a way that actually fits into the song.
Singapore (feat. Destroy Lonely) -9.1/10
Produced by Ken Carson’s cousin Lil88, this song is perfect for a music festival instantly bringing energy to the crowd and getting everyone hype, something Carson is known for being very good at.
Best Line: “I get higher than a UFO, b*tch, I’m an alien.” (1:03)
Destroy Lonely’s verse is one of the best features to come out of October, and probably the best feature of new music friday.
Lose It -8.2/10
Lose It is definitely the most aggressive rap beat I have ever heard since the first time I listened to music, maintaining the highest level of bass I think there has ever been in a popular artist’s song. Ken Carson is very consistent with his flow over such an aggressive beat, something that is rarely done well in rap. However, this is definitely not a top 10 song on the album.
Best line: “C-O-D, U-A-V, I got the drop on all them b*tches.” (0:32)
This line is a great reference to one of the most popular video games that Ken Carson grew up with, Call of DUty, where Unmanned Aerial Vehicles(UAVs) are used as a killstreak reward.
Hardcore -5.9/10
Following the trend of aggressive and energetic openings, Hardcore starts out with Ken Carson screaming gibberish-like lyrics, repeatedly screaming, “Hardcore, I’m goin’ gore.” Carson almost never takes a break from rapping on this song, continuously yelling battle cry lyrics. This song really brings the entire album down, but it still isn’t a bad song.
Best line: “He clout chasin’, huh, he want fame, we gon’ turn him to a star.” (0:27)
Me N My Kup -8.9/10
Really living up to the name of the album, Me N My Kup starts out very loud and somewhat chaotic. The beat reminds me of the background music of a 90’s arcade game, like Mortal Kombat, combining rock ‘n’ roll with video game sounds. Ken Carson comes out swinging, immediately flowing flawlessly over the beat. This is almost definitely a top 5 song on the album.
Best line: “I just might go buy the SVJ ‘cause I like how the doors go up.” (0:44)
Ken Carson is referencing the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ, a supercar that has doors that go up. This is definitely one of the lyrics of all time.
It’s Over -7.3/10
With probably the shortest intro to any song on the album, Ken Carson wastes no time getting into the “hardcore rap”-style beat, something many call “Opium”. Ken Carson flows almost flawlessly from his first verse into the chorus, providing a very good listening experience in that part of the song. However, most of the lines in this song are more mumbled than said, making it difficult to understand. There were very few memorable lines in this song that made it really stand out.
Best line: “I crack the seal of the Wock’, and pour the eighth in the soda.” (1:03)
Wockhardt cough syrup, also known as “Wock”, contains the drugs codeine and promethazine, making it one of the most commonly used substances for the street drug Lean. In this line, Carson claims to abuse Wock to get high rather than for medical purposes.
Succubus -9.1/10
Produced by legendary rap producer F1LTHY, Succubus starts out in a way that would immediately get a massive crowd of people hyped up. With a very unique-sounding beat, Succubus fits the scheme of this album and Ken Carson’s vision almost perfectly. While being one of the best songs on the album, it captures the listener’s ears immediately with the iconic “WAKE UP F1LTHY” producer tag heard in extremely popular songs like Playboi Carti’s Stop Breathing.
Best line: “Just like Lil Uzi, babygirl, my love is rage.” (1:20)
In this line, Carson references Lil Uzi Vert’s 2015 album Luv is Rage, one of the most influential rap albums of the 2010’s.
Paranoid (feat. Destroy Lonely) -9.5/10
In yet another F1LTHY-produced song on this album, Ken Carson delivers instantly with a song for the ages, but Destroy Lonely carries the first half of the song on his back with an instantly classic feature verse. Destroy Lonely has perfect flow over this beat, matching the beat’s tempo with his own lines. In the second half of the song, Carson returns flawlessly from Destroy Lonely’s feature and shows that it’s his song too. In my opinion, Carson’s introduction to Destroy Lonely’s verse seemed slightly too quiet and tainted the beginning a little bit. Nonetheless, this is an amazing song.
Best line: “I got your h* on her knees, because she knows she just met the Lord.” (1:12)
Pots -5/10
It was obvious that it would be hard for Ken Carson to live up to the previous song, Paranoid, but I had no idea it would be this hard for him. This is genuinely one of the most audibly displeasing beats I have ever heard, and it hurts my ears to listen to. It sounds like grasshoppers giving birth on a seashore. Honestly, even with this bad of a beat, Carson still made something out of a whole lot of nothing with Pots.
Best line: “Ain’t no pancakes, but I’m still pouring out the syrup.” (0:03)
Like This (feat. Lil Uzi Vert, Destroy Lonely) -8.8/10
With one of the least aggressive openings, Like This provides a nice break from instant energy, giving a nice breather before getting right back into it. Most of the beginning is made up of Lil Uzi Vert, Ken Carson, and Destroy Lonely all repeating similar and respective lines over and over. Throughout the song, the energy and volume fluctuates more than ideally.
Best line: “We been out for so long, Lil Uzi Vert, how you still rap like this?” (2:49)
Overtime -8.6/10
Overtime starts out with a very ethereal-sounding beat, with a melodic, high-pitched hum in the forefront of this beat, along with the usual Ken Carson drum kits. Carson does a very good job on this song of sticking to the beat, and flowing the same way. Throughout the song, Ken Carson does something that hasn’t really been done yet on this album, and he stays calm, without the highly aggressive undertone to his voice.
Best line: “But I’m in fourth quarter, I got forty pointers on my neck, I’m a scorer.” (0:38)
Vampire Hour -8/10
After his one song break from being more aggressive than a teenager in a BMW, Ken Carson is right back to his usual self in Vampire Hour. However, this isn’t a bad thing. Carson has delivered hit after hit on this album due to his aggressiveness, and it’s his sound. Although it is not one of the best songs on this album, Vampire Hour solidifies A Great Chaos’ case as being a contender for “album of the year.”
Best line: “I’m a vampire, yeah, the only time I change is when I turn into a bat, that boy changed, we thought he was real, he turned into a rat.” (1:20)
Nightcore -8.2/10
This song starts out with a pretty bad beat that doesn’t even fit the song, but that beat disappears after the intro, and is replaced by a familiarly aggressive Ken Carson and a very good beat. Although the intro is not good in any capacity, Carson makes up for lost quality throughout the remainder of Nightcore, flowing effortlessly over a beat that sounds a little bit like old Carson songs.
Best line: “She want me to be her quarterback, huh, and she my center.” (0:40)
Nightcore 2 -8.4/10
This song starts out much better than its counterpart, Nightcore, and Ken Carson delivers instantly, building off of the last song. Although the song’s name suggests it is a sequel song to Nightcore, the beats are a lot more different than expected for a “sequel song.” Nightcore 2 is a very good song, and is definitely a song that can be played pregame at a sporting event.
Best line: “Birds in the trap, I feel like Travis Scott.” (1:21)
Rockstar Lifestyle -8.8/10
Starting out with a beat that would be expected in a 2016 mixtape of “Big NFL Hits,” Rockstar Lifestyle sounds passive-aggressive, but in one of the most enjoyable and hype ways possible. Ken Carson really delivered in a way that I never would have expected with this song, and while the beat isn’t a beat that you would expect from Ken arson, he does a great job making this song pop.
Best line: “Fatality Mortal Kombat, yeah, I’m ending her.” (0:51)
i need u -10/10
Although this song was released as a single months prior to A Great Chaos’ release, Ken Carson added the hit to his newest album, and it was the right move. Concluding the album with a critically acclaimed i need u was a perfect way to cap off the Billboard 200’s new eleventh-placed album. This song is immediately one of the best songs in Carson’s discography, and it got popular for a reason, because of how good it is.
Best line: “Balenciaga my jeans, yeah, Rick Owens still on my tee, yeah, SRT, a red key, yeah.” (0:43)
OVERALL RATING: 8.7/10
VERY GOOD
